• Everybody’s talking

about waste and

recycling.

• Can you guess what it

is they’re saying?

• Just have a quick look

at some of these
shocking facts about
waste in New South
Wales:
• Residents of Sydney
alone throw out over $2
billion worth of stuff
every year that we
never or seldom use!

• In 2004, the average

NSW household spent
$1,126 on stuff they
never used!
Household waste for one
family for one month
• Uneaten food makes up
most of this waste!
• The good news is that we do manage to recycle 99%
of recyclable household waste!

• But a lot of waste can’t be recycled and ends up

either as landfill or polluting the natural environment.
• For example, here in New South Wales cigarette butts
are a terrible litter problem. Just in Sydney about
350,000 end up butts end up as litter each day!

• Many of these get washed into our Harbour, where

they take anywhere from one to three years to break
down. During this process, they release toxic
chemicals into our bay where they are consumed by
birds, seals, dolphins and fishes.
• Have you heard of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch?

• What do you think it might be?

• Also known as the Pacific Gyre, the Great Pacific
Garbage Patch is an area of rubbish that has
collected in the Pacific Ocean. No one really knows
how big it is, but some believe it could be twice the
size of Australia!
• Most of the rubbish in this
garbage patch is plastic. The
problem with plastic is that it
doesn’t biodegrade, but instead
disintegrates in the ocean into
smaller and smaller pieces.

• To some small sea animals

these tiny pieces of plastic look
like tasty food, and these little
creatures often end up eating
the plastic instead of their
normal food. This makes them
sick, as well as the bigger
animals that eat them.
• Scientists estimate that 80% of the rubbish in the
Great Pacific Garbage Patch comes from land-based
sources, and 20% from ships at sea.

• They say that currents carry rubbish from the east

coast of Asia to the centre of the garbage patch in a
year or less, and rubbish from the west coast of North
America in about five years.
• How can there be
so much rubbish?!!!

• Well, everything
that we buy comes
in packaging and
that is rubbish. On
top of that, a lot of
the stuff we buy
ends up as rubbish
when we’re sick of
it or when it breaks.
• This can start to sound a lot like very bad news. But
don’t worry; it’s not all bad.

• We have been recycling a lot more than we used to,

and packaging and products are getting greener.
• Australians are also among the best newspapers
recyclers in the world, recycling 74.5% of
newspapers in 2005.

• We're also now recycling 2.3 billion aluminium cans a

year – that's 600 million more than ten years ago!
That’s a great result!
• There are also lots of
people working hard
and thinking about the
problems of waste and
recycling.

• But the reality is, that

they can’t do everything
and they need your help
to get on top of all this
rubbish.
• So what can you do?

• Start by thinking about

what you would most
like to see happen or
change: what would
that be? How do you
think you go about
making that happen?
What little things could
you do in a little way
everyday to help you
reach that goal?
• Using the Cool Green Hero Checklist that we have
provided, or using one that you have created yourself,
think up at least two actions around waste that will help
our environment that you think you can achieve within
the next six months.

• Write down a few

sentences for each
cool green action
that describes what
you hope to do. If
you’re stuck for ideas,
have a look at some
of the tips that we
have tried and had success with.
 Tips for waste and recycling
• Save the world from the scourge of the plastic bag - take your own
bag when you go shopping.
• Look at the packaging of the products that you buy - can you recycle
it?
• Buy products that are made from recycled materials or that can be
repaired.
• Compost your food and garden waste.
• Always recycle.
• Think before you buy! Can you get it from a second hand shop or
borrow it from a friend?
• Instead of throwing them away, give to the second hand shop or to a
friend who needs them.
• Stick to the shopping list - resist impulse buying.
• For more tips visit the Our Cool School website.
• Did we forget any? Send us your tips and we’ll post them on the Our
Cool School site!