SEV1. Students will investigate the flow
of energy and cycling of matter within
an ecosystem and relate these
phenomena to human society.
SEV4. Students will understand and
describe availability allocation and
conservation of energy and other
resources
SEV5. Students will recognize that
human beings are part
of the global ecosystem and will
evaluate the effects of human activities
and technology on ecosystems.
EQ: How do we manage waste in our world?
History of Waste Management p.653
Today we understand more about ecology, the water cycle, by –products, and we know
the atmosphere and Oceans have a limited capacity to absorb wastes and recycle
materials naturally
The Volume of Waste has doubled since 1960! Why? ???
Population Growth, Increase in Disposable Materials, Excessive packaging, etc.
We are a Throw Away Society!
USA produces > 11 billion tons of solid waste each year
I. Municipal Solid Waste (MSW)
Garbage or Trash
Create a
list of MSW
from most to least
II. Hazardous Waste
Highly flammable, Corrosive, Toxic (poisonous, carcinogenic, related
to birth defects), Infectious, Radioactive
Household Hazardous Waste (HHW)
Oil-based paints
Fluorescent light bulbs
Nail Polish
Engine oil
Electronic wastes
*linked to intellectual disabilities (lead), cancer, birth
defects, sterility, other psychological & neurological
problems, & endocrine disruption
HHW Disposal Options/ Chart
• Federal law allows disposal of HHW in the trash.
• EPA encourages using collection programs!
• Reading labels for disposal directions reduces the risk of
products posing hazards on the way to a disposal facility.
• Even empty containers of HHW can pose hazards because of
the residual chemicals that might remain.
• Potential to cause physical injury to sanitation workers,
contaminate septic tanks or wastewater treatment systems if
poured down drains or toilets!
http://www.mrwpca.org/dwnloads/hhw.pdf
http://www.dec.ny.gov/docs/materials_minerals_pdf/hhwcht.pdf
http://www.columbusga.org/engineering2/household_hazardous_waste.pdf
Safer alternatives http://www.sierraclub.ca/national/programs/health-environment/pesticides/alternative-household-prod.pdf
Product
Wrap & discard
w/trash
toilet bowl cleaner
oven cleaner
Take to a
Hazardous waste
collection site
Take to a
Recycling Center
Dry out then
put in trash
X
General purpose cleaner
scouring cleaner
Pour in drain
w/plenty of water
Alternatives
Vinegar & water
X
Baking soda or borax
X
Baking soda or borax
X
Baking soda
X
latex paint
milk paint
oil-based paint
X
use latex
paint thinner
X
let paint settle out & reuse
X
motor oil
gasoline
X
household batteries
X
vehicle batteries
-----------------
X
rechargeable
X
----------
bug spray/insecticide
X
keep householdclean/seal
entryways
mothballs
X
cedar, keep garments
sealed in boxes
Pharmaceuticals
(antibiotics, hormone replacement drugs, & bipolar disorder drugs, etc. )
have been detected in bodies of water & drinking
water
III. Disposal
(list the disposal methods greatest to least)
Interstate transfer…
N.Y. Staten Island closed its Fresh kill landfill and pays $64/ton to ship
to other states. It produces 11,000 tons / day!
Bad Ideas
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2VrrxMIiwgQ
Streams were sewers: 1960’s Cuyahoga River, Cleveland,
OH carried so much flammable material it caught fire &
destroyed 7 bridges before it burnt itself out
Great Pacific
Garbage Patch
& Packaging Your
Product Activity
Open Dumps –results in exposure to refuse & air pollution
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mEIo65krAAI
Exporting Waste - ex. 1. toxic incineration ash from Philadelphia to Haiti,
going to China, India, and Nigeria, where poor people – including
children -- disassemble them to remove chips & metals for profit, w/out protective
clothing, techniques include acid stripping and burning
2. e-waste
/watch?v=hvx-W-XAie0
Vessel containing
toxic ash sailed 16
months, before finally
returning to PA, left
4,ooo tons of ash in
Haiti calling it
“fertilizer”, remaining
10,000 tons were
dumped into the sea
Better Ideas
Sanitary landfillsground is lined, waste is
covered (capped),
leachate & methane are
captured
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mEIo65krAAI
However…
Leachate- potential to contaminate water supply
Methane gas- potential to explode
Incomplete decomposition- ex. plastics
NIMBY- not in my backyard attitude
Detroit & Riverview Michigan mine landfill gas under a
212 acre landfill called Mt. Trashmore
In Florida 150 former landfill sites are on the Superfund
list b/c they are in wetlands.
Superfund is a federal program with the responsibility
of cleaning up sites that are in danger of jeopardizing
human health through ground water contamination.
active
Danehy Park Cambridge, MA was once an open burning dump then it was
turned into a sanitary landfill, until it was closed in 1952, today it is a 55 acre
park with soccer fields, basketball courts, and baseball diamonds.
Incineration – Reduces weight of trash, can produce fuel, creates air pollution & toxic
ash (i.e. particulate matter, lead, mercury, dioxins, furans, puts workers at risk)
a group of chemicals that are formed during combustion processes such as waste incineration, power generation, metal production and fuel burning
Phytoremediation:
Sunflowers: radioactive materials (Strontium-90, Cesium-137)
Poplars, willows: dry cleaning solvents & uranium
Indian mustard, brake ferns: lead and arsenic
IV. Sustainability:
A. Reduce
Establish cradle-to-grave responsibility laws: require
companies to take back products (electronics & appliances) at
end of life to be repaired or recycle
•
•
•
•
•
2 liter soft drink bottle 35% lighter
Steel cans are 60% lighter
Disposable diapers contain 50% less pulp
Information Age is reducing paper use
Resale, yard sale, flea markets, consignment on
the rise
• Recycling Success Stories- plastic to outdoor
apparel, tires to asphalt, paper to cardboard or
more paper
B.
Copy any three
C. Recycle
the process of collecting and processing materials that
would otherwise be thrown away as trash and turning them into new
products
Benefits
Reduces the amount of waste sent to landfills and incinerators
Conserves natural resources such as timber, water, and minerals
Saves energy
Helps create U.S. jobs in recycling and manufacturing
Continuous loop
Step 1: Collection and Processing
Step 2: Manufacturing
Step 3: Purchasing New Products Made from
Recycled Materials
prevented 86.9 million tons of material away & prevented the release of ≈183 million
metric tons of carbon dioxide into the air (2011) equivalent to taking 34 million cars off the
road for a year. http://www.epa.gov/epawaste/nonhaz/municipal/index.htm
D. BIOPLASTICS- BIODEGRADABLE
Made from plants (corn, soybean)
E. COMPOSTING- Reduces chemical
fertilizers & MSW
V. Waste Regulations
A. Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA)
•
Set standards for management of dumps/landfills, cradle to grave laws
B. Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and
Liability Act (CERCLA; Superfund Act)
• Identifies hazardous waste sites & clean them
• Who Pays? Tax on oil & chemical companies that funded the Superfund Act
expired in 1995, not renewed; now taxpayers clean up superfund sites
Armstrong World Industries
in Macon is now a federal
Superfund site. Flathead
Catfish in the nearby
Ocmulgee River have been
found to contain cancercausing chemicals. (photo
courtesy USFWS, 2011)
Ground water extraction system at the
Monsanto Corp. (Augusta Plant) site.
Ground water tested positive for arsenic.
VI. Environmental Justice
• Idea that no group of people should bear a disproportionate
share of negative environmental consequences
•
•
870,000 U.S. federal subsidized housing units are within a mile of factories that report
toxic emissions to the EPA
Emelle, AL largest hazardous waste landfill and 90% of the town is African American
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zJX_MXaXbJA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5-GkLV-f7-0
http://www.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/envh10.sci.life.eco.envracism/environmental-justice-opposing-a-toxic-waste-landfill/
http://www.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/envh10.sci.life.eco.enhdiscrim/environmental-justice-opposing-a-toxic-waste-incinerator/