NCERT Solutions: Taking Charge of Waste

Table of Contents
1. Discuss (Page 150)
2. Activity (Page 150)
3. Discuss (Page 152)
4. Draw (Page 153)
5. Activity (Page 153)
6. Activity 4 (Page 155)
7. Activity 5 (Page 156)
8. Activity 6 (Page 159)
9. Write (Page 160)
10. Draw (Page 160)
11. Let us Reflect (Page 161)
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Discuss (Page 150)

Q1: What are the children and the teacher doing in the picture?
Ans: The children and the teacher are cleaning the park.

Q2: Why are they cleaning the park?
Ans: They are cleaning the park to make it clean and safe for everyone to use and to protect the environment.

Q3: Have you ever seen piles of waste lying around your home or school?
Ans: Yes, I have seen piles of waste lying around my home and school.

Q4: Have you ever thought about how this waste is created?
Ans: Yes, this waste is created from various activities such as eating packaged food, using plastic items, and throwing away things we no longer need.

Activity (Page 150)

Ans: Students are encouraged to attempt this on their own.

Discuss (Page 152)

Observe your Surroundings.

Draw or paste a picture of a locality. Identify the places where there is garbage or wastewater or smoke by circling them in red. Try to find out how the waste gets there.

Ans: Students are encouraged to attempt this on their own.

If you belong to a place that manages its waste well, ask the elders how it is done. Share your findings in the class.

Now let us talk about those people who manage waste well.

How can you help in reducing waste?

Be a part of the Cleanliness Drive by sharing your old toys and books with those who need them but cannot afford to buy them. In what other ways can you help? The more things we buy, the more things we throw away and the more waste gets created. We should try to buy things that we need and use them until they are not usable anymore. We can try to create as little waste as possible.

Ans: We can help reduce waste by sharing old toys and books with those who need them. Additionally, we should only buy things we truly need and use them until they are no longer usable. By reusing items and creating less waste, we can make a big difference.

How can you Reuse things to reduce waste ? 

You can reuse paper that has been used on one side for rough work. Instead of buying a water bottle, reuse a bottle made of a safe material like steel or copper by refilling it.

You can make toys or decorative things using old newspapers, old calendars, bottles, boxes, etc. Here is one such idea. All you need is some newspaper. No scissors! No glue! Just paper!

Ans: Students are encouraged to attempt this on their own.

Activity 5 (Page 156)

Create an item using waste material that you can give as a gift to someone.

Ans: Students are encouraged to attempt this on their own.

Activity 6 (Page 159)

Separate Your Waste 

Two dustbins are drawn below. Write the names of the waste material which will go into each of them.

Ans: 

Write (Page 160)

A. Discuss

Q1: How is waste created?
Ans: Waste is created from various activities in our daily lives, such as using packaged products, discarding old clothes, and peeling vegetables and fruits. It also comes from using plastic wrappers, paper, tins, and other items that we throw away.

Q2: How can we manage waste?
Ans: We can manage waste by reducing, reusing, and recycling. Reducing means creating less waste by avoiding single-use items. Reusing involves finding new uses for old items instead of throwing them away. Recycling means processing used materials to make new products.

B. Write

Q1: To avoid the use of plastic bags and bottles, look at your home and school closely. List all the items of plastic material and write how these could be replaced by other safe materials.
Ans:

• Plastic Bags: Replace with cloth or jute bags.
• Plastic Bottles: Replace with metal or glass bottles.
• Plastic Containers: Replace with glass or metal containers.
• Plastic Wrap: Replace with beeswax wrap or reusable silicone wraps.

Q2: Name three things in your school and home that you would put in the green dustbin and three things that you would put in the blue dustbin.
Ans:

• Green Dustbin: Fruit peels, vegetable waste, eggshells.
• Blue Dustbin: Paper, plastic bottles, metal cans.

C. Draw in your notebook

Q1: Make a poster to show a village or town that is managing its waste well. Give your poster a suitable title.
Ans: Students are encouraged to attempt it on their own.

D. Enact in pairs

Q1: You can be a clean town and your partner a dirty town. Engage in a short conversation talking about how you feel about being the way you are.
Ans: Students are encouraged to attempt it on their own. 

E. Think, Reflect and Share

Q1: Imagine you are having a birthday party at your home. What are some of the ways in which you can try to have a zero-waste birthday party? For this, first think about what kind of waste may be created in the birthday party and how you can avoid or reduce it.
Ans: To have a zero-waste birthday party:

• Use reusable plates, cups, and cutlery instead of disposable ones.
• Avoid using balloons and plastic decorations; use paper or fabric decorations.
• Serve homemade snacks and drinks instead of packaged ones.
• Use cloth napkins instead of paper napkins.
• Encourage guests to bring reusable bags for gifts.

Q2: Have you seen waste in nature? What do you think happens to the waste of animals, dried leaves, and so on in a forest?
Ans: Yes, I have seen waste in nature. In a forest, the waste from animals and dried leaves decomposes naturally. This waste breaks down and turns into nutrients that enrich the soil, supporting plant growth and maintaining the ecosystem.