Our school is part of Evanston-Skokie School District 65.  Our project is on recycling. 

We began our project with a brainstorming session, in small groups.  Each group made a list of everything it knew about recycling.  We compiled the lists, and came up with 23 statements: 

Most cities & towns have recycling centers. 
You can not recycle everything. 
Aluminum can be recycled. 
Plastic can be recycled. 
Paper can be recycled. 
Glass can be recycled. 
Cardboard can be recycled. 
Only items with certain numbers on them can be recycled. 
Recycling centers sort items. 
Recycling involves grinding, melting, & compacting things. 
Chicago uses blue bags. 
New items can be made from recycled ones. 
Clothes can be made from recycled items. 
Recycling saves landfill space. 
Recycling saves trees. 
By saving trees, recycling enables more oxygen to be produced for living things. 
Recycling makes less pollution. 
Recycling saves rainforests. 
Recycling saves people money. 
Recycling saves animal homes. 
Recycling shows respect for the earth. 

We discussed the amount of recyclable waste we had observed in our plastic bins, in comparison to that of our neighbors.  Each of us hypothesized whether or not our household recycled more than, less than, or equal to that of our neighbors.  We came to a class decision regarding our classroom community’s recycling habits in comparison to the city of Evanston’s.  We kept a notebook of all information and data throughout the project.

On our trip to Evanston’s Recycling Center, we watched as waste was being processed by the workers. 

*Source:  Evanston Recycling Center and Sanitation Department

While on the scale, we hypothesized that we weighed less than a bail of paper weighs, which is one ton, or 2,000 pounds.  Our class weighed 1900 lbs.!  We had two classmates absent, so we probably do weigh more than a ton! 

We also created two "garbage" pizzas.  (You can see them at Evanston's Environmental Fair on 4/18/98 at the Evanston Public Library.)   Below are pie graph representations of the percentages of waste (National average) that go into a landfill, shown by weight and by volume. 

Upon completion of our project, we brainstormed, once again, forming a list of all the things we now know about recycling: 
 
40,000 lbs. of paper is recycled at the Evanston Recycling Center daily, saving 340 trees! 
There is no more landfill space in northern Illinois, so our garbage is sent to SWANCC, a transfer station, and then to a landfill in Wisconsin. 
A landfill in southern Illinois accepts waste from the state of New York. 
The law states, that everyday landfills must cover over the garbage brought there, with clay. 
Clay is extracted from recycled glossy pages of magazines. 
Recycled magazines are used to make toilet paper and tissue. 
Recycled newspapers make paper bags and more newspaper. 
Recycled cardboard makes more cardboard. 
Glass is made from sand. 
Glass is separated by color, when recycled. 
To separate steel from aluminum at recycling centers, a machine with a magnet is used. 
It takes 95% less energy to recycle a pop can than to make a new one. 
Bauxite, which is mined in Asia and South America, is used to make aluminum. 
While certain types of materials can be recycled, all steel is recyclable. 
Plastic is made from oil. 
Plastic that is recycled, makes items that are used for different things other than what the recycled items were used for originally.  An example:  one large t-shirt is made from twelve 16 oz. plastic pop bottles. 
Machines cut plastic into bits of plastic, then make them into thread. 
Polyester, fleece, backpacks, and carpeting are all made from recycled plastic pop bottles. 
Evanston sells its’ plastic pop bottles to a company in Georgia to manufacture carpeting. 
Plastic milk jugs, a different type of plastic than the pop bottles, is used to make playground equipment. 
A bail of paper weighs 2,000 pounds, or one ton. 
One bail of paper equals 17 trees. 
The items recycled at the Evanston Recycling Center are sold to companies all around the world. 
Recycling creates new jobs. 
Recycled products cost less. 
Recycling saves time and gasoline. 
Recycling allows land to be used for other purposes. 
Blue jeans and paper currency can be recycled into pencils. 
At recycling centers, workers sort items by hand. 
Evanston is the only suburb in this area to have its’ own recycling center. 
SWANCC compacts garbage to produce less volume. 
There are 7 kinds of plastic. 
A special flatbed-type truck can hold three garbage trucks full of waste (when compacted) to transport to the landfill. 
At the recycling center, you need to wear special glasses to protect your eyes from dust. 
The Recycling Center gets lots of money from China for recycled items. 
Recycling is fun! 

The teacher held a brief, informal discussion with a parent or two from each of the families.  Each stated that they would have gladly facilitated this project for another two weeks.  Many added that is was fun and informative, that it had increased their awareness, and that it helped to organize tasks for the future. 

PROBLEM: 

Is the percentage of household waste, recycled by the community of families in Room 104 at TRMS, greater than, less than, or equal to, the percentage of household waste recycled by the community of the city of Evanston, Illinois? 
 

HYPOTHESIS: 

The percentage of waste recycled by both communities is the same. 
 

MATERIALS: 

Household waste 
Plastic garbage bags*  
Bathroom scale*  
Data chart 
Pencil 
Parent/Guardian 
Calculator 
Data from City of Evanston 
 

 *We’d like to thank the Solid Waste Agency of Northern Cook County, (SWANCC), for a $200 Grant.  It was used to purchase plastic garbage bags for all families and 10 bathroom scales for those who needed one.  
 

1.   For a period of two weeks, as household waste is produced, separate the recyclable items from the 
       non-recyclable items, collecting them in separate bags. 
 
2.  Before taking the waste from the house, weigh it, as follows: 
 
     A.  Stand on a bathroom scale and weigh yourself.  Record your weight on a data chart. 
     B.  Weigh yourself again, holding the bag of recyclable waste.  Record. 
     C.  Subtract “A” from “B” to find the weight of the recyclable waste. Record. 
     D.  Weigh yourself again, holding the bag of non-recyclable waste.  Record. 
     E.  Subtract “A” from “D” to find the weight of the non-recyclable waste.  Record. 

3.  After the two-week period is over, bring data chart to class.  Use a calculator to find the total recyclable and 
     non-recyclable waste produced by the class community.  Covert to percent. 

4.  Obtain data from the City of Evanston, Illinois. 
 
 

We reject our hypothesis.  Both communities did not recycle the same percentage of waste. 

Questions?   Please contact us at rugenb@d65.k12.il.us 
 
 Return to Timber Ridge Magnet School On Line Science Fair 
 

We’d like to send a big THANK YOU to: 
 
         The Families of Room 104 
         Mr. Clyde Partner, Science Curriculum Coordinator, Evanston-Skokie School District 65 
         Mrs. Nancy Burhop, Director, Evanston Recycling Center 
         Ms. Mary Allen, Education Coordinator, SWANCC 
         Solid Waste Agency of Northern Cook County 
         Dr. Christopher Morris, Consultant, TRMS 
         Dr. Bessie Rhodes, Principal, TRMS 
         TRMS Technology Committee 
       TRMS Science Fair Committee  
          Northwestern University Collaboratory Project 
          Mrs. Rosalie Ziomek, Secretary, TRMS