Girl Scouts of the Jersey Shore
The recycling patch program is designed to help girls become aware of the need to recycle and how to
recycle in their community. It includes activities on litter awareness, creating art and useful things by
recycling and what we can do to protect our natural world in the out-of-doors.
What can an individual do to help reduce waste in our world?
1. Reduce. Buy goods in returnable and recyclable containers.
2. Reuse. Pass some items to others to use, or create something new from old.
3. Recycle. Learn what your town recycles, when and where it’s picked up.
4. Compost food wastes, leaves and grass clippings.
5. Recover energy from waste. Each ton of solid waste has the energy equivalent of
70 gallons of gasoline; this drive a car from coast to coast.
New Jersey has long been a proud leader among states in recycling. Communities are required by law to
recycle items such as newspapers, cans, plastic etc. We are running out of places to put solid waste so it
is everyone’s responsibility to help. Every one benefits from recycling, but to succeed everyone must
cooperate. Look for the triangle on the bottom of packages to see if the item is recyclable.
Recycled Plastic: Recycled plastic can be shredded to use as fiberfill for ski jackets, pillows and sleeping bags. Can also be used as a fiber in carpet backing, rope, twine, as textiles in sails, belts, and tire
cord. Other uses includes the manufacture of industrial strapping paints, wall tile, flooring and automobile parts Plastic can be recycled into lumber boards, trash cans, base cups for pet bottles, flower pots
and traffic cones.
Used Oil: Oil drained from automobiles; lawn mowers and motorcycles can be easily recycled. Put all
used oil in clean, unbreakable gallon-size jugs and return to oil collection sites. These sites include motor vehicle re-inspection stations, oil retailers, or retail service stations, which have used oil collection
tanks.
Old Automobile Tires: Old tires can be used for rethreading tires. Rethreading is adding a new layer
of treading to old tires. Scrap tires can be used in the manufacture of new tires, hoses, and other rubber
products.
Yard Waste: Yard waste, through a natural process called composting, is broken down into a rich material called humus. This material is similar to topsoil and may be used for erosion prevention, roadside
maintenance, and top dressing for parks, public areas, gardens and farms. Leaf compost may be added.
There are four sections in the Recycling Patch, the number of activities required depend on the level of
girls. This patch is available for Brownie, Junior, and Teen Girl Scouts.
Brownie Girl Scouts complete 1 activity per section
Junior Girl Scouts complete 1 activity per section plus 2 additional
Teen Girl Scouts complete 1 activity per section plus 3 additional
www.girlscoutsjs.org
800-785-2090
Section 1: Recycling
Purpose: To recognize the need to recover non-renewable resources through recycling and to
encourage awareness of community recycling programs.
1. Find out the meaning of the following words:
Recycle
Renewable resource
Trash
Litter
Garbage
Solid Waste
2. Find out where recycling centers are located in your area and what items are recycled
at each location. Recycle three of the following items from your household: glass, aluminum,
bi-metal cans, steel cans, magazines, newspapers, or corrugated board. If your family recycles
some of these add one item you do not recycle. If your town picks up these items make sure
they are by your curb for pickup. If they don’t pick up take items to a recycling center.
3. Discuss why you should recycle in your troop. Look at the Girl Scout Law. What
parts tell us we should be concerned about recycling? Find out what laws your community and
state government have concerning recycling.
4. Visit a recycling plant or major recycling center. Talk about what you saw. Make a
chart showing what happens to an item from the time it goes to a recycling center to when it is
ready for reuse.
5. Choose one of the following and complete:
a. Draw a poster showing the good effects recycling have on our life today
and tomorrow.
b. Design a bulletin board display. Ask your teacher if you are allowed to
put it up at school.
c. Create a logo that your town or group could use for its recycling project.
6. Talk to someone that has a job that is affected by recycling: landfill owner, recycling
center manager, sanitation person, an employee in a glass or can producing plant, a paper
manufacturer. Find out what she/he does on the job and what she/he thinks of recycling.
7. Design your own Troop’s Service Project.
Section II: Glitter Not Litter
1
Find out: What is litter, where is litter found. Conduct a litter survey of your neighborhood,
school grounds, local parks, and shopping areas. How many items made of plastic did you
find? Can these be recycled?
2. Do we have a litter problem? How can we help reduce litter? How does your town clean
up litter? Talk to officials and find out if your town has an anti-litter campaign. Can you or
your troop help?
3. Select a “litter spot” and clean it up. Remember to get proper permission, and wear protective clothing for example gloves. Always check Safety Wise before any activity.
4. Read the Dr. Seuss story The Cat in the Hat Comes Back. Discuss the concept of “away”. Is
there such a place? What do you think about the Cat in the Hat’s solution.
5. Conduct a survey of several fast food restaurants and record the types of packaging
(Styrofoam, paper, aluminum foil). Note which containers are made from renewable vs.
non-renewable resources. Is the packaging necessary or excessive?
Section III: From Trash to Treasure
1. Collect and discuss examples of objects that can be reused in ways different from their
original purpose.
2. Design and make equipment for a game using “recycled” objects or materials.
3. Create and make a craft using recycled objects or materials.
4. Make your own paper that could be used for greeting cards or notes.
5. Survey family members to find out what items or materials they use over again or pass on
for someone else to use. Share this information with your troop.
6. Investigate what used materials organizations like the Salvation Army and Goodwill Industries need and what they do with materials they receive.
Section IV: The Caring For the Earth
1. Find out the regulations about trash/garbage at the camping site you are going to use. How
will this effect your troop planning?
2. Make 3 pieces of camping equipment from re-cycled materials.
3. Find out what is considered “burnable” trash. On your camping trip set up a system to reduce your trash by this method.
4. Learn how many trees recycling paper could save. Keep a record of how much paper you
throw away in a week. Look for items that carry the recycling logo. Why should we use
items with this logo?
5. Find out about ways in which litter harms animals. Investigate: fishing line, six pack holders, soda bottles and tin cans. How can such problems be prevented?
6. Plant a tree. Help recycle the forest.
How Much Time Does It Take For Litter To Decompose?
Paper
Orange Peels
Milk Cartons
Filter tip cigarette butt
Plastic Bags
Leather shoes
Nylon Cloth
Plastic containers
Aluminum
Plastic foam
2-5 months
6 months
5 years
10-12 years
10-20 years
25-40 years
30-40 years
50-80 years
80-100 years
never
Glossary
Biodegradable: the property of a
substance that permits it to be broken
down by microorganisms into simple,
stable compounds such as carbon
dioxide and water. (see
“decompose”)
Bottle Bill: a law requiring deposits
on beverage containers, like aluminum cans and plastic bottles. Encourages recycling and discourages
littering and land filling. More accurately called a beverage container
deposit law.
Composting: waste management
process that creates an optimal environment for decomposition by layering organic wastes like food scraps
and grass clippings so they’ll decay
into fertile humus.
Conserve: to protect from loss or
depletion. Conservation is the wise
use of natural resources to minimize
loss and waste.
Decompose: to break down into
component parts or basic elements to
rot. Decomposition is imperative for
the continuation of life since it makes
essential nutrients available for use
by plants and animals.
Dump: open, unsanitary disposal site
used before existence of licensed,
controlled burial sanitary landfills.
Energy recovery: the generation of
energy by burning solid waste.
Garbage: spoiled or waste food that
is thrown away. Generally defined as
wet food waste; excludes dry material (trash). The term is often used
interchangeably with the word
“trash”.
Groundwater: water beneath the
earth’s surface that fills the spaces
and moves between soil particles and
rock. Supplies wells and springs.
Hazardous Waste: waste that
causes special problems for living
organisms or the environment because it is poisonous, explosive,
burns or dissolves flesh or metal,
ignites easily with or without a flame
or carries disease. Some hazardous
wastes cause only one problem, other
cause several.
Humus: organic material consisting
of decayed vegetable matter that provides nutrients for plants and increases the ability of the soil to retain
water.
Landfill: a site for the controlled
burial of solid waste.
Raw Material: unprocessed natural
or product used in manufacturing.
Recover Energy: see “energy recovery”.
Recycle: the collection and reprocessing of manufactured materials for
reuse either in the same form or as
part of a different product.
Renewable Resource: a natural
resource derived from an endless or
cyclical source (e.g. sun, wind, water, wood, fish). With proper management and wise use, replacement
of these resources by natural or human-assisted systems can be approximately equal to their consumption.
Leachate: liquid that has percolated
through solid waste and/or been generated by solid waste decomposition Reuse: to extend the life of an item
and contains extracted, dissolved or by using it again, repairing it, modisuspended materials. May contami- fying it or creating new uses for it.
nate ground water or surface water.
Sanitary Landfill: a specially engiLitter: waste materials discarded in neered site for disposing of solid
an inappropriate place.
waste on land. Constructed in a way
that reduces hazards to health and
Methane: a colorless, odorless, flam- safety.
mable, potentially dangerous gaseous
hydrocarbon (CH) present in natural Solid Waste: all solid and semigas and formed by the decomposition solid wastes, including trash, garor organic matter. Can be used as a bage, yard waste, ashes, industrial
fuel.
waste, swill, demolition and construction waste and household disNatural Resource: valuable, natucards such as appliances, furniture
rally occurring material such as soil, & equipment.
wood, air, water or minerals.
Solid Waste Management: the
Nonrenewable Resource: a natural controlling, handling and disposal of
resource that, because of its scarcity, all solid waste. One goal of solid
the great length of time it takes to
waste management is to reduce
form or its rapid depletion, is consid- waste to a minimum.
ered finite in amount (e.g. coal, copper, petroleum).
Trash: material considered worthless, unnecessary or offensive that is
Organic: derived form living organ- usually thrown away. Generally
isms.
defined as dry waste material; excludes food waste (garbage) and
Pollution: harmful substances depos- ashes. The term is often used interited in the environment, leading to a changeably with the word
state of dirtiness, impurity, or un“garbage”.
healthiness.
Can You I.D. Your Can?
Objectives:
The troop will learn how to tell the difference between aluminum, tinned
and bimetal cans.
Materials:
Samples of aluminum, tinned and bimetal cans, magnets
Procedure:
1. If you have not already done so, discuss how waste is reduce by recycling.
2. Tell girls that cans are recyclable, but that some are much easier to recycle than others. Hold up samples of the three major types of cans: aluminum (i.e. soda cans), tinned—these
are really 99% steel with a thin coating of tin (i.e. soup cans) and bimetal (i.e. often tuna fish
cans, small apple juice, and tennis ball cans are bimetal). Explain that bimetal cans are cans
that have an aluminum top and a steel body. “Bimetal” does not refer to a can that has two metals combined to for an alloy.
3. Note that, at first glance, these cans are very similar in appearance, but that it is important to tell the difference because the bimetals are not easily recyclable, and we should therefore avoid buying these. It is also important to be able to identify the type of can because different types need to be separated before being recycled.
4. Explain and demonstrate the following ways to tell the differences between metals:
a. Magnetism: hold up a magnet. Ask for a show of hands of those who
have experimented with magnets. Did they notice the things that
magnets will attract? Explain that magnets are pieces of iron or steel that
can attract iron or steel. (This property may by naturally present or artificially induced.) Experiment with objects to show some of the metals the
magnet will attract to and others that are not attracted.
b. Appearance: Pass out can samples. What are the differences you see
between the cans (i.e. weight, seams, color, shininess)? Tell them that
bimetal cans look almost identical to aluminum cans. It is best to com
pare the cans at the same time to see some of these differences.
5. Set up a station in the room so that one person or one group of girls at a time can
practice separating cans using magnets and observing the above differences. (You may want to
provide a magnifying glass.)
Renewable or Non Renewable
Goal: To have girls examine the materials that comprise the products they use, describe
whether these materials are renewable or non-renewable resources, observe what happens to
materials when placed in a landfill and decide whether they should be disposed of in a different
way.
Materials:
*four large clear glass jars
*soil
*miscellaneous solid waste
*crayons
*masking tape
Organic
Renewable
Recyclable
Nonrenewable
recyclable
Nonrenewable
Hard to recycle
Procedure:
A) 1. Choose one item you threw away today. What is your item made of? Into which of the
following four categories of solid waste does your item fit?
a) organic (ex. Potato peels)
b) renewable resource/recyclable (ex. Newspaper)
c) nonrenewable resource/hard to recycle (ex. Plastic toothpaste tube)
d) nonrenewable resource/recycle (ex. Aluminum cans)
2. What happens to the item you threw away? Discuss:
-Where is away?
-What is a landfill?
-How might the material that a piece of trash is made of determine how
you should dispose of it?
3. List ways you can avoid disposing of your item in a landfill.
4. If your goal is to save natural resources and reduce solid waste, from which category
(a-d) would you buy products? Which category would you avoid?
B) 1. With crayons and masking tape, label each glass jar with one of the four category headings: Organic, renewable recyclable, nonrenewable recyclable, nonrenewable hard to recycle.
2. Fill each jar about half full of soil.
3. Sort each miscellaneous solid waste item into its proper category (a-d). Put a small
sample of each into the jar with the corresponding label. Cover with soil and keep damp with
water. Leave the lid off and place the jar on a shelf away from people and out of direct sun.
Stir occasionally.
4. Predict what you think will happen to the solid waste in each jar. Record your predictions.
5. Observe and record what changes occur during a 2-3 week period, if any. Discuss:
-What happened to the items made of organic and renewable resources?
-What comparisons can you make between your mini landfill and a real landfill?
Renewable or Non Renewable
(cont’d)
C. 1. Keep a record of your family’s purchases from two trips to the grocery store. Divide the
items into the four solid waste categories listed in section B. Discuss:
-What does your family do with the waste from its store purchases?
- Is there anything else your family could do with this waste?
- Could you substitute items from (a-c)? Is this a worthy goal? Why?
-If your goal is to reduce solid waste, which items would you eliminate from your
shopping list?
Pre– and Post-Activity Questions:
-Define and give examples of organic material, renewable resources, nonrenewable resources.
-What do you think will happen to items made of renewable and nonrenewable resources when they’re dumped in a landfill?
-List four items you use everyday that you could recycle.
Make Your Own Paper
screen
What you need:
10 pieces of tissue or newsprint
A piece of screen
A flat dish, a little larger than the screen
4 pieces of blotting paper the size of the
screen
A bowl
An egg beater (it works better with a
blender)
A round jar or rolling pin
Newspaper and blotter paper
2 cups of hot water
2 teaspoons of instant starch (for stronger
paper, if desired)
Make sure to let the water drain.
dish
Newspaper
What to do:
1. Tear the paper into very small bits into
the bowl. Pour in the hot water.
2. Beat the tissue and water to make pulp.
3. Mix in the starch if desired.
4. Pour the mixture into the flat dish.
5. Slide the screen into the bottom of the
dish and move it around until it is evenly
covered with pulp.
6. Lift the screen out carefully. Hold it
level and let it drain for a minute.
7. Put the screen, pulp side up, on a blotter
on some newspaper. Put another blotter
over the pulp, more newspaper over that.
8. Roll the jar over the sandwich to squeeze
out the rest of the water.
9. Take off the top newspaper. Turn the
blotter sandwich over so that the screen is
on top. Then take off the blotter and the
screen very carefully. Don’t move the
pulp. There is your paper.
10. Put a dry blotter on the pulp and let it
dry.
Blotter
Pulp
Screen
Blotter
Rolling Pin
Composting
Composting is an age-ole method of recycling natural waste such as
grass clippings, leaves, and food scraps. After aging properly, compost is one of the richest fertilizers available for gardening.
Possibility: This project shows how organic matter will break down
into compost over a period of weeks. The bacteria in this “minicompost” bag need air to work on the organic matter.
Things you need:
Organic matter (leaves, grass clippings, banana peels, citrus fruit peels,
apple cores without seeds, coffee grounds potato peels, wood ashes, etc.)
Plastic baggies
Twist ties
Garden soil
Alfalfa meal or unused “Litter Green” kitty litter
Water
What to do:
1. Label a baggie with your name and date. Add one cup of organic
matter to the baggie. Tear up the organic matter into small pieces.
2. Add 1/2 cup of garden soil to the baggie.
3. Add 1 tablespoon alfalfa meal or “Litter Green” kitty litter (100%
alfalfa pellets).
4. Add 1/4 cup water to the mixture. Seal the baggie.
5. Mix all the materials together by shaking the baggie.
6. Squeeze the baggie daily to mix contents.
7. Every other day, open the bag for a day.
8. If contents smell, something is wrong. The bag may have too much
water or it needs air or mixing.
9. Your compost will be ready to use in approximately 4 to 6 weeks.
Possibility: See if there is someone in your troop that has a compost pile in her yard. Ask if
the troop can make a “donation” to it. Do it on a regular basis. Learn how the pile must be
maintained. Talk about what would not decay.
Possibility: Visit a community compost pile. Find out what is accepted and how it is distributed to the public.
Possibility: Make your own compost pile. Donate the compost to local gardeners.
Treasures From Trash
Possibility: Have the girls help make a scrap craft box. They could paint, color or paste pictures on it. Donations could include, thread spools, margarine tubs, egg cartons, scraps of colored paper etc. When the box starts to get full, hold a scrap craft day where the girls can create
their own fantasy monster, etc. Other ideas could be to make tray favors, simple toys, or gifts to
donate to hospitals, nursing homes, etc.
Possibility: Have a “Trade Day”. Girls could bring in items they no longer use such as books
games, puzzles, clothing accessories such as belts, scarves, jewelry, etc. They could trade their
item for something else. Those items not recycled could be donated to a charity.
Milk Carton Catch
Help young Brownies develop throwing and
catching skills.
Equipment: plastic gallon milk cartons*, small
balls
Soda Pop Bowling
Equipment:
10 plastic soda bottles for each “alley”
2 playground balls for each “alley”.*
1. Pair players about 5’ - 8’ apart. One part- 1. Arrange soda bottles in a triangle.
ner has ball, the other, the milk carton.
XXXX
2. Have each partner take five turns catchXXX
ing and throwing the ball.
XX
X
3. Vary the activity:
a. Increase distance between partners
2. Form teams.
b. Bounce ball once to partner
c. Throw between the legs to partner
3. Let each child have two turns to
d. Bounce ball twice to partner
knock balls down.
e. Use left hand only to throw or
f. Use right hand only to throw or catch *You can use aluminum soda cans and tennis
g. Be creative! Let girls pick other
balls.
ways to catch the ball
*Use milk carton. Cut out bottom and hold it
upside down.