You’ve chosen to throw
the soup can away.
Let’s see where it goes,
at the end of the day.
A garbage can sits near the edge of the curb,
with a really bad smell that says
“Do not disturb!”
The garbage truck’s started its day, but it’s dirty
and everything smells...and it’s only six thirty!
Sticky gum wrappers
and dirty old socks
are sticking to pizza that’s stuck to a box!
There’s lots of old junk here that nobody uses,
like rotting-out sofas and burnt-out old fuses.
A can is recyclable, metal throughout…
but not if you use it and then throw it out.
Certain things take a long time to break down,
and dumps can leak gases that might hurt your town.
Runoff from rain can cause toxins to seep,
affecting the water and food that we eat.
Materials take time to break down, for real!
It’s one year for paper,
1 year
but 50 for steel.
50 years
Aluminum takes 200 years –
that’s a lot.
200 years
But plastic takes 500,
like it or not!
500 years
1,000,000
years
Glass takes a million
years—that is the worst.
Before we trash bottles,
let’s really think first.
We’re back in the kitchen to click and find out
what to recycle and what to throw out.
Styrofoam
Styrofoam containers for take-out food is not accepted for recycling at this time. Throw them out.
Diapers
Used diapers are not recyclable. Wrap dirty diapers before throwing them out to minimize odours.
Pizza
Leftover pizza, greasy pizza boxes and food scraps can’t be recycled. Throw them in the garbage.
The garbage trip’s finished. Now let’s look ahead...
what if you recycle your soup can instead?