1. Before class, prepare a garbage pizza crust by mixing 2 cups of flour, 2 cups of salt, and cup of water until a stiff dough forms. Knead as you would a bread dough. Flatten the dough into a well greased, round 12" deep dish pizza pan, pressing the edges up the inside of the pan. Flatten out slightly until it looks like a pizza. Cut the pizza into slices to look like the Municipal Solid Waste by weight pie chart template included in the lesson. Using a fork, puncture each slice several times before baking to avoid expanding air pockets. Bake at 350 degrees for 40-45 minutes, or until golden brown. Check the pizza every 10 minutes and re-cut the sections. The pizza will be rock solid when you are finished - you will not be able to cut it. Remove from oven and let cool completely. Dough should be hard and dry. Mix 3-4 oz. of white school glue with approximately 1 oz. of red food coloring. A drop of blue will darken the red but is not necessary. Add red until you have a color similar to tomato sauce. Apply sauce with a small paint brush and allow to dry well. Use the permanent marker to label the underside of each slice of pizza with the correct type of waste and percentage it represents.
   
2. Ask the students to define the words "garbage" and "trash". Garbage refers only to organic or food waste thrown away. Trash represents broken, discarded or worthless things (i.e. rubbish and other forms of refuse which are not food). Have the students brainstorm items that are thrown away at home. Divide into these categories: Paper & Paper Products, Yard Waste, Metals, Glass, Plastics, Wood, Food Wastes, and Other.
   
3. Discuss Toledo's Municipal Solid Waste (MSW). Our MSW is made up of trash and garbage from households and small businesses in Toledo. Ask the class if items found on the board would also be found in Toledo's MSW. (Our trash is similar to the waste generated by the nation as a whole. You can find information at the end of this activity. We apologize, but local percentages are not available.)
   
4. Draw a circle on the board. Explain that we are going to pretend that one year's worth of the United States' waste will fit into this circle. Show students how much paper is thrown away by drawing a slice for paper. Repeat this demonstration for all categories. Discuss the size of the slices, especially paper and yard waste. Ask the students why it might be important to know the different wastes and quantities being thrown away in the United States. Explain that it helps the United States and cities like Toledo to plan effective waste management strategies such as recycling, composting, or landfilling.
   
5. Announce that the class is going to make a Garbo's Garbage Pizza. Collect the items you need for the toppings or have the students bring them in from home for the next class. For example:
   

Paper & Paper Products: newsprint, office paper, cardboard, towel
Yard Waste: grass, sticks, leaves, potpourri
Metals: paper clips, staples, can tab, small hardware
Glass: marbles, sea glass, craft glass pieces
Plastics: foam cup, plastic fork, bread clips, pop lid, wrapper, straw
Wood: toothpicks, popsicle stick, wood shavings
Food Waste: egg shells, pasta, crackers, pretzels, dry cereal
Other: rubber bands, fabric, candle, ribbon

1. Ask students to look through magazines for pictures of items from each MSW category. Have each student draw a garbage pizza on poster board and glue the pictures onto the appropriate sections. Display the posters in the school hallways or cafeteria.
   
2. Plan a classroom project to reduce the amount of paper thrown away at school. Discuss ways students could reduce paper use (don't waste paper, use both sides, start a reuse box, start a paper recycling program).

Evaluation

Set up a table with items from the eight categories of MSW. Make signs for each category and have students separate the waste items into the appropriate piles.

*Activity adapted from Keep America Beautiful, Inc.'s Waste in Place elementary curriculum.

United States Municipal Solid Waste by Weight, 1994

Source: U.S. EPA statistics calculated in 1995 for the 1994 solid waste stream.