Classroom Web Links

Science for Ohio's Composting Virtual Tour combines photos and text to show the process of recycling leaves, grass, and household food waste. Click on the icon above to begin the tour.

Recycle City, sponsored by the United States Environmental Protection Agency, is one of the best interactive websites for waste reduction on the Internet. Students learn ways to reduce, reuse, precycle, and recycle as they navigate through this virtual city. Click on the image above to visit Recycle City. Also included in this website is the Dumptown Simulation. Dumptown Simulation allows users to plan a virtual citywide recycling program. Note: If you have an older browser, you may need to download Macromedia Shockwave to view this simulation.

Harcourt School Publishers offers Composting, an interactive activity in which students decide whether selected resources should be composted or recycled. Note: If you have an older browser, you may need to download Macromedia Shockwave to view movies.

Roscoe's Recycle Room by the Steel Recycling Institute uses animation and games to teach children about steel recycling. "Roscoe's Shopping Spree" and "Brand the Can" are recommended. Click on the icon above. Note: If you have an older browser, you may need to download Macromedia Shockwave to view this simulation.

Rumpke Inc. manages waste for portions of Ohio. Click on the icon above and choose their recycling link to learn more about what they will and will not recycle.

Teacher/Parent Web Links

The Ohio Department of Natural Resources Division of Recycling and Litter Prevention has a wealth of background information for teachers.

The Steel Recycling Institute Home Page provides information and links for steel recycling. Click on the icon above.

Hamilton County Environmental Services offers free videos to Hamilton County teachers. Click on the icon above.

Keep America Beautiful is a national organization with local affiliates dedicated to improving waste reduction. Click on the icon to learn about activities in your area.

The Direct Marketing Association's Mail Preference Service offers consumers a way to get off junk mailing lists. Click on the icon above.

Paper University's "Admit One" section has a field trip data base that will locate available field trips to paper recycling plants in your part of the United States. Note: Field trip opportunities for southwest Ohio and the tristate area are listed below. For field trip information in other areas, click on the icon above.

Cincinnati Paperboard--Fairfax
Students will tour a papermill that manufactures 100% recycled-content paper. Watch as old paper is turned into a watery pulp and screened to remove impurities. The pulp passes through cleaners and screens with water. Then it is pressed, dried, and rolled into new sheets of paper. No student fees. Program information and schedule contact: Matt Sullivan 513-871-7112, Ext. 3013

Anchor Glass Company--Lawrenceburg, IN
Students will tour a glass manufacturing facility that uses recycled content and learn about the value and benefits of recycling glass. Additionally, the factors of productions and career opportunities are discussed and observed while incorporating math, social studies, science, and reading. No student fees. Program information and schedule contact: Mike Whiting 812-537-1655, Ext. 304

NPK Compost Farm--Colerain Township
Rumpke's NPK (nitrogen-potassium-phosphorus) Compost Farm turns 40,000 cubic yards of yard debris into compost annually. In order to facilitate decomposition, debris is chopped by a grinder into small pieces, stored in large rows called "windrows". These windrows are up to 10 feet high and 150 feet long. When the material reaches certain temperatures and stages of decomposition, the rows are turned by a loader (big machine) to add oxygen. After this process, the finished compost is screened, analyzed, and sold. The original volume of material is reduced by over 1/3 with this process. No student fees. Program information and schedule contact: Mary Mulford 513-353-1506

Rumpke Landfill Tour--Colerain Township
Rumpke Consolidated Companies welcomes schools, civic, and social groups to Hamilton CountyÕs largest landfill located near Cincinnati in Colerain Township. A Rumpke representative serves as your tour guide directing your bus around the landfill on a 45-minute tour! During the tour, students will learn about Rumpke's surprising history as a family owned company, the scale house, and the different types of trucks used. Students view sediment basins, the working face of the landfill, the wastewater collection systems, the heavy equipment yard, and the methane gas recovery system. Finally, guests receive details about the landfill liner system, which is vital to landfill construction. No student fees. Program information and schedule contact: Amanda Wilson 513-741-2637

The Recycling Manager is a website that tracks the current trends in recycling markets. They publish a chart of current prices for recyclables that is updated biweekly. Possible classroom uses:

• Math--Track trends in pricing for certain recyclables over time; convert all chart prices to dollars per ton (some are listed as cents per pound) to see which material is the most profitable.
• Social Studies--Read and discuss the News section with your students. Discuss the role of supply and demand and the factors of production.

Protecting Your Environment: An Interactive CD-ROM (Selected for a 2001 Award of Excellence by the Environmental Education Council of Ohio) highlights steps that students, citizens and policy makers can take to reduce environmental health risks. Includes downloadable photos, video clips, and interactive windows to illustrate risks such as indoor air quality, motor vehicle pollution, ozone depletion, drinking water, abandoned industrial sites, destruction of wetlands, loss of species diversity, food toxins, and waste disposal. Ohio EPA will provide a single copy at no charge to teachers and environmental educators as long as supplies last.

• Recycling Connection: Spring Cleaning is a fun, animated, interactive recycling game for all ages. From the Main Menu choose Participating in Environmental Protection: Games: Spring Cleaning.