Hi there! It’s Danny, and I’ve been lucky to travel to many amazing places. I’ve seen big cities, tiny islands, climbed huge glaciers, and even scuba-dived deep in the ocean. But no matter where I go, there’s one thing I always find: trash. People create a lot of trash every year, so it’s not surprising that wherever there are people, there’s usually some garbage too.
Our friend Clementine has a great question: Does trash last forever? Let’s explore this! If you’ve ever used a compost bin or watched a video about composting, you might know that food scraps can break down into smaller parts under the right conditions. These smaller parts can help new plants grow. But can we do this with all trash? Let’s find out!
Not all trash is the same. Imagine you have a tray of leftovers from lunch. You might have food scraps like a banana peel, paper products like a napkin, and plastic items like a yogurt cup. These are all made from different materials.
If you left your tray outside for a week, what do you think would happen? Some things might change, while others stay the same. Let’s take a closer look!
Most materials change over time, but some break down faster than others. After a week, your banana peel might turn brown and smelly, and your pizza slice might grow mold. A month later, the paper napkin might start to fall apart, especially if it gets wet. But what about the plastic fork? It might not change much at all!
Plastics are made from different materials, and many can sit in the sun, cold, and rain for a long time without changing. The tiny living things that break down food scraps usually can’t break down most plastics.
Even though nothing lasts forever, plastics can take a very long time to break down. Over time, they might wear down into smaller pieces, but these pieces are still plastic. These tiny pieces can travel far and wide, ending up in places like the ocean or even our drinking water. Scientists are still learning about how these tiny plastics affect plants and animals, but it’s not looking good.
You can make a difference! By using less plastic and throwing away less, you can help reduce the amount of plastic in the world. Always try to recycle and dispose of waste properly to keep it out of nature.
Thanks for the great question, Clementine! Stay curious, and keep exploring the mysteries around us. See you next time!
Trash Timeline: Create a “Trash Timeline” at home! Collect different types of trash items like a banana peel, a paper napkin, and a small plastic item. With the help of an adult, place them in a safe spot outside. Check on them every few days and draw what you see. How do they change over time? Which items change the most, and which stay the same? Share your findings with your class!
Recycling Detective: Become a Recycling Detective in your home! With an adult, look at the trash your family throws away for one day. Sort the trash into different categories: food scraps, paper, plastic, and others. How much of it can be recycled or composted? Make a plan with your family to recycle more and reduce waste. Can you think of creative ways to reuse some items?
Plastic Hunt: Go on a “Plastic Hunt” around your house or neighborhood. Make a list of all the plastic items you find. Are there any items that could be replaced with something that breaks down more easily, like glass or metal? Discuss with your family how you can use less plastic in your daily life. Maybe you can start using a reusable water bottle or bring your own bags to the store!
Sure! Here’s a sanitized version of the transcript:
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Hi, it’s Danny! In my life, I’ve been fortunate to travel to many incredible places. I’ve visited big cities, tiny islands, climbed huge glaciers, and scuba-dived deep in the ocean. But whether I’m close to home or thousands of miles away, there’s one thing I can usually find wherever I go: trash. Humans create trillions of pounds of trash each year, so it makes sense that wherever you find people, you’ll probably also find some garbage.
Someone named Clementine has a question about this. Let’s call Clementine now.
Hi, Danny! I have a question for you: Does trash last forever?
That’s a great question! Will all the trash in the world ever go away? If you’ve used a compost bin before or seen our video on composting, you might already know that under the right conditions, food scraps can decompose, breaking down into smaller parts. Those smaller parts can help new plants grow. Are there other ways to do that? Could we turn all our trash into a garden of growing plants? Sounds nice!
The problem is, trash is not all the same. Imagine you carry your cafeteria tray over to the waste bins after lunch. You might have food scraps like a half slice of pizza or a banana peel. You might have paper products like a napkin with some pizza sauce on it. You might also have plastic items like a plastic fork or yogurt cup. All these things are made of different materials.
Now, imagine instead of sorting your waste into bins, you leave your tray outside. After a week, you come back to check on it. What do you think you’ll see? Which materials will look different, and which will look the same? What about in a month or a year? Now would be a good time to pause the video and discuss.
Okay, ready? Most materials change and break down over time, but some break down faster than others. After a week outside, your banana peel might turn brown and get smelly. Your half-eaten slice of pizza might grow some mold. A month later, that paper napkin might start to fall apart, especially if it gets wet in the rain or snow. But what about that plastic fork? How long would you have to wait for that to change? It depends on how the plastic fork was made because different kinds of plastic are made of slightly different materials. In general, many plastics can sit in the sun, cold, and rain for a long time without changing much. The tiny living things that help break down food scraps in compost usually can’t break down most kinds of plastic either.
Still, nothing is forever, right? You’ve probably seen plastic items wear down over time. Maybe you’ve seen a plastic slide at the playground that looks lighter in color in some places from sitting in the sun day after day. Maybe you’ve had a plastic toy wear down over the years. If plastic is exposed to enough wind, water, wear and tear, and heat, eventually it will break down into smaller and smaller pieces.
Now you know that when a banana peel decomposes, it breaks down into smaller parts. In the right conditions, those smaller parts transform into something that helps plants grow. So, old composted food scraps help make something new: new plants. A few kinds of plastic are specially designed to decompose like food scraps do, but most plastics don’t work that way. With a lot of energy and effort, we can sometimes use machines to recycle one plastic item into another plastic item. But even then, when those plastics break down, the smaller pieces they become are just tiny pieces of plastic—same material, just smaller.
What was once a plastic fork can eventually break down into so many tiny pieces that you almost can’t see them anymore. But that’s not always a good thing. When plastic gets this tiny, wind and flowing water can easily move these tiny pieces long distances. Tiny pieces of plastic have been found in many unexpected places, like at the bottom of the ocean and at the top of Mount Everest. They’ve even been found in some drinking water. Scientists are still trying to understand how these tiny plastics affect the plants and animals living in these places. What we’ve seen so far isn’t great. Living things that eat, drink, or grow around too much of these tiny plastics can get sick.
One thing we know for sure is that when tiny pieces of plastic end up in unwanted places, it’s hard to get them out again. Ever picked up a plastic bag off the ground? Easy, right? Now, instead, imagine picking up a handful of plastic glitter off the ground. Not so easy, right? You see the problem.
So, in summary: Trash is made up of different kinds of materials. Most materials change and break down over time. Some materials can break down quickly, like composted food scraps, while others, like plastics, usually break down slowly or maybe never. Composted food scraps can break down into parts that help plants grow, but some materials, like many kinds of plastics, just break down into smaller pieces, which can harm plants and animals around them.
But you can help! If you reduce the amount of plastic you use and toss away, you can reduce the amount of plastic that’s around in the world for years to come. You can also make sure that you dispose of any waste you have in proper bins so it’s less likely to end up in the way of humans or animals.
That’s all for this week’s question. Thanks for asking, Clementine! Now, for the next episode, we reached into our question jar and picked out three questions sent to us that we’re thinking about answering next. When this video is done playing, you’ll get to vote on one. You can choose from: Why do light bulbs get hot? How are pianos made? Or how high can birds fly? So submit your vote when the video is over. We want to hear from all of you watching. There are mysteries all around us. Stay curious, and see you next week!
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Let me know if you need any further modifications!
