Waste Diary Lab
Ally Vaughan
Introduction- The waste diary lab is used to show how much trash we use and waste in a day. We can
also see how much we are recycling, reusing, and just throwing in the trash. This lab makes you more
conscious of what we are throwing away, can I reuse this?, is a question I found myself thinking all day.
Most of the waste we just throw in the trash can is placed in an open dump, while it could go to a
recycling center. When we don’t recycle things go to waste when they could have been used again. This
is a problem that most people including myself have.
Hypothesis- I think I will create a lot of trash that cannot be recycled.
Procedures- Carry a trash bag around with you for 24 hours collecting all your waste, except:
•
Food products
•
Feminine hygiene products, bandages or anything else that would have bodily fluids or blood
Category
Paper Products
Aluminum
Metal
Plastic
Synthetic
Fibers
Natural Fibers
Styrofoam
Glass
Other
Total
Items
7
Recyclable?
N
Compostable?
Y
Reusable?
N
Weight
8g
3
Y
N
some
10g
3
2
Y
N
Y
N
N
N
Less than 1g
21g
15
1. What is done to control the amount of pollution created from a landfill?
There are many things that are done to control the amount of pollution created from the landfill. It
starts by what you are putting in, If you out toxic harmful things in the landfill then it will be polluted.
That is why we have separate drop off sites for different material. It also has to do with the protection
that has been put under and above the landfill. Under there is layers of soil, clay, pipes, and other things
that keep stuff from leaking into the ground. Above there are soil layers being put on along with the new
trash and then pipes to control the gas being released.
2. Many people think landfills should not be expensive since they are a hole in the ground. Explain why a
landfill such as above can cost in the millions of dollars to build and keep up.
A landfill is not just a hole in the ground, there are many things we don’t see in place to protect the
environment. Underneath the trash there is a layer of soil and clay then sheets of material to keep
things from leaking out into the ground. This is done to stop ground water contamination, after those
things there sometimes are pipes that are under and above to capture liquids and gasses so that they
are not released. These things in turn can be used to create energy that powers buildings across towns.
There are many things that make keeping the “hole” in the ground safe.
3. How did the amount of waste you and your family each create compare with what you expected?
I expected to create more waste than I did. Although not all my stuff can be recycled I didn’t use as
much as I thought I was going to. I’m sure not doing much that day had a big effect on that but for that
day I was surprised at how little I produced.
4. What are some reasons the average could be different then your (or family’s) amount for one day?
The average could be different today because I did not do much. I did not work or anything after school,
I also went to church for dinner so I did not cook anything for myself.
5. Calculate how much trash you accumulate in one month’s time:
15 (items) X 30 (days) = 450 items of trash
6. There are approximately 1,300 students at our school. How much trash do you estimate would be
produced by all the students in our school over the course of 10 months (one school year)?
450 (items of trash per month) X 10 (months) = 4,500 items of trash
4,500 ( items of trash in 10 months) X 1,300 (students) = 5,850,000 items in 10 months (one school year)
7. What was the total weight of your recyclable material?
110g was the total weight of my recyclable material. The Natural Fibers was such a little amount that it
could not be measured but out of the measurable material it is the 110g.
8. What was the total weight of your reusable material?
110g was the total weight of my reusable material that I collected.
9. What was the total weight of your compostable material?
8g was the total weight of the compostable material. The Natural Fibers was such a little amount that it
could not be measure but out of the measureable material it is the 8g.
10. Now, calculate how much trash you would produce if all the recyclable, reusable, and compostable
material was not in your trash bag? How much trash would that save over the course of one year?
8g + 110g = 118g
I would save 118g material not going in to the trash if I recycled, reused, and composted.
118g X 30 (days in a month) =3,540g in one month
3,540g X 12 (months in a year) = 42,480g in one year
I would save 42,480g of trash a year if I recycled, reused, and composted in a years’ time.
11. How much could the school save through the course of one school year if all the recyclable,
reusable, and compostable material was not thrown in the landfill?
3,540g (per student in one month) X 10 (months in a school year) = 35,400g per student per year
35,400g (per student per year) X 1,300 (students) = 46,020,000g in one school year
The school could save 46,020,000g in one years’ time if they did not throw the recycling, reusable, and
compostable material in the trash.
ConclusionMy hypothesis was wrong about the amount of waste I was going to create in during this lab. During this
lab I learned a lot and became more conscious about what I do with my trash and if it is really trash. An
error of this lab for me was that I did not do much that day so I did not create a lot of trash. I think that
day I was more conscious altogether so I did not have to carry it around but since then I have realized
that I keep tabs on myself about the waste I produce. My family and I have started to shop with the
reusable bags and that is just one change we have made to decrease our waste. Some things in the
future that I hope we start / do more are recycle and start a compost bin. Since we don’t live in the city
we have to take our own recyclables, we already do cans and bottles but I hope to see more in the
future. I have in the 2 weeks that we did this unit and were talking about composting seen many things
at my home that could have gone in a compost bin. I think it would be easy to do these things once you
get in the habit but we as people have our routine and we need break it to make a difference.
Sources"All About Composting: Learn How to Compost from Gardener's
Supply." Gardeners Supply. Gardenrers Supply Company, n.d. Web.
13 Nov. 2014. <http://www.gardeners.com/how-to/all-aboutcomposting/5061.html>.