San Francisco on Track to Become Zero Waste City
Synopsis
San Francisco is trying to become the first city with zero waste. By requiring residents and businesses to separate compostable items such as food scraps, as well as recyclable items, NewsHour correspondent Spencer Michels reports that the city has already reduced a huge amount of garbage from ending up in landfills.
Source: PBS NewsHour
Length: 9:17
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Watch the video and answer the following questions:
American citizens throw away approximately 4 pounds of garbage per person per day.
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San Francisco currently bans the use of plastic shopping bags within the city.
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This video highlights the work that has been done by the city of San Francisco to
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San Francisco currently uses which one of the following methods to help decrease the amount of solid waste going to landfills?
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Of the four following trash items that do not need to go to the landfill, which one is best sorted with the compostables rather than the recyclables?
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Watch the video and answer the following questions:
It can be successfully argued that many environmental challenges we currently face can be viewed as environmental opportunities rather than problems. For example, a company featured in the video, Recology, views solid waste as an opportunity. What is one way that Recology is able to take an environmental problem, resulting from the accumulation and disposal of the 400 tons of food scraps and lawn waste that San Francisco produces per day, and change it into an opportunity?
When we devise solutions for our environmental concerns, we often address how our actions will affect our economy, and often specifically, the loss or creation of jobs. In what ways are problems associated with the waste produced by humans in San Francisco being used to increase local employment and the number of jobs, and thereby helping their economy?
In chapters 6 and 7 of your text, the concept of “cradle-to-cradle” management of resources is addressed. What is meant by managing manufactured products in a cradle-to-cradle fashion? San Francisco strives to accomplish a 100% reduction in garbage generation by 2020. Describe how a cradle-to-cradle management approach could help them achieve this goal.
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