The Mitten, May 2004 Teacher Supplement

Teacher’s Supplement for the May 2004 Issue of The Mitten: Michigan’s Bottle Bill Prepared by the education staff of the Michigan Historical Center www.michiganhistory.org

MASTERY QUESTIONS Social Studies Content Standards: 1.3 Historical Perspective (Analyzing and Interpreting the Past); 6.2 Public Discourse and Decision Making (Group Discussion).

1. Why did broken glass and rusting cans become such a problem on Michigan’s roadsides and beaches during the 1960s? 2. What did the Bottle Bill propose? Which state representative wrote the Bottle Bill? 3. Who opposed the Bottle Bill and what were their reasons for being against it? 4. What did the people do when special interest groups stopped the Bottle Bill from coming to a vote in the legislature? 5. What kinds of beverage containers are not included in the Bottle Bill? Should we have additional laws to encourage people to recycle water, tea, fruit, and noncarbonated sports drink containers? Why or why not? 6. If you have an idea for a change or a new law, what are some effective ways to get your ideas known to other people and how would you go about each one of them? (Petition, write legislators, talk to people, write to newspapers, make a display.)

CLASSROOM TRASH ANALYSIS Social Studies Content Standards 6.1 Public Discourse & Decision Making (Identifying & Analyzing Issues); 6.2 Public Discourse & Decision Making (Group Discussion); 6.3 Public Discourse & Decision Making (Persuasive Writing); 7.1 Citizen Involvement (Responsible Personal Conduct); Science Content Standard 3.5, Use Scientific Knowledge from the Life Sciences in Real-World Context (Ecosystems).

Supplies: a large sheet of plastic, a pair of plastic gloves for each student, a full classroom trash container. (You might discard some items yourself during the day to insure variety. Some suggestions: empty tissue box, film canister, tin can, water bottle, crayons, paper clip, individual drink containers, tape dispenser, plastic silverware, plastic baggies.

Objective: Students think about what they can do personally to generate less waste.

Divide the class into teams of four or five students and give each student a pair of plastic gloves. Empty the classroom trash container onto a large sheet of plastic on the floor. Ask each group to come forward and select four or five items from the trash for analysis. Ask each group of students to come up with ways to eliminate or reduce the amount of each of the items they have selected from classroom waste.

Make three columns on the blackboard and label the columns: Reduce, Reuse and Recycle. Explain to the class that to reduce is to come up with an alternative to using a disposable item in the first place, i.e. to pack a sandwich in a reusable plastic container rather than a plastic sandwich bag. To reuse is to use the item again for the same use, i.e. to wash a plastic fork and use it again. To recycle is to come up with a new use for an item rather than discarding it, i.e. cutting up used colored paper to make material for a collage. After students have had time in their groups to discuss and come up with creative ways to eliminate or reduce their selected items, discuss their ideas as a class. Have each team give its suggestions for eliminating items from the trash. Discuss with the class what category the suggestion fits into and write the suggestion in the relevant column on the board.

Have students choose their favorite suggestions from the list and make a poster urging students to Reduce, Reuse, or Recycle classroom trash. Posters could be displayed around the school for other classrooms to see. Students might want to compare their ideas for recycling items to those suggested by readers of the website: www.geocities.com/RainForest/5002 The site contains many ideas for reducing garbage and eliminating landfills. If students have a new idea for recycling, they can send their idea to the webmaster and have it posted on the site. LOCAL LITTER: INSPECTION, ANALYSIS, ACTION Social Studies Content Standards: 6.2, Public Discourse and Decision Making (Group Discussion); 6.3, Public Discourse and Decision Making (Persuasive Writing); 7.1, Citizen Involvement (Responsible Personal Conduct). Science Content Standards 3.5, Use Scientific Knowledge from the Life Sciences in Real-World Context (Ecosystems); 4.2 Use Scientific Knowledge from the Physical Sciences in Real-World Contexts (Changes in Matter); 5.1, Use Scientific Knowledge from the Earth and Space Sciences in Real-World Contexts (Geosphere).

Although the 1978 Bottle Bill reduced the amount of litter found along Michigan’s roads and highways by as much as 80%, litter is still a problem in many places. Take students on a litter inspection tour and clean up of the school playground, an adjoining neighborhood or a local park. Take a large plastic trash bag and give each student a pair of plastic gloves. Ask students to pick up any trash they see on the tour and put it in the trash bag. Back in the classroom empty the trash bag onto a sheet of plastic (can be another garbage bag cut at the seams). Have students categorize the trash into types, i.e. cigarette butts, gum wrappers, food/candy wrappers, paper scraps, beverage containers, and count the number of items in each category. What categories of trash are people most likely to be throwing on the ground? What can be done to discourage this type of littering? Have students write a letter to their local community newspaper explaining the litter inspection project, what the students found, and their recommendations for improvement. Ask the newspaper to partner with the students in a community litter awareness campaign and to publish some of the letters.

DEBATE Social Studies Content Standards 6.1 Public Discourse and Decision Making (Identifying & Analyzing Issues); 6.2 Public Discourse and Decision Making (Group Discussion); English Language Content Standard 10, Ideas in Action.

Have students read the following report from Booth Newspapers’ Lansing Bureau: (The complete article can be found at: http://www.mlive.com/search/index.ssf?/base/news-4/108547984248960.xml? news/statewide?NE)

May 25, 2004: “Environmental groups say they’ll mount a petition drive to add water, juice, tea and sports drinks to the state’s bottle-deposit law, unless the Legislature addresses the issue this year….Representatives of nine environmental and conservation groups, calling themselves the Bigger Better Bottle Bill Coalition, unveiled poll results on Monday [May 24] showing that 73 percent of Michigan residents favor placing a 10-cent deposit on more beverage containers…But opponents, including retailers and other businesses represented by the Michigan Recycling Partnership, contend that returning containers to stores is expensive and unsanitary. They say the answer is to establish well-funded local recycling programs, including curbside pickup.” Divide the class into two groups. Assign one group to be in favor of the expanded Bottle Bill and the other group to be opposed to the idea. Have students check local papers and the Internet for additional arguments to support their stand on the issue and for information on the progress of the bill in the legislature. Arrange students so that they are seated with other students on their side of the debate. Encourage debate between the two groups by going back and forth between them for comments. Have each student start their argument by saying either “I support the bottle bill because…” or “I oppose the bottle bill because…” Remind students that they may or may not agree with the side they have been assigned to support. After the debate, discuss with the class which were most convincing and why.

CAN AND BOTTLE DRIVE Social Studies Content Standard: 7.1, Citizen Involvement (Responsible Personal Conduct).

Conduct a community can and bottle drive to raise money for an environmental cause. Students contact community households and offer to return refundable bottles and cans to retail stores. In exchange for this service, students collect the deposit fees to contribute to a local environmental group, to carry out a school beautification project, or to purchase a park bench or playground equipment made from recycled materials.