Waste Audit Scientific Investigation
Transform into a garbologist, or a person who studies garbage.
What can we learn from studying our schools waste?
Safety Procedures
Suit Up in Your Safety Gear!
Everyone will wear:
Aprons
Goggles
Gloves
Mask
Set Up your Audit Area
Layout tarps and samples
Recycle stream sample
Landfill stream sample
Compost stream sample
Color coding the tarps and samples helps identify sample streams in photos.
Phase 1: Sort!
For each waste stream sort materials based on what bin they should be sorted into:
- Landfill
- Recycle
- Compost
When materials are sorted into the wrong bin, that’s known as contamination. One goal of your sorting is to determine how much contamination was in each waste stream.
A Note on Compostables:
Food Share
Unbitten or unopened food from school
Wasted Food
Opened or bitten food that could have still been eaten
Inedible Food and Compostables
Peels, paper, bones, etc.
Compostables can be sorted into three sub-categories to better capture what potential any wasted food had to be recovered before discarded.
PHASE 2: Observations & Photos
Make observations of your sorted material.
Write down your observations on your data sheet and take photos of all your samples.
PHASE 3: Weighing and Recording
If you are also taking volume data, use a standard set of bins and calculate volume.
Record the data on your recording sheet
Weigh all the materials by category. You can use a hanging fish scale or floor scale
Make sure you are weighing in pounds (lbs) and reset the scale after weighing a bag.
Clean Up
Everyone helps!
Spray Cleaner
Sponges
Broom and Dustpan
Data Analysis
Figure out what percent (%) of each category you found in each waste stream sample.
Example:
Report Back
Develop a way to report back your findings to key stakeholders and to the school community.
You are a Garbologist!