Waste Matters in the Pacific

Student Activities

Click on the following links for further information about this case study:

1. Introductory Activities

To introduce the key ideas that:

• all people create waste
• waste has many forms and meanings
• waste can be managed in different ways
• waste has environmental, social, health & economic impacts

2. Individual and Group Activities

3. Group Reports - sharing ideas, creating solutions

4. The Waste Summit - sharing solutions

5. Linking case studies to students' own community

Introducing the material

The following suggestions will help teachers to introduce the main ideas surrounding waste issues in small Pacific communities.

1. Whole class activity.

i) As a "warm up" exercise, discuss with class the idea that all people create waste and that all waste has to go somewhere. Brainstorm (see teaching strategies) ideas around this theme. List all ideas on butcher paper for later use.

ii) Discuss briefly with the students what happens to their household waste and follow on with open questions about how waste might be managed in other cultures and communities that have special needs - e.g. small islands, isolated places, tourist destinations.

iii) Introduce the case study and establish what students already know about the Pacific - location, place names, culture etc.

Locate the region on a wall map, globe or atlas and direct students to note size of island countries and distances from each other, from Australia and from other countries.

or

• Tell the students that you were surfing the net and found this site. Then carry out the above activities (i to iii).
• Link the topic to a current waste issue either local or from the Pacific region. Then carry out the above activities (i to iii).
• Find a "note in a bottle" from a fictitious island saying "Help, we are sinking under a mountain of waste" (or similar). Then carry out the above activities (i to iii).

iv) Divide class into 5 groups and allocate one case study to each group. This can be done according to student or teacher choice but the groups should be fairly equal in number.

2. a) Individual Activities.

The following activities will allow students to clarify knowledge and understanding of the main issues contained in the case study.

After studying the materials provided in the case study have each student:

i) Share the main issues in the case study with a partner.

ii) Write a letter from a local perspective to a relative overseas telling them about waste issues in their community or island. Students should identify at least three major issues. Circulate letters amongst the class for comment.

iii) Write a brief "good news" item from the case study about successful waste campaigns or actions.

iv) Contribute objects, pictures, artefacts, news items, posters or books to your group to assist with group tasks.

2. b) Group Activities

The following case study activities will provide students with detailed information to support their group reports. These tasks may be carried out in pairs or subgroups with the outcomes contributing to the final report. Students will need to plan the activities and allocate tasks.

1. List the items that make up the waste stream and note the type of waste that is considered toxic or dangerous. Students will need to investigate these meanings.
2. List the main differences between waste management in traditional villages and in the town of Apia. Explain why these differences may occur.
3. Using a cause and effect wheel, map the environmental impacts of dumping waste in the mangroves.
4. Design a poster highlighting the need to protect mangrove areas.
5. Describe the waste education activity from Komiti Tumama (to be used later as a whole class activity).
6. Design an ecotourism brochure for the village of Saanapu. This should highlight the need to preserve unspoiled environments and support mangrove protection.
7. Write a "good" news item on the Beautification Committee's rubbish bin competition.
8. List on the benefits of reusing glass bottles.
9. Describe the campaigns and actions which help to reduce waste in Samoa.

3. Group Report.

(allow a time frame of two weeks)

The group report should be undertaken after completion of the case study activities. The reporting processes will allow students to share knowledge and ideas, and to work cooperatively on a joint task. The group report is an essential prerequisite for the Waste Summit.

Have students prepare a report that highlights the main issues, solutions and actions in the case study. Present the report in a variety of ways such as:

• Creating a wall display with verbal explanations.
• Organising a discussion panel with each panelist giving a different viewpoint, e.g., a government waste worker, villager to speak about disposal problems, importer to talk about packaging, activist, etc. The class then questions the panel.
• Giving an eye witness account as per a television documentary.
• Writing a series of news articles.

Encourage creativity and diversity with students assisting in the planning of this process.

Presentation of Group Reports.

Allow students adequate time to prepare and present case study reports. Assign a date and time for each group to work towards. Stagger the presentations so that they do not take place on the same day as students will need time to discuss and reflect on their processes.

Whole class activity.

At the conclusion of the reports have students discuss:

• the similarities and differences between each case study
• the major impacts of waste on the communities studied
• the difficulties of managing waste in each place
• solutions that could be shared

Compile a list based on class findings. The list should contain references to outside influences, change over time, differing values between traditional and modern lifestyles.

4. The Waste Summit

Across the coming weeks five case studies on waste management in the Pacific will be available on the Global Ed site. You may wish to complete several of the studies and then to follow them up with this Waste Summit activity. This will allow students to consolidate the issues and challenges, impart solutions and identify possible plans of action. For example, composting information from the Cook Islands and Manly could help Nauru to create new land, the Can Crushers example could show the steps needed to recycle aluminium cans. Students should also reflect on local and regional responsibilities.

To conclude the case study activities have the class organise a "Pacific Waste Summit" conducted as a role play (see teaching strategies). The Summit will provide a forum where waste issues are discussed and solutions are put forward. To facilitate solutions run a brief "what if" (see teaching strategies) activity for the whole class.

The class will need to:

• form a committee to organise the Summit
• elect a chairperson to run the Summit
• choose a time keeper
• select two people to record the Summit proceedings
• select a small group to prepare a short report on the Summit
• choose two delegate roles from each group to present issues
• be briefed on their roles as observers and participants

Assign the 10 delegate roles e.g.:

• waste management officer
• health inspector
• village or settlement leader
• environmental officer
• youth representative
• recycling company
• Clean Up the World Campaign representative

Check that there is a good balance of roles. Students can also choose roles to play as observers. After each delegate has spoken (three minute limit) about main issues in their community, allow the observers and participants to ask further questions and put forward solutions. Limit speaking time to one minute per person. At the conclusion of the Summit have the chairperson take recommendations from the floor and thank speakers for their contributions. The report on this summit should be circulated and displayed for all to read. At the end of this process allow students time for discussion and reflection.

5. Managing Waste.

The following activities will allow students to compare and contrast waste issues within their own communities to those presented in the case studies. They provide a link into students' personal and community attitudes, values and behaviours towards waste.

A. Whole Class Activity

Explore the following key ideas from the case studies including the social, environmental and economic aspects:

• that many imported goods create waste problems in small isolated communities
• the difficulties of recycling
• today's waste needs different disposal methods
• the impacts of waste on fragile environments
• solutions can be shared to create change

B. Waste Management Solutions

Review what students have learned about the issues and go on to identify and list the possible solutions. The solutions should include limiting the importation of items with non-recyclable packaging, designing products which reduce the need for packaging, teaching communities how to compost organic waste, sharing information and resources between communities, living more traditional lifestyles, having bigger and more frequent waste awareness campaigns, banning the dumping or disposal of waste outside of rubbish dumps or landfill sites, fining people for littering, improving packaging design.

Discuss these and other possible solutions with the students. Divide the class into new groups and give each group one of the possible solutions to explore and present. Ask students to consider the implications of their particular solution by asking the following;

• What might happen if this solution was acted upon?
• What are the advantages and disadvantages?
• How would this improve or change the environment?
• Is it the best use of community money, time and resources?
• Who will pay for it?
• What benefits are there for the community?
• Is the solution fair to all concerned?
• What are the short and long term benefits?

Invite groups to present and justify their solutions to the class as a brief report or action plan.

C. Managing our Own Waste

Students will review waste management in their own communities from a similar perspective as in the case studies; geographic location, distances from waste disposal sites, lifestyle, etc.

Activity.

Ask students to identify how waste is managed in their own community. They may work in pairs or in small groups to investigate the following:

Household, Commercial, School and Public Place Waste

• How is the waste collected - bins? what size?
• How often is it collected?
• Does the community have a recycling collection?
• How does this work - what and how is material sorted?
• Who collects the waste?
• Who pays for the service?
• How much does it cost?
• Where does the unsorted waste go?
• Where do the recyclables go?
• Where do you find out about waste collections?
• Does your council collect garden or other waste?
• What happens to unused chemicals, medicine, paint tins, oil etc.?
• What does the community/council do to reduce waste? (Campaigns etc.)

D. Where does it come from and where does it go?

Students will identify a waste stream and begin to understand the idea of waste life cycles.

i) Rubbish bin audit.

Conduct an audit of your household or school waste for two weeks. List and categorise items into materials e.g. steel, aluminium, glass, paper, food waste, etc. Take special care when handling waste. Wear protective clothing to reduce risk of injury or contact with putrescible waste such as food scraps. Make a bar graph to show amounts of each category. Make an action plan to reduce some of this waste by using alternatives that can be reused, refilled or recycled. A good place to start is in the school canteen.

ii) Komiti Tumama activity (Group).

This activity is used by the Komiti Tumama in Samoa to educate people about waste in the environment.

• pick an area in the local environment that attracts rubbish
• go there and write down all the different rubbish you can find
• every day for one week pick up the non biodegradable rubbish and bring it back to school
• identify where it came from in the first place
• what is it made of?
• think about what happens to this rubbish -- will it rot, rust, pollute?
• what can you do with it?
• what should happen to it?
• identify the possible culprit (who might have dropped it?)
• think about their behaviour
• what solutions can you think of that would stop waste being dumped in this place?
• who should you notify?
• who can help?

iii) Building a Waste Map.

Organise a series of field trips and visiting speakers for the class.

• Visit a local landfill site, waste transfer station, recycling factory, local council depot.
• Invite local environmental officers or activists, council officers, industry reps. to speak to the students and provide information on local waste issues including environmental impacts such as those from old dump sites.

This exercise is an extension of the cause and effect wheels. Students design and create a map-mural that tracks community waste from beginning to end. Include all aspects of the waste stream from large items such as cars and appliances, chemicals, food, building, paper, etc. Map from the origin of the material mining, forestry, etc. to its final resting or recycling place. The result should be of great interest to your community. Organise for the mural to be displayed in the local library.

iv) Reducing waste -- the 50% challenge

The Commonwealth government has a commitment to reducing waste going to landfill by 50 % by the year 2000. This percentage varies at state level e.g., the NSW target is a 60% reduction. Some local governments have set their own targets. Students will need to find out what their local target is, if any. Using the knowledge gained during this unit of work, build individual and class action plans to work towards that or a target decided by the class. Invite students to write a personal pledge to "live with less waste."

v) Further Suggested Activities.

• Investigate how waste was managed in your community in the past. Use libraries, museums and experts. Interview a selection of older people. Construct a timeline that shows dates where an event or change has taken place e.g. the introduction of plastic bags, milk cartons etc. Take into account pre European waste management. Is there any evidence of Aboriginal settlements, middens, etc.?
• Investigate what changes have influenced the types of waste now generated in your community.
• Design logos, graphics, slogans for a range of items that would help to promote waste reduction such as cloth bags, tee shirts, rubbish bins that would encourage proper waste disposal, signs for buses or public places. If possible, students should make prototypes, models or actual items.
• What if? (See teaching strategies.) Imagine what would happen if all the waste you, your family, class, school or community generated had to stay in your own backyard, school grounds or in a community park. What would be the likely outcomes? This could be interpreted through paintings, poems, songs or stories.
• If you were to make a time capsule that enabled people in the future to understand today's waste issues what twenty common waste items would you include? Add newspaper articles, posters and other waste related information to provide background details.