Single Use Plastics and Home Recycling
(15 Points)
Part I Single Use Plastics
1. (0.5 pt) What is the definition of a single-use plastic?
2. (0.5 pt) What are some common single-use plastic items?
3. (1 pt) What happens to plastics over time?
4. (1 pt) Which country produced the most plastic waste per person in 2023 (i.e. per capita)?
5. (1 pt) What is recycling?
6. (1 pt) What are the benefits of recycling?
7. (1 pt) When is recycling not a good strategy?
8. (1 pt) What are 5 single-use plastic items that you use?
9. (2 pts) Use the internet to search out alternatives to these single-use plastics.
A. Bottles of Shampoo
B. Plastic grocery store bags
C. Plastic Straws
D. Bottled water
E. Bread bags
F. Dish Soap
G. Cleaning Products
H. Soda in Plastic Bottles
I. Yogurt containers
Part II: Home Recycling
Many people do not know exactly what can and cannot go in their curbside recycling. In this section, you will figure out what is acceptable in your recycling bin.
1. What City or Township do you live in? _________________________________
2. (1 pt) Find the website for your community’s curbside recycling or the drop-off station you identified in Question 1. For a City or Township, I recommend searching for “City of _____________ Recycling”. Copy and paste your city’s or drop-off station’s recycling website here.
3. (4 pts) Below is a list of commonly recycled items. Use the website you found in Question 2 to determine you can recycle these in your curbside recycling or at your drop-off station. To determine what can be recycled at McMaster, visit the https://facilities.mcmaster.ca/sustainability/waste/. Answer yes/no.
Item Type
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Recyclable at your Home?
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Recyclable at McMaster?
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Plastics #1
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Plastics #2
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Plastics #3
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Plastics #4
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Plastics #5
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Plastics #6
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Plastics #7
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Plastic Bags
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Glass
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Metal (Tin, Aluminum, Steel)
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Paper and Newspaper
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Pizza Boxes
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Concrete
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4. (1 pt) Search Google. What is wishful recycling? Why does it do more harm than good?