Online Resources for Recycling
There is an interactive website called Recycle City that is popular with students in the United States. And the good news is, you can play the game with your students too. All you need is a computer with Internet connection.
Recycle City teaches students about the three Rs (Reduce, Reuse and Recycle). The Dumptown game and a Recycle City scavenger hunt and tour are just some of the ways your students can explore the world of recycling, in a really fun and innovative way.
For example, when the game starts, your students can be Dumptown’s new City Manager. The city at the start will be filled with pollution, with no recycling bins, and the manager can use ten programs to encourage the citizens to reduce waste.
There are even current, recovered and overall waste bars on the screen to keep track of the waste stream in the city. To add challenge to the game, you can assign your students to achieve certain goals like removing as much organic waste from the waste stream or reducing the amount of paper going into the landfill.
Games like these teach students not only the importance of the three Rs, but also how recycling programs like home composting and business recycling create an impact in the city’s overall waste.
The Philippines would greatly benefit from having a “Recycle City.” Other interactive websites or web resources you and your students can visit are the following:
On The Basics
United Nations System-Wide Earthwatch: Solid Wastes
http://earthwatch.unep.net/solidwaste/wastedisposal.html
The Basics of Landfills
http://www.enviroweb.org/issues/landfills
People Who Have Made a Difference In How We Think About Garbage:
http://www.astc.org/exhibitions/rotten/rthome.htm
On Waste Management
Waste Management Options
http://www.perc.ca/PEN/1994-02/s-mussell.html
On Garbage Dumps
Out of the Dump
http://www.oneworld.org/media/gallery/guatemala/1.html
UNICEF Campaign
http://www.socioambiental.org/website/parabolicas/english/backissu/52/articles/p03.htm
The Children of the Dong Thanh Garbage Dump
http://www.unicef.org/vietnam/workchild.htm
The Next Level
Understanding How Human Actions Modify The Physical Environment
http://www.mcrel.org/compendium/Benchmark.asp?SubjectID=8&StandardID=14
Source:
n.a. (n.d.) Recycle City. Retrieved October 28, 2007 from http://www.epa.gov/recyclecity/gameint.htm
(Published 05 November 2007, Smart Schools Program)
