From Our Hands to the Environment: Understanding the Journey of Waste

What happens to a piece of waste after we throw it away? For many of us, its journey seems to end when it leaves our hands. This year, the group 4 interdisciplinary project for ESS and chemistry took our grade 10 learners to a learning visit to Bioagricola's recycling park and the solid waste disposal site serving Villavicencio, which invites students to follow that journey further—and to consider its scientific, environmental, and social consequences.

At the site, students explored how organic matter decomposes under different conditions. When oxygen is available, aerobic microorganisms break it down; when oxygen is limited, anaerobic processes take place. These microscopic reactions have effects that can be observed on a much larger scale, including the production of gases and liquids that must be managed to protect the surrounding environment. Seeing these processes in context helps learners connect chemical concepts studied in class with the air, soil, water and living organisms around them.

The visit also offered an opportunity to think about Villavicencio as a system. Materials and energy flow through the city each day: products arrive, people use them, and discarded materials travel onward. The disposal site is connected to that same flow. Our 10th graders were encouraged to map these relationships and ask what changes when waste is reduced, separated or recovered before it reaches its final destination.

Scientific understanding is only part of the inquiry. Students examined questions of environmental justice: while waste is generated across the city, communities near disposal facilities may experience more of its effects, including odors, insects and other vectors, and risks associated with leachate. Considering who benefits from current practices and who bears their costs can help students evaluate the waste management model with greater care. It can also deepen their understanding of the circular economy and the value of keeping useful materials in circulation.

To share what they learn, students are planning a documentary about the life of waste, from the moment it leaves our hands to its final destination; in which they will demonstrate the skills learnt in the subjects English A and English B. Before filming, they will identify the images and information they need, decide what each scene should communicate, and choose a tone suited to their audience. The documentary will introduce the recycling park, explain the chemical and environmental effects of waste disposal, and consider its social dimensions. It will close with a message that encourages viewers to reflect on their own habits.

This experience asks students to do more than observe a facility. It asks them to use evidence, connect different areas of knowledge and communicate a complex issue responsibly. Above all, it offers a question for our school community to carry home: if we understand what happens to our waste after we discard it, what might we choose to do differently before it leaves our hands?

What is one change you could make this week to reduce waste or give a material a second life? Share your idea with your family or our school community—and invite someone else to try it with you.