On Thursday, February 14, Monica came into teach us about how recycling works. First, Monica told us to draw things that are made out of one material, draw things that can’t be disassemble easily, and draw things that can change shape and why. Earlier, Monica gave us tin foil to build things out it. First, she told us to build something out of tin foil that you can wear. What I made was a shoe. Then, Monica said to get a partner and make gifts for each other. Before we made gifts for our partner, we had to make the tin foil flat again. I ripped mine a few times while I was trying to flatten my tin foil out. Since that happened, I only had a few scraps of tin foil left, so I made my partner a ring.

After we did that activity, Monica gave us a lid of a box filled with different types of bottle caps, nails, pins, and clothing pins. Like in recycling centers, we had to sort them out, but we had to make a tool that was made out of more than one material, that would help us sort them out. We got split up into two groups of eight. Two people are in charge of one material so me and my partner, Sabrina, were in charge of sorting the nails and pins. My partner and I made a tool that would scoop the nails and pins up. The tool was made out of tin foil, post-its, and a pencil.

On Thursday, I learned how people recycle plastic bottles. First, they separate the bottle caps and the plastic bottle itself. Then, the bottles get shred into pieces. Finally, they are melted into small pellets. They are shipped to companies that can melt them and make the plastic different products. Depending on how you recycle plastic bottles, it can be a pollutant.

How I can help is next time I buy a plastic bottle from a grocery store, I’ll reuse the bottle instead of throwing it out. I had a really fun experience and learned a lot about recycling.