Hey guys! How are you guys today? That’s great to hear!

Well, welcome to the Green 

Promise workshop!  
 
My name is Lauren Park and I am a Girl Scout! I’m so glad to be here and be able to 
present this workshop to you guys! Should we get started! 
 
This may be a little silly but can I ask... What is your favorite letter? 
 
Well, if you asked me… I would tell you that the letter “R” is my favorite letter. And 
let me tell you why… the letter “R” is the first letter of words that are miraculous 
and life-changing.  
 
And lucky for me… there are three words that I find truly magical. That is… “Reduce, 
Reuse, Recycle.” Can you guys repeat that for me?  
 
If we work together and follow these three R’s, we can go from making our world like 
this.... To this! So, should we learn about these three words and why they are so 
important for our environment? 
 
First, let’s learn about what “reduce” means! Reduce means to use less and as 
result, we are left with a smaller amount of waste. 
 
What do you guys see in this picture? You see a lot of trash, right? This is a landfill 
and places like this have so much trash in them. And that trash is from us. These 
landfills are super bad for the environment because they pollute the earth’s soil, air, 
and water.  
 
Did you know that every year, we generate around 2.6 trillion pounds of trash every 
year? Do you see how many zeroes there are?!  
 
So, how can we make that number smaller? Well, we can all try to cut back on our 
purchases! Especially with things that you may not necessarily need. Also, you can 
try to use your items to its maximum usage! By maintaining and repairing your stuff, 
you will buy less. Next, try to buy products with less packaging.  
 
Do you guys think that this packaging is really necessary? Think about how much 
plastic is wasted just to pack each individual slice of bread or banana! We have to 
learn to reduce our waste.  
 
Next, we’re going to talk about what “reuse” means! Reuse means to use again more 
than once.  
 
So, do any of you guys own one or more of these items? If you do, I want you to give 
yourself a pat on your back because you are helping our environment! These reusable 
items help conserve our natural resources!  
 
So, how do we reuse? Well, you can donate your old items so other people can use 
them or you can buy other people’s items. You could also just purchase reusable items 
that you can use multiple times! 
 
Now, let’s play a little game called “What’s Reusable?” Out of two options, tell me 
which item is reusable! 
 
So, is item 1 or item 2 reusable? Good job! Item 2 is reusable because it's sturdy and 
can be easily washed to be used over and over again! 
 
What about this one? Item 1 is reusable since the plastic utensils have to be thrown 
away after being used once. 
 
Last but not least… Which item?... Good job guys! Remember that these are just a few 
reusable items. This is not all! 
 
Now, Let's learn about what it means to “recycle.” Recycling means to convert waste 
into reusable material.  
 
In this picture, what do you guys see? You see a lot of plastic water bottles, right? 
Well, these water bottles do not have to be laying around on the beach. They can be 
recycled to be used over again! 
 
You don’t only have to recycle plastic. You can recycle a lot of different materials like 
paper, metal, glass, aluminum, and cardboard! 
 
So, you may be asking… How does recycling work? How do we turn this dirty piece of 
trash into a new clean item? First, we have to collect the materials. You guys have 
recycling bins in your classrooms right? Well, those bottles and cans are taken to the 
recycling center. Then manufacturers process the old materials and make them into 
new items. Then we buy those items made from recycled materials. It’s really simple 
but it's amazing! 
 
Did you know that only 25% of us recycle? That is one out of every four people! 
Because of this… If you lined up all the plastic bottles that are just thrown in the 
trash every year, they would circle the planet 4 times. 
 
That loop of events is represented by the recycling loop! Whenever you see a trash 
can with that logo, make sure to put your recyclable items in there so they can be 
made into something new!  
 
I’m going to wrap this up by asking… Why should follow the three R’s?  
 
Well, there are so many reasons why. But here are three! We would save our natural 
resources! When we use materials again, this means we can take fewer precious 
resources from the Earth. Next, recycling materials means less trash and saves 
space in dumps and landfills that harm our earth. Lastly, reusing materials can 
produce less pollution which helps to keep our environment clean.  
 
Remember, you are never too young to change the world. And you can change it just 
by following these three R’s.