KEY

CONCEPTS:
16.3 Think and throw

• Recycling is reusing waste materials that are discarded.

• Recycling reduces the wastage of products and pollution.
KEY
CONCEPTS:
16.4 Recycling of paper

• We should always write on both sides of paper sheets.

• Unused pages from old notebooks can be torn off and made into a new notebook for doing rough work and other
miscellaneous work.
• We can also reuse envelopes and covers by using stickers to write new addresses.
• We can also make fresh paper from old newspapers.
• It is a process in which a material which has been used once is recycled to produce something to reuse.
• Recycling is reusing of waste materials that are discarded.
• Recycling reduces wastage of products and pollution.
KEY
CONCEPTS:
16.5 Plastics – boon or a curse?

The plastic problem is mounting day by day. A huge amount of plastic is thrown away carelessly on the street and in water
bodies and such irresponsible disposal of plastic can cause several problems:

• Animals and birds alike, in search of food, end up consuming some amounts of plastic due to which many of them end up
choking on these.
• Although plastic bags seem convenient to store food items, consuming these are very harmful to our health.
• It gets worse when dirty and thrown away plastic bags are reused upon mere dusting and washing them which is also very
harmful.
• Upon burning or heating, plastics give rise to toxic and dangerous fumes and gases, which can potentially cause cancer in
humans.
• Careless disposal of plastic on the roads also ends up choking the sewer and drainage systems.
KEY
CONCEPTS:
16.5 Plastics – boon or a curse?

Reducing the use of plastic and re-using harmless plastic to help reduce its over-production. Recycling paper and such articles
whenever possible.

• Carrying jute and cloth bags when carrying out errands to avoid the use of polythene bags.
• Properly disposing of plastic and polythene bags
• Not using plastic products and bags to store edibles.
• Never burning plastic or dry leaves etc. and disposing of them properly.
• Using registers and notebooks made of recycled paper as much as possible.
• Avoid putting waste materials in polythene bags and throwing them on the street.
• Adopting practices like recycling paper and vermicomposting to make the best use of biodegradable waste.
This not only helps to reduce the waste that we produce but also becomes a valuable addition to the soil and helps in the
nourishment of crops and plants.
KEY
CONCEPTS:
16.5 Plastics – boon or a curse?

1. We make a minimum use of plastic bags. We re-use the bags whenever it is possible to do so without any adverse affects.
2. We insist shopkeepers use paper bags. We carry a cloth or a jute bag when we go out for shopping.
3. We do not use plastic bags to store eatables.
4. We do not throw plastic bags here and there, after use.
5. We never burn plastic bags and other plastic items.
6. We do not put garbage in plastic bags and throw it away.
7. We use vermicomposting at home and deal with our kitchen waste usefully.
8. We recycle paper.
9. We use both sides of the paper to write. We use a slate for rough work.
We use blank sheets of paper left in our notebooks for rough work.
10.We make our family, friends and others to follow proper practices for disposing different kinds of wastes.
KEY TERMS:

1. Waste
2. Garbage
3. Landfill
4. Compost
5. Vermicomposting
6. Recycling
KEY
DEFINITIONS:

Waste
Waste (or wastes) are unwanted or unusable materials. Waste is any substance which is discarded after primary use, or is
worthless, defective and of no use.

Garbage
Garbage, trash, rubbish, or refuse is waste material that is discarded by humans, usually due to a perceived lack of utility. The
term generally does not encompass bodily waste products, purely liquid or gaseous wastes, or toxic waste products. Garbage
is commonly sorted and classified into kinds of material suitable for specific kinds of disposal.

Landfill
A landfill site, also known as a tip, dump, rubbish dump, garbage dump, or dumping ground, is a site for the disposal of waste
materials.

Compost
Compost is a mixture of ingredients used as plant fertilizer and to improve soil's physical, chemical and biological properties. It
is commonly prepared by decomposing plant, food waste, recycling organic materials and manure.

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KEY
DEFINITIONS:
Vermicomposting
Vermicomposting is a natural process whereby earthworms convert waste material with rigid structures into compost. The
compost produced in this green process is traditionally and popularly used as a natural fertilizer for enhancing plant growth.

Recycling
Recycling is the process of collecting and processing materials that would otherwise be thrown away as trash and turning them
into new products. Recycling can benefit your community and the environment.

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JOURNEY
THROUGH IMAGES:
Paste all the images from the relevant chapter.
Q & A:

1. (a) Which kind of garbage is not converted into compost by the redworms?
(b) Have you seen any other organism besides redworms, in your pit? If yes, try to find out their names. Draw pictures of
these.
Ans:
(a) Garbage substances like broken glass, aluminium wrappers, plastic items, polythene bags, which are non-biodegradable
cannot be converted into compost by the redworms.
(b) Yes, saprophytic organisms such as moulds (white, black or greyish cottony patches) and bacteria (which can be seen under
microscope) that help in decomposing biodegradable substances.
Q & A:

2. Discuss:
(a) Is garbage disposal the responsibility only of the government?
(b) Is it possible to reduce the problems relating to disposal of garbage?
Ans:
(a) Along with government and local municipality corporations, it is also the duty of every citizen to help in garbage disposal.A
clean environment is necessary to keep us healthy and also to avoid spread of diseases.We should throw garbage at proper
places, such as dustbins so that Safai Karamcharis cam collect the garbage easily.
(b) It is possible to reduce the problems relating to disposal of garbage, if we adopt the following means:
(i) The garbage should be thrown at proper places. It should not be thrown ‘ on streets, roads, parks, etc.
(ii) The part of the garbage that can be reused should be separated from the one that cannot be used. The non-useful
components should be disposed off at landfill areas.
(iii) Follow the rule of Three R’s:
A. Reduce: Use the things in minimum amount which is necessary to fulfil your requirement.
B. Recycle: The things such as plastic, paper, glass and metals separated from the garbage may be recycle to make new things
instead of dumping them along with other wastes.
C. Reuse: It means use of things again and again. For example, plastic bottles of jam or pickle can be used for storing things in
the kitchen.
Q & A:

3. (a) What do you do with the left over food at home?

(b) If you and your friends are given the choice of eating in a plastic plate or a banana leaf plotter at a party, which one would
you prefer and why?
Ans:
(a) Left over food at home along with other kitchen waste like vegetable peel, paper are dumped into compost pit to convert
them into manure. Later on manure is used to grow plants.
(b) We will select banana leaf platter because it can be easily converted into manure by composting.
Plastic plate can be recycled but in this process it gives out harmful gases which pollute the environment. Plastic items cannot
be converted into manure by composting.

4. (a) Collect pieces of different kinds of paper. Find out which of these can be recycled,
(b) With the help of a lens look at the pieces of paper you collected for the above question. Do you see any difference in the
material of recycled paper and a new sheet of paper?
Ans:
(a) Pieces of papers obtained from newspaper, notebooks, magazines, etc. can be recycled. Plastic coated and shiny papers
cannot be recycled easily.
(b) The surface of recycled paper is rough whereas surface of new sheet of paper is smooth.
Q & A:

5. (a) Collect different kinds of packaging material. What was the purpose for which each one mas used? Discuss in groups.
(b) Give an example in which packaging could have been reduced.
(c) Write a story on how packaging increases the amount of garbage.
Ans:
(a) Packaging materials like thermocole, foam sheets, paper cuttings, card board, jute are used to protect the articles.Card
boxes, plastic containers and tin containers are used to facilitate transportation of the packed materials.
(b) Packaging of toys, clothes, shoes, chocolates can be reduced.
(c) We use packaging materials to protect the articles and also to make package good- looking. For example, to give a gift on
birthday, the gift is packed and wrapped in a shiny paper or plastic-coated paper. After use the packing material is thrown in
dustbin. Similarly, plastic bags, cans, aluminium foils, plastic or aluminium cans and other packaging materials are used and
thrown out after use.
Many things such as ghee, refined oil, soaps, detergents and most of eatable goods are sold in small packets.
All the above said measures can help in reducing the amount of garbage due to packing.
Q & A:

6. Do you think it is better to use compost instead of chemical fertilisers? Why?

Ans: Because:

Compost is eco-friendly and harmless. It maintains the texture and fertility of the soil.Chemical fertilisers destroy the natural
composition of soil and have adverse effect on human health.
Composting helps in recycling of matter and also in disposal of garbage. Leaching of chemical fertilisers causes water pollution
and death of aquatic organisms.
The production of compost is easy, cheap and harmless whereas production of chemical fertilisers is costly and problematic.