LESSON
Solid Waste: What's My Responsibility, Part 2
OBJECTIVES
Using solid waste as an example, students will examine how their perception of a problem affects their response to that problem. They will examine the individual's and government's responsibility in solving social problems. Students will define ways they can take responsibility for solutions.
METHODS
Students read the article "My Twenty Foot Swath" and consider meanings and reactions to Responsibility Assumption Overload (RAO).
MATERIALS
Copies of the article "My Twenty Fott Swath" (follow this lesson).
PROCEDURE
Part 1
1. Read the following article, "My Twenty Fott Swath".
2. Ask questions about the man in the article:
What worries this man?
What does he try to do about it?
Does he think his response is effective?
What response does students make when faced with a problem of this kind?
What is RAO Responsibility Assumption Overload)? Have students ever felt RAO?
What were the circumstances?
3. Use the problem of solid waste as an example of an area where RAO may have occured for some people.
HAVE STUDENTS CONSIDER THE FOLLOWING FACTS:
Californians create about 46 million tons of trash every year; enough to fill two freeway lanes 100 feet deep from Oregon to Mexico. (1)
Americans make more than twice as mich trash per person as people of other countries such as Japan and Germany. (1)
The EPA predicts by the year 2000, more than half the remaining 6,000 municipal landfills in the U.S. will be closed (full). (2)
4. Discuss possible solutions to the problem of waste.
Ultimately, who is responsible for solving our solid waste problems? County, state, federal governments? Those we elect? Only those who generate the waste? Individuals?
Should government strictly regulate disposal of all types of household waste?
Should government force people to recycle? Should government give greater incentives?
Is it reasonable to expect that individual action has a chance of solving a problem of this size? If not, what do students see happening?
We do not have the luxury of creating more and more landfills. Should we ship our waste to other countries? Dump it in the oceans or send it into space? Require manufacturers to reclaim their products after the product has reached the end of its useful life?
Solid Waste: What's My Responsibility, Part 2
