ENVIRONMENTAL SYSTEMS
TEKS Clarifications
TEKS: 5F—Evaluate the impact of waste management methods such as reduction, reuse, recycling and composting on
resource availability.
TAKS Objective 3: The student will demonstrate an understanding of the interdependence of the environment.
TEKS/Content Clarifications are summary
statements that add meaning to content objectives
that cover required concepts
Instructional considerations are strategies,
activities, and ideas for effective instruction that
teachers may assign to ensure student success.
After being taught the objective, students will be able to:
Compare and contrast the different types of waste
management.
The waste hierarchy refers to the 3 (or 4) Rs of reduce, reuse,
recycle, (and recover)or ([reuse]) which classify waste management
strategies according to their desirability. The Rs are meant to be a
hierarchy, in order of importance. The aim of the waste hierarchy is
to extract the maximum practical benefits from products and to
generate the minimum amount of waste.
Reduction is the prevention of waste material being created.
Methods of avoidance include reuse of second-hand products,
repairing broken items instead of buying new, designing products to
be refillable or reusable (such as cotton instead of plastic shopping
bags), encouraging consumers to avoid using disposable products
(such as disposable cutlery), removing any food/liquid remains from
cans, packaging, and designing products that use less material to
achieve the same purpose (for example, lightweighting of beverage
cans).
Reuse is another method of waste management which refers to the
reuse of material for the purpose for which it was originally intended.
Examples: soda and milk in glass bottles which can be sterilized,
refilled and reused.
Recycling is processing used materials (waste) into new products to
prevent waste of potentially useful materials, reduce the
consumption of fresh raw materials, reduce energy usage, reduce air
pollution (from incineration) and water pollution (from landfilling) by
reducing the need for "conventional" waste disposal, and lower
greenhouse gas emissions as compared to virgin production.
Composting is simply the decaying of leaves and plant matter
enriching the soil. Materials that can be composted (in the backyard
or a container) include yard waste such as wood chips, leaves,
weeds, straw, hay, and grass clippings. Kitchen waste such as
coffee grounds, tea bags, eggshells, fruit and vegetable rinds and
peels can also be composted.
Recognize that waste management can have a
detrimental impact on resources.
Disposing of waste has huge environmental impacts and can cause
serious problems. Much waste is buried in landfill sites – holes in the
ground, sometimes old quarries, sometimes specially dug. Some
waste will eventually rot, but not all, and in the process it may smell
or generate methane gas, which is explosive and contributes to the
greenhouse effect. Leachate (chemicals produced from leaching—
removing soluble chemicals) produced as waste decomposes may
cause pollution. Badly-managed landfill sites may attract vermin or
cause litter.
Incinerating waste also causes problems, because plastics tend to
produce toxic substances, such as dioxins, when they are burnt.
Gases from incineration may cause air pollution and contribute to
acid rain, while the ash from incinerators may contain heavy metals
and other toxins. Because of these problems there are active
campaigns against waste incineration. However, burning waste can
generate energy and there are operational schemes. Throwing away
things wastes resources. It wastes the raw materials and energy
used in making the items and it wastes money. Reducing waste
means less environmental impact, less resources and energy used
and saves money.
solid waste,
biodegradable material,
municipal solid waste,
landfill,
leachate,
hazardous wastes,
deep well injection,
surface impoundment,
compost,
synthetic