Go Green Shopping Activity

Go Green Shopping ActivityName: ______

HR: ______Date: ______

Introductions and Objectives

Whether its green beans or an iPod-everything we purchase comes with hidden costs---the resources used in its creation, packaging and transport to the store. May items are packages within packages within packages leading to a lot of needless material waste. Other items may be imported from far regions of the globe, which means that a lot of energy was expended and a lot of carbon dioxide was emitted before the goods even reached the store shelves. Costs are also involved in product disposal---think about garbage dumps and landfills overflowing with mountains of stuff we no longer want.

The following assignment will take you through a set of stations that contain everyday products. You are challenged to consider the hidden costs to the planet when selecting a product. At the conclusion of the activity, the class will discuss their choices, tally up which items have the lowest cost to the planet and see what other costs you may have overlooked.

Assignment

STEP ONE:

Complete the introduction “green shopping” lab in class.

STEP TWO (homework):

Go to to test your skills and print out the Strange Days on Planet Earth Green Sheet—a green shopping pocket guide.

STEP THREE (homework):

Create your own “Green Shopping Pocket Guide” with a minimum of eight checks/tips; maximum of twelve. You may only use three of the checks/tips listed on the Strange Days on Planet Earth Green Sheet, all other tips need to be your own unique ideas.

Green Shopping Pocket Guide is due by ______; after grading share the “Green Shopping Pocket Guide” share with your parents and friends to use on their next shopping trip. See the. Each “Green Shopping Pocket Guide” must have a title, instructions, and minimum of six/maximum of twelve checklist items or rating system for items purchased or quick questions guidelines.

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STEP ONE (In Class):

Write down five things that affect your decision to purchase a piece of clothing, food, electronic, etc. Think about the things you decide before actually spending the money.

1.______

2.______

3.______

4.______

5.______

Answer the following questions:

1. Reduce, reuse and recycle—what does this mean to you?

2. Length of time it takes for plastic, glass, aluminum, paper that make up common products to degrade—research on-line.

Plastic: ______

Glass:______

Aluminum:______

Paper:______

3. Define the following: Renewable and Non-Renewable Resources

Renewable Resources:

Non-Renewable Resources:

4. What are two far-reaching planetary impacts of fossil fuel emissions?

a.______

b.______

5. Do you think the amount of energy involved in making a product increases with the number of ingredients used to make that product? Explain why or why not.

STOP—we will be sharing responses in class

Lab Instructions

There are eight stations placed around the room where you have to make a purchase. The goal is to purchase those items that have the lowest score in terms of hidden costs to the planet. You must rank each product keeping the following categories in mind: packaging, transport costs, pollutants or chemicals used and disposability.

The station you begin at will be your group number for the entire lab. As a group fill in the products name and rank each item on the worksheet. If a product has much impact on the environment, it gets a high rating of 3; medium impact 2; low impact a rating of 1. You will have two minutes at each station.

Remember: do not get hung up on getting the “right” answers. Every purchase has grey areas. While every purchase comes with multiple issues, each station is designed to highlight one particular issue and offer a take-home message.

When you have completed all of the stations, return to your start station and total your worksheet. Compare with other members of your group, select the most common response for each station to share with class. Write a helpful hint to keep in mind when shopping.

Your Helpful Hint:______

GO GREEN SHOPPING WORKSHEET

Names in Group:______

Group Number: ______HR: ______Date: ______

Station 1—Beverage Containers Station 2—Light bulbs Station 3—Juice

Station 4—Electronics Station 5—Chips Station 6—School Notebooks

Station 7—Fruit/Vegetables Station 8—Bags

Instructions:

a. Write each product description in the product column.

b. Rate each item according to its impact on the environment using the following scale: High Impact (3); Medium Impact (2); Low Impact (1) under the columns labeled transportation, pollutant potential, recyclability.

c. Add up your ratings and place that figure in the last column.

A B C

Station ProductTransportation Pollutant Recyclability Total

Number Description Costs Potential of product A+B+C=Total