Criteria A - Strand 1

Introduction

Littering is a huge problem in today's day and age. As the population grows and more products are created, waste has risen. Leaving something as small as a piece of plastic on the floor, simply because the garbage bin was too far away can have a big impact on the world. It causes harm to animals, damages our waterways as litter often ends up in the water which pollutes it. It also causes harm to the wildlife once the litter lands in their water. It is a threat to public health as it attracts vermin and causes bacteria to multiply which can cause many diseases to the population. It's extremely costly to clean up all the litter whereas if everyone didn't litter and threw everything in the bin, it wouldn't cost nearly as much money to get rid of it all. Littering is also a potential fire hazard as when you throw cigarette buds, it could potentially cause a fire. It makes the community look filthy and unkept. Americans discard approximately 2.7 million tons of aluminum per year, from that about 50% is recycled.

Design Situation

Many people do not understand the impact a single piece of litter could have on the environment. Eventually, it all adds up which can cause a huge impact on the environment. This is why I decided I'm going to make a project on Scratch, teaching them the importance of recycling and throwing waste in the designated bin. Recycling even helps stop the damage done to rainforests as it lessens the need for raw materials as they can be recycled. Recycling also helps preserve natural resources as it needs less energy. It also costs more to make products by raw material instead of using recycled material.  Therefore I'm going to be making an interactive, visually appealing game about the importance of recycling and throwing litter away so that the environment is a better place. By teaching children this lesson, they'll know what to do from a young age and they'll be able to incorporate this lesson into their daily lives. I will cover the different ways to recycle and what each bin is designed for and show people the negative impact littering has on the environment and our everyday life. Recycling is very important to know, for example, recycling steel and tin cans save 74% of the energy used to produce them. However, these cans can be 100% recyclable which can help our environment further. This is why I am going to create a project on Scratch teaching people how important this is and to try and raise awareness to this cause.