Reduce, Reuse, and Scrap!

How many ways can you reuse a plastic water bottle? That is the latest challenge students are tackling in the Get in the Scrap! service learning project. Americans alone go through 50 billion plastic bottles a year, and only 23% of those are recycled.

In the Water Bottle 100 Challenge, students are tasked with thinking of 100 different ways bottles can be repurposed, and are responsible for actually designing and fabricating 10 of these ideas. We’ve received some creative and rather ingenious solutions! Kudos, Hamlin Academy students from Illinois (whose water bottle creations are below)! Adopting these ideas may mean less recyclables in landfills across the US.

Cootie catchers have been a favorite game of students for generations. All you need is a folded piece of paper and you can tell your friend’s fortune. In addition to revealing someone’s potential future, it’s the perfect game to learn about recycling and energy conservation. Students at Mooresville Middle School in North Carolina are customizing their Scrap Catchers and testing the knowledge of their peers.

These are just two of the many fun activities part of the Get in the Scrap! Service Learning Project. The project is a modern-day interpretation of the scrapping efforts across the country during WWII. Today’s students have the power to affect positive change on the environment, much like students 70 years ago played a positive role on the Home Front in securing victory in World War II. Sign up your class, complete fun activities, share your progress with the Museum, and win great prizes for your students! There’s still plenty of time left to participate! The project officially ends for this school year on May 31st.

Scheduling note: Learn more about Get in the Scrap! at the 27th annual National Service-Learning Conference in Minneapolis from March 30 to April 1. Stop by the Showcase, learn about the project, and grab some Scrap swag!

Post by Chrissy Gregg, Virtual Classroom Coordinator