Investigate

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Answer: There was a movie called "Wall.E". It was a possible outcome of the future, there was rubbish and litter everywhere and the humans had to live in space while the Earth is cleaned up. Our realistic world will be like this too, if everyone drops a piece of litter everyday (human population as of 23 September 2009: 6.786 billion), there would be an extra 6.789 billion pieces of rubbish and our planet will soon be covered in a countless amount of litter. Litter has polluted our land by creating an unsuitable enviroment to have plants and vegetables growing. Litter has also polluted our drinking water causing humans and animals to drink dirty water. Not only would litter itself be a problem, litter can also lead to a bigger problem: resources. Humans and animals alike needs resources in order to survive, but we are not recycling! Resources such as fossil fuels will eventually run out, if we do not make the most of it, then it will run out faster than if we had recycled. My //__Key__// Questions are: ** __Q1) What will happen if we do not recycle?__ If people don't recycle, global warming will become even worse. Plants and animals will die out, and humans will be in danger because of harmful chemicals released in the air from land fills and garbage dumps. The Earth will look like a great big garbage dump, and all of the humans will probably become extinct because the rivers won't be clean enough to drink from, and neither will the ground water. Food will also be poisoned from all of the chemical waste.Plastic bottles are made from oil - a fossil fuel that will run out eventually. It is important to make use of materials like plastics that can be recycled and re-used, rather than continually using the fossil fuels used to make them in the first place.  __Q2) What is litter?__ Litter is anything that is thrown,dropped or deposited in a public place creating an environmental damage.It can be described as rubbish in the wrong place. Litter is trash of any type thrown where it doesn’t belong. Litter can vary from chewing gum wrappers and cigarette butts tossed on the ground to a broken washing machine left on the reserve. Litter can harm people and animals because the litter can get in the drinking water and animals might get suffocated by plastic bags or other "unwelcomed" rubbish. It can also be a big problem in towns and the countryside.It is a bigger problem now than in the past because: • There is more waste around than before. • Packaging is made of plastic and aluminium, which does not decay over time • Fast foods and eating in the streets have increased, as a result, the amount of litter on the streets have also increased. • It affects and pollutes the streams. • It is a danger to wildlife. • It costs a lot of money to clean up.
 * The //__BIG__// question: ** What will the world look like in the year 2050 if we continue to litter and not recycle?

__K1 Q1) What does recycling mean?__ Recycling involves processing used materials into new products to prevent waste of useful materials, reduce the consumption of fresh unused materials, reduce energy usage, reduce air pollution (from fumes released into the atmosphere while producing), and water pollution (from landfilling) by reducing the need for unnecessary waste disposal. Reduce, Reuse and Recycle are known as The 3'Rs. Reduce meaning use less plastic bags and other materials harmful to the enviroment. Reuse as in using glass jars and other materials and objects again or as different things, e.g. glass jars as pencil holders. Recycle is putting paper, cardboard, glass and other things that can be recycled in a recycling bin.  __K1 Q2) How is rubbish processed into recycled material and objects?__ The recyclable materials from Auckland and Manukau cities arrive at the MRF and are emptied on to the tipping floor. The second step involves processing the recyclable materials. This includes sorting the materials into groups, cleaning them, melting and/or crushing them and getting them ready to be sold to manufacturers who will turn the materials into new products. The new products are then sold to the customers.  __K1 Q3) What happens after the recycled materials have been reused?__ There are 2 types of recycling, one is closed-loop recycing and the other one is open-loop recycing. Closed-loop recycing happens when used materials are remade in to new products again and again. The materials go round in a non-stop cycle and are never wasted.Open-loop recycing happens when materials are made into different products that cannot be recycled again. The materials are reused onlt once and then thrown away. Many people believe this is not recycling at all because the materials are wasted. Although all steel can be recycled, some steel products are not recycled because they are difficult to recover. Steel products that are not usually recycled include small items such as paper clips, staples and screws. These are usually often lost or swept away. Also, all paper is recycled in an open-loop cycle. Paper cannot be recycled continuously in a closed loop like steel, aluminium or glass. Each time paper is reprocessed, its fibres become weaker. All grades of paper can be reprocessed about seven times, after that they are thrown away. Used paper is also made into other products, these include furniture made from glue and recycled paper.  __K1 Q4) What can we recycle?__ __K2 Q1) What are the consequences of littering?__ If everyone in this world threw garbage and litter without thinking wherever they went, the environment would soon be in ruins. Litter in our surroundings is an important environmental issue, which many people overlook. While a majority of people do know that littering is a bad thing, many continue to carelessly scatter their trash around nonetheless. A host of problems stem from littering, and as a result of some people's inability to control this habit, the environment has been suffering. Littering can be dangerous to one's own health as well. Trash in an area attracts vermin and bacteria. Broken glass and other sharp objects are dangerous when they are left lying around in public places. Litter is harmful to wildlife as well. Plastic can cause animals such as birds to choke, when they mistake it for food.
 * My //__Supporting__// Questions are: **
 * Newspapers
 * egg cartons
 * magazines, books, comics
 * office paper, computer paper and envelopes
 * cardboard and cartons (flatten first)
 * brochures and junk mail
 * telephone directories
 * aluminium cans
 * tin cans
 * glass bottles and jars (unbroken)
 * plastic containers
 * plastic milk bottles

__K2 Q2) What are cities doing to prevent littering?__ A lot of cities are issuing fines for every time you litter, arranging bins in different places are also helpful as you only have to walk a few metres to one, there are also different types of bins avaliable, such as; plastic bottle recycling bins, glass bottle recycling bins etc . California alone spends $28 million a year cleaning up and removing litter on the pavements and roadsides. One study found that 18 percent of litter ends up in rivers, streams and oceans . The burden of litter cleanup usually falls to local governments or community groups. Some U.S. states, including Alabama, California, Florida, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Texas and Virginia, are taking strong measures to prevent litter through public education campaigns, and are spending millions of dollars yearly to clean up. Signapore, for instance, bans people from chewing gum as people usually spit the gum onto the pavements and on the roadsides. Also, if you drop a piece of trash in Signapore, you are instantly fined $1000. You'll also get a "community work order," forced labor designed to shame people the government deems litterbugs. In Hong Kong you are fined $1500 if someone catches you dropping litter on the ground.