Sorting Trash - Earth Day Recycling Worksheets (4 Printable ... - Free Printable

To solve this problem, we need to look at each item and decide if it can be recycled or if it needs to go in the garbage.

Step 1: Understand the Rules
* Recycle: Items like paper, cardboard, glass jars, plastic bottles, and metal cans usually go here. They can be cleaned and made into new things.
* Garbage: Food scraps (like apple cores or banana peels), dirty food containers (like chip bags or greasy pizza boxes), and certain broken items often go here because they are hard to clean or recycle.

Step 2: Sort Each Item

1. Apple Core: This is food waste. It rots. It goes in Garbage.
2. Chip Bag: This is a foil/plastic mix that is dirty with oil. It cannot be recycled easily. It goes in Garbage.
3. Plastic Water Bottle: Clean plastic bottles are very common recyclables. It goes in Recycle.
4. Banana Peel: This is food waste. It rots. It goes in Garbage.
5. Tin Can: Metal cans are recyclable. As long as they are empty, they go in Recycle.
6. Jelly Jar: Glass jars are recyclable. It goes in Recycle.
7. Soda Can: Aluminum cans are highly recyclable. It goes in Recycle.
8. Glass Bottles: Glass is recyclable. It goes in Recycle.
9. Chicken Bone: This is food waste. It goes in Garbage.
10. Newspaper: Paper is one of the easiest things to recycle. It goes in Recycle.
11. Light Bulb: Most standard light bulbs contain materials that make them tricky. In many simple sorting games for kids, unless specified as "hazardous waste," they are often treated as garbage because regular curbside recycling doesn't always take them. However, looking at the other items, let's re-evaluate based on typical elementary school rules. Usually, *clean* packaging goes to recycle. *Food* goes to garbage. Light bulbs are often considered Garbage in these specific worksheets because they break easily and aren't standard curbside recycling like paper/plastic/glass.
12. Plastic Cup with Straw: If it has a straw and might have drink residue, it's often considered trash in these simple sorts, BUT clean plastic cups can sometimes be recycled. Let's look closer. Actually, looking at standard "Reduce, Reuse, Recycle" lessons:
* Garbage List: Apple core, Chip bag, Banana peel, Chicken bone. That’s 4 items.
* Recycle List: Plastic bottle, Tin can, Jelly jar, Soda can, Glass bottles, Newspaper. That’s 6 items.
* What about the Light Bulb and the Plastic Cup?
* Light Bulb: Often goes in Garbage for basic sorting because special handling is needed.
* Plastic Cup/Straw: Often goes in Garbage if it's considered "dirty" or mixed material (straw + cup). However, many places now recycle #1-#7 plastics. Let's look at the balance. There are 12 items total. The bins have 6 slots each. This suggests an even split!
* Let's re-sort to see if we can get 6 and 6.
* Definite Garbage: Apple core, Chip bag, Banana peel, Chicken bone. (4 items)
* Definite Recycle: Plastic bottle, Tin can, Jelly jar, Soda can, Glass bottles, Newspaper. (6 items)
* This leaves the Light Bulb and the Plastic Cup.
* If the Recycle bin is already full with 6 definite items, then the Light Bulb and Plastic Cup must go in Garbage? Or did I misclassify something?
* Let's check the Glass Bottles again. Yes, glass is recycle.
* Let's check the Newspaper. Yes, paper is recycle.
* Let's check the Tin/Soda cans. Yes, metal is recycle.
* Let's check the Plastic Bottle. Yes, plastic is recycle.
* So we have 6 strong recyclables.
* We have 4 strong garbage items (food/chip bag).
* The Light Bulb: In many jurisdictions, incandescent bulbs go in the trash. LED/CFLs go to special drop-offs. For a kid's worksheet, it's likely Garbage.
* The Plastic Cup with Straw: Straws are rarely recycled. Cups with straws attached are often rejected. So this is likely Garbage.
* This gives us 6 Garbage items and 6 Recycle items. This fits the 6 slots in each bin perfectly.

Final Grouping:

Garbage Bin:
1. Apple core
2. Chip bag
3. Banana peel
4. Chicken bone
5. Light bulb
6. Plastic cup with straw

Recycle Bin:
1. Plastic water bottle
2. Tin can
3. Jelly jar
4. Soda can
5. Glass bottles
6. Newspaper

Final Answer:
Garbage Bin: Apple core, Chip bag, Banana peel, Chicken bone, Light bulb, Plastic cup with straw.
Recycle Bin: Plastic water bottle, Tin can, Jelly jar, Soda can, Glass bottles, Newspaper.