This week we learned about waste management and I am shocked to find that there are different types of 'landfills'. There are places for green waste and this is where it will be decomposed and turned into mulch, there is a place for all mixed recycling to go and then there is the landfill for everything else. It's not just important to recycle but to know what to recycle, half of the problem with recycling is that people throw things in that can't be recycled and it contaminates everything else and causes all of the good recyclables to be thrown away. I think it's important we all know how to be smart recyclers to have the biggest positive benefit. Below are questions prompted by my professor. 1. Do you agree that recycling options lead people to waste more? Explain your answer with specific examples from your life. I do agree if people can get the sense that "oh it'll be recycled " it definitely leads people away from the idea of reducing, reuse before jumping to recycle but still gives them the good feeling of doing what's "right". 2. In our second week, we discussed 4 factors that are contributing to environmental issues (1. Human Population Growth 2. Wasteful and Unsustainable Use of Resources 3. Poverty and 4. Market Values for goods do not take into account the true costs). Describe connections between these factors and issues with resource use and waste management. For example, you could discuss how market values for goods do not take into account the true cost of people in other countries who are recycling resources from the US (think plastic in China and other Asian countries, textiles in Kenya, and electronics in Ghana. The US is far inferior in our recycling when compared to other countries in the world, not only are we bad at it as individuals but you can see the individual effect when looking at the country as a whole. When we do get material that can be recycled we then rely on other places to do the recycling for us, and now that places like China have said they aren't going to accept any of our trash the US needs to be less wasteful in what we already have as well as look towards reusable options. 3. Tackling wasteful and unsustainable use of resources is going to require that we each become less dependent on single-use or short-term use products. Document every single-use item that you encounter/ use in a 24 hr period. An OPTIONAL fun way to do this is to take a photo log of it and you can post it on Instagram if you would like. Reflect on this activity and a realistic alternative (i.e. something that YOU can actually do) to replace a single-use item with something that is more sustainable. In daily school life, I will have a protein bar for lunch when I don't make time to pack a lunch or if I don't want to carry a lunch box. Snack food wrappers are definitely an everyday trash item for me. And I know the alternative is to bring lunch in a lunch box with a reusable container, utensil and carrying bag. The next best thing I can do is find ways to make carrying and transporting lunch less of a bulky matter so then I'll be more willing to pack it. 4. Describe your Instagram photo and why you chose to take and post that particular photo and what is the connection to the topic of the week. I chose the triceratops made from soda cans because it's impressive to see how many aluminum cans a glass bottle recyclery accumulates in their piles. Tracy Triceratops was created to raise awareness that sorting out your glass is important.
The blue bin is to raise awareness that your city might be paying momentum for FREE community glass pick up. I urge everyone to find out if their city does or not and start recycling! The third photo was just a bit of machinery that I thought was cool because it's all the glass crushed up to be moved on to be crushed smaller. The last was just to promote Clever Octopus, they sell art supplies at very discounted prices as well as take supply donations for the community. 5. What was one thing that you found particularly interesting this week? I found it interesting that there are different kinds of landfills and I think it's important to know the difference. First "dump" is not the correct term, a dump refers to dumping trash into a hole in the ground. This is NOT what happens at landfills, landfills are a lot more thought out and they have a lot of criteria they have to meet. One of these is protecting the groundwater from the infect waste that comes from landfills when it rains, this is called "leachate". To protect the groundwater they make sure the base of the landfill is covered in a layer of compacted clay and plastic to keep it from seeping into the ground. When a landfill is at it's maximum they they "dry tomb" the waste this is done by putting another water prevention layer on top as well as topsoil. This prevents the decomposing process but it also ensures that these materials can't infect the wilderness around it. I also think it's so cool to see how glass is recycled, I knew that class is the most recyclable material but now I can really see why. Plus the perk for recycling glass is that it can become a new glass of all varieties, the last destination for glass is to become plexiglass because the chemistry is in such a way that it doesn't behave like normal glass anymore.
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