Pollinators
When pollen is moved from one part of a flower to another to make seeds, this is called
Pollination
I do not have to clean items before I recycle them...
Yes, you do. Items such as laundry detergent jugs must be rinsed and cleaned before they are placed in the recycling in, or else you risk contaminating other recycled items.
What is the Great Pacific Garbage Patch?
The Great Pacific Garbage Patch (GPGP) is the largest of the five offshore plastic accumulation zones in the world’s oceans. It is located halfway between Hawaii and California in the Pacific Ocean.
The most littered item is...
Beverage containers including water bottles and cans comprise the most litter on our roads.
What is sustainability?
Reducing, reusing, and recycling items to reduce waste to take care of the planet.
This insect is the most commonly known pollinator
Bees
What materials can be recycled in curbside bins in Temple, Texas?
Paper, plastic, and some metal (food and beverage cans).
The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is the size of the state of Texas.
The GPGP covers an estimated surface area of 1.6 million square kilometers, an area twice the size of Texas or three times the size of France.
Under 200 million pieces of litter accumulate along Texas roadways.
In Texas, approximately 362 million pieces of litter accumulate on roads annually
What changes can you make to be more sustainable?
Minimize plastic products, use reusable grocery bags, buy clothing secondhand, any other ideas?
Animals that help move pollen are called
Pollinators
The average person create this many pounds of trash a day...
5 pounds
Is there more than 1 million tons of garbage in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch?
Yes, it is estimated that 1.15 to 2.41 million tons of plastic are entering the ocean each year from rivers. More than half of this plastic is less dense than the water, meaning that it will not sink once it encounters the sea.
What is litter?
Littering is the improper disposal of waste products. While it can happen by mistake (as in an unsecured object flying out of the bed of a truck), littering continues to be largely a deliberate act.
Plastic takes 100 years to decompose.
It takes up to 500+ years for plastic to decompose. It usually breaks down into tinier pieces which contribute to issues like the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.
Pollen is important because...
Pollinators are crucial for plant reproduction, which is essential for healthy ecosystems and food production. They facilitate the transfer of pollen between flowers, enabling plants to produce seeds, fruits, and vegetables. Without pollinators, many plants, including a significant portion of our food crops, would be unable to reproduce.
Most commonly recycled household item is...
Paper! Mail, printer paper, newspapers, magazines, etc.
Majority of the material in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch is...
80% is from land-based sources, the remaining 20% is from boats & other marine sources such as fishing nets.
How litter affects you...
Causes pollution, harms wildlife, spreads diseased, and it costs a lot of money to clean up (40 million in Texas in 2014).
What are the affects of recycling one ton of 100 % recycled paper?
One ton of 100% recycled paper saves the equivalent of 4,100 kWh of energy, 7,000 gallons of water, 60 pounds of air emissions and three cubic yards of landfill space.
1. Pollen is: ___________
2. Pollen Comes From: ____________
3. Pollen Looks like: ____________
1. Pollen is produced by flowering plants, trees, and grasses as part of their reproductive process.
2. Bees and other pollinators move from flower to flower and continually drop old pollen onto a new flower and pick up new pollen. When they buzz on a flower, they even shake off pollen from their bodies!
When pollinators move pollen from one plant to another it is called cross-pollination. Many plants rely on cross-pollination to develop seeds, so without pollinators we would lose most of our plants too!
3. Pollen looks like a fine, powdery substance. Typically yellow or white in color.
Texas produced more than __________ tons of waste in landfills in 2023.
In Texas, approximately 40.1 million tons of waste were disposed of in landfills in 2023. This equates to roughly 7.2 pounds of waste per Texan per day. The North Central Texas region alone accounted for 11.8 million tons of this waste.
The majority of the plastic is large items.
How can you prevent litter?
Keep a litter trash bag in your car, secure trash/recycling bin lids, use reusable bags, any other ideas?
In the U.S. in 2018, how much of the 292.4 million tons of trash ended up in landfills?
146.1 million tons.