Lesson 13: Can the crew cut waste before it reaches the bin? Educator guide

Half a box of air

The story: Air pillows and 120 cups

It is Tuesday in the theater shop. Dec opens a box of replacement parts. Three small orders of LED connectors and switches came together in one big box. About half of the box is plastic air pillows and foam. “Three tiny orders,” Dec says. “One giant box.”

There is a second problem. The supply list from last Friday’s screening at the Common Room shows the crew used about 120 single-use cups. The cups say “recyclable.” But the city’s recycling list does not take plastic-lined paper cups.

Dec wants to fix how they order parts before anyone redoes the recycling sign. Anika tracks the parts and the budget. She agrees with Dec, but she wants numbers before anyone says a change saves money. Some people need a disposable cup or a straw, so any plan has to work for them too.

Your role is to count the cups before and after the change.

Stopping waste before the bin

Source reduction is preventing waste before it is created, for example by buying less packaging. Dec’s idea is source reduction: order the parts together, not every time one breaks, and ask the supplier about packaging.

Reuse is using an item again instead of throwing it away after one use. The bookshop has washable cups the crew could borrow. But reuse has costs too. Washing takes water and someone’s time.

A “recyclable” label does not tell you where a cup will go. Local acceptance is the list of materials that your own city’s recycling or compost program actually takes. In Lesson 9, you learned to check an official source for your own area. Here, that source is the city’s list. It does not take plastic-lined cups, and it does not take items labeled compostable either.

Anika’s plan is a test. At one screening, the crew borrows washable cups. They count what they use and compare it with 120. Water and washing time go on the sheet too. That makes it a fair proposal, a word from Lesson 4. A proposal is a change that someone suggests and that has not been approved yet. It is also a trade-off: fewer cups in the trash, but more washing. The crew will keep some disposable cups and straws for people who ask.

Real companies, real straws

In 2018, Starbucks said it would phase out plastic straws in its stores by 2020 (NPR, July 9, 2018). Two days later, NPR reported that some people with disabilities need flexible plastic straws to drink (NPR, July 11, 2018). Cutting waste works best when it still works for everyone.

Key terms in this passage

Source reduction

Source reduction is preventing waste before it is created, for example by buying less packaging.

Reuse

Reuse is using an item again instead of throwing it away after one use.

Local acceptance

Local acceptance is the list of materials that your own city's recycling or compost program actually takes.

Proposal

A proposal is a change that someone suggests and that has not been approved yet.

Trade-off

A trade-off is a choice where getting one benefit means accepting a cost or giving something up.

Real sources cited

• NPR, “Starbucks To Eliminate Plastic Straws In Its Stores By 2020,” July 9, 2018. Open the source (opens in a new tab)
• NPR, “Why People With Disabilities Want Bans On Plastic Straws To Be More Flexible,” July 11, 2018. Open the source (opens in a new tab)

Count first, then claim

The story: The box and the supply list

Dec opens the box in the theater shop on Tuesday and laughs, a little. Over one week, the crew placed three separate orders for small LED connectors and switches. All three arrived together in one full box, and about half of it is plastic air pillows and foam wrapped around parts the size of a fingernail.

Anika tracks the parts and the budget, so she has the other half of the picture. The supply list from last Friday’s screening at the Common Room shows about 120 single-use cups, plastic-lined paper and labeled “recyclable.” It also lists 80 paper plates, 150 printed flyers and 40 paper straws handed out on request. The folding chairs were borrowed from the bookshop.

Dec, who is thinking about an electrical apprenticeship and likes following a problem to where it starts, wants to fix the ordering before anyone redoes the recycling sign. Anika is on board, with a condition. If anyone says a change saves money, she wants the numbers. Right now, she says, they have one box and a guess.

Your role in this case is to count the cups before and after the change.

Upstream and downstream

Source reduction is preventing waste before it is created, for example by buying less packaging. Reuse is using an item again instead of throwing it away after one use. Dec’s ordering fix is source reduction. Borrowing the bookshop’s washable cups is reuse.

The cups show why checking matters. They are labeled “recyclable,” but the city’s recycling list accepts metal cans, glass, rigid plastic bottles and containers and flattened cardboard. It does not accept plastic-lined paper cups, plastic bags and film, foam or items labeled compostable. Local acceptance is the list of materials that your own city’s recycling or compost program actually takes. Lesson 9 taught you to go to the official source for your own area, and this is the recycling version of that skill. Anika adds a warning. Compostable cups are not on the list either, so switching to them would not solve anything by itself.

The new skill is counting a starting point before you claim a change works. The baseline is about 120 cups. The test is one screening with washable cups. The count covers cups used and cups left, plus the new costs of water and washing time. Lesson 4 gives you the words for the result. It is a proposal, a change that someone suggests and that has not been approved yet. It is also a trade-off, a choice where getting one benefit means accepting a cost or giving something up. Anika also rejects a total ban on disposables. Some people need a disposable cup or a straw, so the plan keeps some on request.

What the EPA and the straw debate show

The Environmental Protection Agency ranks ways to handle waste. Source reduction and reuse come first. Recycling and composting come next, then energy recovery, then treatment and disposal. The EPA also notes that no single approach fits every item (EPA, updated December 19, 2025). An NPR investigation found that less than 10 percent of plastic has ever been recycled, which is one reason reduction comes first (NPR, September 11, 2020).

In 2018, Starbucks announced it would phase out plastic straws by 2020 using a sippable lid (NPR, July 9, 2018). Two days later, NPR reported that some people with disabilities need flexible plastic straws, and advocates said few people seemed to know about the exemption in Seattle’s straw ban (NPR, July 11, 2018).

Key terms in this passage

Source reduction

Source reduction is preventing waste before it is created, for example by buying less packaging.

Reuse

Reuse is using an item again instead of throwing it away after one use.

Local acceptance

Local acceptance is the list of materials that your own city's recycling or compost program actually takes.

Proposal

A proposal is a change that someone suggests and that has not been approved yet.

Trade-off

A trade-off is a choice where getting one benefit means accepting a cost or giving something up.

Real sources cited

• U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), “Sustainable Materials Management: Non-Hazardous Materials and Waste Management Hierarchy,” December 19, 2025. Open the source (opens in a new tab)
• NPR, “How Big Oil Misled The Public Into Believing Plastic Would Be Recycled,” September 11, 2020. Open the source (opens in a new tab)
• NPR, “Starbucks To Eliminate Plastic Straws In Its Stores By 2020,” July 9, 2018. Open the source (opens in a new tab)
• NPR, “Why People With Disabilities Want Bans On Plastic Straws To Be More Flexible,” July 11, 2018. Open the source (opens in a new tab)

A claim as small as the evidence

The story: Following waste upstream

Dec is a high school senior who drums, builds sets and is considering an electrical apprenticeship. He tends to follow a problem into the small places where it starts. On Tuesday, that place is the theater shop. Three orders of LED connectors and switches, placed separately over one week, have arrived together in one box. About half the box is plastic air pillows and foam.

Anika, a junior who tracks the crew’s parts and budget, brings the second data point. The supply list from last Friday’s screening at the Common Room shows about 120 single-use cups, plastic-lined paper and labeled “recyclable.” The same list includes 80 paper plates, 150 printed flyers and 40 paper straws given out on request. The crew’s first instinct might be a better recycling sign. Dec wants to start earlier, at the order form. Order parts together rather than each time one breaks, and ask the supplier about packaging.

Anika agrees and sets a standard. Nobody gets to say a change saves money without numbers, and right now the evidence is one box and a guess. She also sets a boundary. Some people need a disposable cup or a straw, so a plan that works only for most people does not work.

Your role is to count the cups before and after the change.

Hierarchy, labels and baselines

Source reduction is preventing waste before it is created, for example by buying less packaging. Reuse is using an item again instead of throwing it away after one use. Both sit upstream of the bin. Dec’s combined orders are source reduction, and borrowing the bookshop’s washable cups is reuse.

The cup label raises a verification problem that Lesson 9 prepared you for. There, you learned to check the official source for your own area rather than a general claim. Here, the official source is the city’s recycling list. It accepts metal cans, glass bottles and jars, rigid plastic bottles and containers and flattened cardboard. It excludes plastic-lined paper cups, plastic bags and film, foam and items labeled compostable. Local acceptance is the list of materials that your own city’s recycling or compost program actually takes. By that standard, the crew’s “recyclable” cups are trash, and a switch to compostable cups would be too.

The new skill is counting a starting point before claiming a change works. The baseline is about 120 cups from one screening. The intervention is washable cups at the next one. The measurement includes cups used and left over, plus the costs reuse adds, water and someone’s washing time. Lesson 4 supplies the frame for presenting the result. The plan is a proposal, a change that someone suggests and that has not been approved yet, and every option is a trade-off, a choice where getting one benefit means accepting a cost or giving something up. Anika’s rule keeps the eventual claim honest. Whatever the crew reports should be as small as one counted screening.

Evidence from agencies, reporters and schools

The EPA’s materials management hierarchy ranks source reduction and reuse first, followed by recycling and composting, energy recovery, and treatment and disposal. It also notes that no single approach suits every material or situation (EPA, updated December 19, 2025). For food, the EPA’s Wasted Food Scale likewise ranks prevention above composting or recycling (EPA, updated September 16, 2026). An NPR investigation reported that less than 10 percent of plastic has ever been recycled (NPR, September 11, 2020).

Labels are regulated for a reason. The FTC’s Green Guides say a product or package “should not be marketed as recyclable unless it can be collected, separated, or otherwise recovered from the waste stream through an established recycling program” (16 CFR Part 260, 2012).

Access belongs in the same analysis. When Starbucks announced its straw phase-out in 2018, it said a sippable lid could mean a billion fewer straws a year (NPR, July 9, 2018). Two days later, NPR reported that some people with disabilities need flexible plastic straws and that advocates saw little awareness of the exemption in Seattle’s ban (NPR, July 11, 2018). Schools offer models that measure first. New Jersey schools have used waste audits, share tables and reusable trays to cut waste before it reaches the bin (New Jersey School Boards Association, October 15, 2025). Each of those programs starts the way Anika does, by counting what is thrown away now.

Key terms in this passage

Source reduction

Source reduction is preventing waste before it is created, for example by buying less packaging.

Reuse

Reuse is using an item again instead of throwing it away after one use.

Local acceptance

Local acceptance is the list of materials that your own city's recycling or compost program actually takes.

Proposal

A proposal is a change that someone suggests and that has not been approved yet.

Trade-off

A trade-off is a choice where getting one benefit means accepting a cost or giving something up.

Real sources cited

• U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), “Sustainable Materials Management: Non-Hazardous Materials and Waste Management Hierarchy,” December 19, 2025. Open the source (opens in a new tab)
• U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, “Wasted Food Scale,” September 16, 2026. Open the source (opens in a new tab)
• NPR, “How Big Oil Misled The Public Into Believing Plastic Would Be Recycled,” September 11, 2020. Open the source (opens in a new tab)
• Federal Trade Commission (FTC), “FTC Green Guides (16 CFR Part 260),” 2012. Open the source (opens in a new tab)
• NPR, “Starbucks To Eliminate Plastic Straws In Its Stores By 2020,” July 9, 2018. Open the source (opens in a new tab)
• NPR, “Why People With Disabilities Want Bans On Plastic Straws To Be More Flexible,” July 11, 2018. Open the source (opens in a new tab)
• New Jersey School Boards Association, “How New Jersey Schools Are Tackling Food Waste—One Tray at a Time,” October 15, 2025. Open the source (opens in a new tab)

Measuring waste reduction without overclaiming

The story: Two data points and a guess

A box of replacement parts arrives at the theater shop half full of air pillows and foam. Three small orders placed over one week have shipped together. Separately, the supply list from the crew’s last screening shows about 120 single-use cups, plastic-lined and labeled “recyclable,” plus 80 paper plates, 150 flyers and 40 paper straws given out on request.

Dec, 17, a theater tech weighing an electrical apprenticeship, traces the waste upstream to purchasing decisions. Combine orders, and ask the supplier about packaging. Anika, 16, who tracks parts and budget, accepts the diagnosis but refuses to let it become a claim. Nobody should say a change saves money on the basis of one box and a guess. She also insists that any plan preserve disposable cups and straws for people who need them.

The case turns an environmental question into a method question. What would it take to know that a change worked, and how large a claim would that evidence support?

Your role is to count the cups before and after the change.

Designing a small, honest test

Source reduction is preventing waste before it is created, for example by buying less packaging. Reuse is using an item again instead of throwing it away after one use. Both address waste upstream of disposal, which is where Dec wants to intervene.

The cups expose the gap between a label and a system. The city’s list accepts metal cans, glass, rigid plastic containers and flattened cardboard. It excludes plastic-lined paper cups, plastic film, foam and items labeled compostable. Local acceptance is the list of materials that your own city’s recycling or compost program actually takes. Lesson 9’s skill, consulting the official source for your own jurisdiction, applies directly. A package’s claim is not the city’s rule. Anika’s observation that compostable cups are also excluded prevents a substitution that would only look like progress.

The new skill is establishing a baseline before claiming an effect. The baseline is roughly 120 cups at one screening. The intervention is borrowed washable cups at the next. The measure includes cups used and unused, plus the resources reuse consumes, water and labor. Lesson 4 provides the terms for presenting it. The plan is a proposal, a change that someone suggests and that has not been approved yet, and it is a trade-off, a choice where getting one benefit means accepting a cost or giving something up. The resulting claim should be scoped to one counted screening. That is modest by design, because a single comparison cannot establish a trend or a cost saving.

Hierarchies, labels and the limits of bans

The EPA’s hierarchy places source reduction and reuse above recycling and composting, which rank above energy recovery and disposal. It explicitly notes that no single approach suits every material or situation (EPA, updated December 19, 2025). An NPR investigation reported that less than 10 percent of plastic has ever been recycled, which helps explain why reduction ranks first (NPR, September 11, 2020). FRONTLINE and NPR’s documentary examined why recycling alone has not solved plastic waste (FRONTLINE PBS, March 31, 2020).

Environmental marketing is regulated. The FTC’s Green Guides state that a product or package “should not be marketed as recyclable unless it can be collected, separated, or otherwise recovered from the waste stream through an established recycling program” (16 CFR Part 260, 2012). The crew’s cups, marketed as recyclable in a city that does not accept them, illustrate the problem the rule addresses.

The 2018 straw debate shows why access must be designed in. Starbucks projected that its lid could mean a billion fewer straws a year (NPR, July 9, 2018). Disability advocates responded that some people need flexible plastic straws and that awareness of Seattle’s exemption appeared low (NPR, July 11, 2018). Public institutions are adopting measurement. New York City’s comptroller audited schools’ food donation and composting efforts, showing how measurement changes what counts as success (Office of the New York City Comptroller, April 21, 2026). California schools use share tables so unopened food is shared instead of thrown away (California School Boards Association, October 13, 2023). Researchers have also studied which school and meal choices lead to more plate waste in K-12 cafeterias (Adjapong et al., PLOS ONE, December 27, 2024).

Professional ethics supports Anika’s caution. The IABC code states, “I do not guarantee results that are beyond my power to deliver” (IABC Code of Ethics, no date listed).

Key terms in this passage

Source reduction

Source reduction is preventing waste before it is created, for example by buying less packaging.

Reuse

Reuse is using an item again instead of throwing it away after one use.

Local acceptance

Local acceptance is the list of materials that your own city's recycling or compost program actually takes.

Proposal

A proposal is a change that someone suggests and that has not been approved yet.

Trade-off

A trade-off is a choice where getting one benefit means accepting a cost or giving something up.

Real sources cited

• U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), “Sustainable Materials Management: Non-Hazardous Materials and Waste Management Hierarchy,” December 19, 2025. Open the source (opens in a new tab)
• NPR, “How Big Oil Misled The Public Into Believing Plastic Would Be Recycled,” September 11, 2020. Open the source (opens in a new tab)
• FRONTLINE PBS (YouTube), “Plastic Wars (full documentary) | FRONTLINE,” March 31, 2020. Open the source (opens in a new tab)
• Federal Trade Commission (FTC), “FTC Green Guides (16 CFR Part 260),” 2012. Open the source (opens in a new tab)
• NPR, “Starbucks To Eliminate Plastic Straws In Its Stores By 2020,” July 9, 2018. Open the source (opens in a new tab)
• NPR, “Why People With Disabilities Want Bans On Plastic Straws To Be More Flexible,” July 11, 2018. Open the source (opens in a new tab)
• Office of the New York City Comptroller, “Review of Schools’ Food Donation and Composting Efforts (MH25-077S),” April 21, 2026. Open the source (opens in a new tab)
• California School Boards Association, “Share tables reduce food waste,” October 13, 2023. Open the source (opens in a new tab)
• PLOS ONE (Adjapong et al.), “School and meal characteristics associated with plate waste in K-12 cafeterias in the United States,” December 27, 2024. Open the source (opens in a new tab)
• International Association of Business Communicators (IABC), “IABC Code of Ethics for Professional Communicators,” No date listed. Open the source (opens in a new tab)