Recycling as an Environmental Awareness Tool in Public Schools: Working with Waste and Building Values in a Brazilian City

Elissa Stephanie de Oliveira Torres¹, Rayssa Maria do Nascimento¹, Gyovanni Dhieymyson Oliveira Lima¹, Rosiane Leite dos Santos Soares¹, Juliano Keyton Dantas², Fábio André Bispo de Melo¹ and Dany Geraldo Kramer^1,

¹Faculty of Health Sciences of Traíri – FACISA, Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil

²Secretary of Education, Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil

Cite this paper:
Elissa Stephanie de Oliveira Torres, Rayssa Maria do Nascimento, Gyovanni Dhieymyson Oliveira Lima, Rosiane Leite dos Santos Soares, Juliano Keyton Dantas, Fábio André Bispo de Melo and Dany Geraldo Kramer. Recycling as an Environmental Awareness Tool in Public Schools: Working with Waste and Building Values in a Brazilian City. American Journal of Educational Research. 2017; 5(9):970-972. doi: 10.12691/education-5-9-7

Abstract

In Brazil, the generation of 78 million tons of waste annually occurs, 35.2% of municipalities dispose of it improperly, resulting in environmental risks and health. In socially disadvantaged regions, this problem intensifies, and it is opportune to take actions that can increase reuse / recycling and rational consumption. Thus, the present study aimed to carry out interventions, with this theme, in public schools of a Brazilian city. The interventions (lectures, talk wheels and workshops) approached rational consumption, waste classifications and recycling as central axes. 150 students were involved in the suggested activities, in which they have intense participation, developing dozens of products from recyclable materials, such as toys, educational games and objects holder. In this way, it was possible to conclude that these actions are relevant, in order to contribute to the appropriation of the contents by the students and their change of behavior as transforming agents of society, mitigating the problems associated with solid urban waste in their communities.

Keywords:
Northeast Brazil sustainability waste recycling

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

References:

[1]	GODECKE, V. M.; NAIME, H. R.; FIGUEIREDO, S. A. J. O consumismo e a geração de resíduos sólidos urbanos no brasil. Rev. Elet. em Gestão, Educação e Tecnologia Ambiental. v (8), nº 8, p. 1700-1712, SET-DEZ, 2012.
[2]	SANTOS, L. T. A. et al. Aproveitamento da fração orgânica dos resíduos sólidos urbanos para produção de composto orgânico. Revista Brasileira de Ciências da Amazônia. v. 3, n. 1, p. 15-28, 2014.
[3]	NOGUEIRA, D. V. J. et al. Educação ambiental e resíduos sólidos. Revbea, São Paulo, Vol. 10, nº 1: 291-300, 2015.
[4]	TROMBETA, R. L.; LEAL, C. A. Gestão dos resíduos sólidos urbanos: um olhar sobre a coleta seletiva no município de Presidente Prudente, São Paulo, Brasil. Formação (Online), Vol. 1, nº 21 (2014).
[5]	RAVINDRA, K. et al. System analysis of municipal solid waste management in Chandigarh and minimization practices for cleaner emissions. Journal of Cleaner Production Vol. 89, 15 February 2015, Pages 251-256.
[6]	ZAMAN, U. A. A comprehensive review of the development of zero waste management: lessons learned and guidelines. Journal of Cleaner Production. Vol. 91, 15 March 2015, Pages 12–25.
[7]	AKENJI, L. Consumer scapegoatism and limits to green consumerism. Journal of Cleaner Production. Vol. 63, 15 January 2014, Pages 13-23.
[8]	GUERRERO, A. L. Solid waste management challenges for cities in developing countries. Waste Management. Vol. 33, Issue 1, January 2013, Pages 220-232.
[9]	KOPNINA, H. Education for sustainable development (ESD): the turn away from ‘environment’ in environmental education? Environmental Education Research. Vol 18, Issue 5, 2012.
[10]	KUDRYAVTSEV, A. et al. The impact of environmental education on sense of place among urban youth. Echosphere. Vol. 3, Issue 4 April 2012 Pages 1-15.
[11]	SEMARH - Secretaria de Estado do Meio Ambiente e Recursos Hídricos - Rio Grande do Norte. Plano Estadual de Gestão de Resíduos Sólidos. 2012
[12]	ABRELPE - Associação Brasileira de Empresas de Limpeza - Brasil. Panorama de Resíduos Sólidos no Brasil. 2014.
[13]	PMGIRS - Plano municipal de gestão integrada de resíduos sólidos - Santa Cruz / RN. 2012
[14]	DAI, Y. C., GORDON, M. P. R., YE, J. Y. Why doorstepping can increase household waste recycling. Resources, Conservation and Recycling Volume 102, September 2015, Pages 9-19.
[15]	CECERE, G., MANCINELLI, S., MAZZANTI, M.Waste prevention and social preferences: the role of intrinsic and extrinsic motivations. Ecological Economics, Volume 107, November 2014, Pages 163-176.