CEW Script
By Saifur Rahman, Faria Hoque, Farah Khan, Vijaya Selvaraju, and
Gajathayini Sanmugaratnam
V= Vijaya
S= Saif
F= Faria
K= Farah
G= Gajathayini
PLAY VIDEO
G:
Hi we’re students from Sa Tec @ W.A. Porter. My name is Gajathayini
Sanmugaratnam.
K:
Hi I’m Farah Khan.
S:
Hi I’m Saifur Rahman.
F:
I’m Faria Hoque.
V:
And I’m Vijaya Selvaraju.
K:
We recently conducted a survey of residential areas throughout Toronto and are
here to share our findings with you.
G:
Did you know that air quality in some parts of Toronto is better than others?
S:
As a matter of fact, we did research on household emitters that affect air quality.
F:
And came up with some astounding conclusions.
V:
3 main household emitters: chimney exhaust, lawn-mowers, and barbeques were
investigated in 2 parks in Scarborough: Parma Park, and Stanwadlow Park.
S:
Both parks are situated in valleys and have residential areas surrounding them.
Parma Park has a day care within its premises and Stan Wadlow Park has a
swimming pool and an arena within its boundary.
K:
We went door to door in residential areas around the park to survey neighbours
about their routines regarding these factors.
G:
Some people were nice while others were….well…lets not go there.
(video clip of door slamming on face)
S:
That’s beside the point. Hey let’s roll the other clip
(clip is rolled)
STOP VIDEO
V:
Hey she gave us a lot of good information. This helps us understand better why
some parks have higher air quality while others have lower. If you could please
direct your attention to our slide show.
START SLIDE SHOW
F:
Going back to the household emitters, let’s give you some important background
info on how these things work.
[Change Slide: CHIMNEY EXHAUST]
K:
Let’s start with chimney exhaust. A lot of people use their fireplaces during the
cooler months to provide themselves with heat. There are two types of fireplaces,
wood burning and ones that run on natural gas.
V:
What some people don’t realize is that fireplaces that burn wood to provide heat,
also produce a lot of exhaust…some of which are harmful pollutants.
S:
Some of these pollutants include carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, nitrogen
dioxide, and sulphur dioxide.
G:
That’s a lot of dioxide.
F:
What happens is that as the wood burns, all these chemicals are released in the
form of smoke.
K:
As the smoke is released from the wood, it escapes through the chimney releasing
into the atmosphere.
V:
And then the pollutants are absorbed by the moisture present in the air, resulting
in polluted air.
[Change Slide: SMALL ENGINE GARDEN EQUIPMENT]
S:
The second main source of residential pollution is small engine garden equipment
such as lawn mowers, weed trimmers, and snow blowers.
G
These garden gas-guzzlers are very inefficient and emit high volumes of toxic
pollutants. They also include carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, volatile organic
compounds (VOCs) and nitrogen oxides.
F:
These small engines account for 3 to 5% of Canada’s air pollution.
S:
Ground-level ozone and smog are the products of these emissions.
[Change Slide: BARBQUES]
V:
The last emitter that we chose is emissions from barbeque exhaust.
K:
There are two types of Barbeques. Charcoal fuelled and propane fuelled. Exhaust
from charcoal burning barbeques is more harmful than exhaust from propane
barbeques.
F:
Gases emitted from these BBQs include sulphur dioxide, carbon monoxide, and
Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH), which are caused by the incomplete
combustion of organic materials.
G:
These gases contribute to photochemical smog (this is formed in the summer, by
the action of sunlight on pollutants).
F:
As you can see these three emitters produce the same type of pollutants, which
lead to ground-level ozone or smog.
[Change Slide: GROUND LEVEL OZONE]
S:
Ground level-ozone has a detrimental effect on the environment. Not only does it
damage vegetation growth such as the lichens on trees but it also burns the human
lungs when it is inhaled in higher concentrations.
[Change Slide: VOLATILE ORGANIC COUMPOUNDS]
G:
Volatile Organic compounds contribute to ground level ozone, and this is a chart
of Ontario VOC emissions from human activity in the year 2000. As you can see,
residential emissions from Ontario residents is 13% of total emissions. This
means VOCs emitted from residential pollutants contributes greatly to ground
level ozone.
[Change Slide: SMOG]
V:
Smog is made up of ground level ozone and airborne particles, such as dust,
pollen, spores, etc. It also contains sulphur dioxide (SO2), which can chemically
change into acid rain. Acid rain also damages vegetation growth.
[Change Slide: CO2 EMISSIONS]
K:
These emitters also release large amounts of carbon dioxide (CO2). CO2 is a
greenhouse gas that stays in the earth’s atmosphere, trapping the sun’s heat
energy and increasing the earth’s temperature. The increase in the concentrations
of CO2 in the atmosphere is directly related to the rate of CO2 emissions.
F:
This graph indicates the amount of CO2 in our atmosphere in the last 1000 years.
As you can see, that amount as peaked in the last 200 years. That is because of
the industrial revolution that occurred in the 1800s. Since then we have built
many things, most of them which release pollutants. Thus CO2 in our atmosphere
will continue to rise until we do something to reduce the amount of emissions.
[Change Slide: HEALTH RISKS]
G:
Ground-level ozone and smog affects the body’s respiratory system and causes an
inflammation of the airways. Symptoms include coughing and wheezing, And it
easily effects people with asthma and those who have allergies.
S:
The best way to protect yourself is to
1. Avoid any activity outdoors unless it is absolutely mandatory.
2. Be Aware of the smog advisory, listen for it on the news.
3. Take action to reduce the production of ground level ozone and smog You can
do this by reducing your own household emissions.
V:
Changing your wood fireplace to one that uses natural gas will surely reduce the
emission of harmful pollutants. Using electric lawn equipment as opposed to ones
that use gas, will do the same.
F:
And using gas barbeques instead of charcoal ones will greatly reduce the
pollutants in the air. And using each of these emitters less frequently will benefit
the air quality in your area tremendously.
[Change Slide: CONTROVERSY]
K:
Some may have opposing viewpoints when it comes to these issues. There are
some benefits to having charcoal barbeques, wood fireplaces, and using gas lawn
equipment.
G:
In case of an emergency such as a blackout in which no electricity is available, a
barbeque, and wood fireplace are essential for survival. When electric stoves are
not available, the only way to cook food is to barbeque it. Barbeques that use
charcoal, also give more flavour to the food. (Gaja rubs tummy)
V:
On the other hand, we all know about the harmful gases these bbqs emit. These
are harmful to the environment.
S:
In case of this emergency during the colder months, an electric fireplace will not
function. The only alternative is a wood fireplace. Moreover, a wood fireplace
releases a pleasant aroma that gives you a comfy cozy feeling.
F:
Once again, these also emit pollutants into the air which are harmful to the
environment.
V:
Electric lawn equipment is difficult to manage. The extension cords are long and
there are great safety risks involved. If the lawnmower were to accidentally run
over the extension cord, you would get electrocuted.
K:
Gas lawn equipment also releases harmful gases into the air, and those that use
two stroke engines are very inefficient.
F:
As you can see, these opposing viewpoints are all valid, however, they are all
selfish lifestyle choices and do not look at the long term affects that these
pollutants have on air quality and life on earth as a whole. The choices people
make are purely for their own benefit.
S:
People like the taste of barbequed food so they continue to barbeque. Barbeques
are also the norm in social picnics and such. Fireplaces create an atmosphere that
people want in their homes. And gas lawn equipment is just so much easier to
handle than electric. People just aren’t willing to give up these habits.
[Change Slide: INDICATORS]
K:
Our findings were based on the results obtained from the study of the indicator,
lichens. What we discovered was that the extremely sensitive species of lichens
were not found at all in these parks.
G:
However, when comparing both Parma and Stan Wadlow parks, it was found that
Parma Park had fewer less sensitive lichen species than at Stan Wadlow. This
meant that the air quality in Stan Wadlow was better than in Parma as a result of
less pollution, possibly from household emitters.
V:
This results in an Index of Atmospheric Purity of 107.3 for Stan Wadlow Park
and 59.9 for Parma Park. Thus Stan Wadlow has better air quality than Parma.
[Change Slide: LOCATIONOF PARKS]
S:
This map shows you the location of the two parks. This is Parma Park this is
StanWadlow Park. And we have DVP here and 401 up there.
[Change Slide: CONDUCTED SURVEY]
S:
In our survey of these areas we found that in the Parma park region, a lot of
residents that use their bbqs frequently.
V:
Also, as you can see from the graph, in the Stan Wadlow park area, more people
used electric lawn mowers than gas, resulting in less pollution, when compared to
Parma park, where they use gas lawn mowers more than electric. Parma Park
residents also use their fireplaces more often.
[Change Slide: GOVERNMENT/AGREEMENTS]
F:
Many initiatives are being taken to improve air quality in these areas. For example
the Canadian federal government’s 10 year action plan is committed to improve
the air quality for Canadians. It includes action on the Canadian Environmental
Protection Act (CEAP) involving new higher standards for exhaust emissions
from lawn equipment such as lawn mowers, and chainsaws.
S:
The Canada-US Air Quality Agreement, which was initiated in 1996, controls the
transboundary air pollution caused by sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxide
emissions. And each country agrees to share research and technology relating to
transboundary pollution.
[Change Slide: ACTION PLAN]
K:
To increase awareness of the poor air quality in their area, and the health risks
involved, we went door to door in these communities to inform people of this
issue.
G:
We also invited our community leaders to today’s community forum, in hopes of
informing them of the current environmental situation in the city of Toronto.
S:
In addition we constructed a website which gives you an overview of our
findings. It includes visuals, maps, charts, and further details of the information
we presented to you today. This was our action plan.
[Change Slide: FINAL RECOMMENDATION]
V:
Our final recommendation is for individuals living in these communities, and
throughout Toronto, to reduce their own household emissions. Changing your
wood fireplace to one that uses natural gas will surely reduce the emission of
harmful pollutants. Using electric lawn equipment as opposed to ones that use
gas, will do the same. Using gas bbqs as opposed to charcoal is a good idea. And
using each of these things less frequently will greatly reduce emissions.
***Request to government