Chapter 12. Environment & You
Backstory
Talking Trash
Backstory: According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) the United States generated approximately 254 tons of Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) in 2013. The following pie chart divides MSW into the various materials generated. You may notice that materials such as paper, glass, metals, and plastics can all be recycled, while food can be composted. This would potentially leave only about 33% for discard in landfills with most of this attributable to wood and yard trimmings. This clearly implies that if everyone were to recycle all unwanted trash effectively, the 254 tons per year could be decreased substantially.
Activity
Activity: Using the table below, keep a daily logbook counting the number of items you discard as trash for each category (if applicable). If a piece of trash has more than one component—such as cardboard and plastic packaging—count one piece for each component. Calculate the percentage of each material type by dividing the totals for each material by the total for all materials combined. Your instructor may assist the class in finding the average number of items in each category for the entire class. Use the information to answer the questions.
1.
| Material | Day #1 | Day #2 | Day #3 | Day #4 | Day #5 | Day #6 | Day #7 | 7-Day Total |
| Paper | ||||||||
| Food | ||||||||
| Yard Trimmings | ||||||||
| Plastics | ||||||||
| Metals | ||||||||
| Rubber, leather, and textiles | ||||||||
| Wood | ||||||||
| Glass | ||||||||
| TOTALS |
2.
Why might your results differ from those of the EPA results in the pie chart? (Remember, the pie chart is using the mass of each MSW component.)
3.
What products do you use that contribute the most in terms of percentage?
4.
Which materials contribute the most and least in your class results? Why might this be different from your own results?
5.
How could the impacts of the largest contributor be minimized? Use both the class and your own results.
6.
Which materials are the hardest to fully dispose of?
7.
Which materials will last the longest (be more persistent) in the environment?
12.1 Activity Completed!
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