Waste Diary
Problem: How much solid waste does one generate over the course of 24 hours?
Hypothesis: I will generate 20 grams of trash.
Materials
Reusable bag, trash from past 24 hours, scale
Objectives
- Identify sources of excess waste.
- Explain the problems with the over use of landfills.
- Describe the parts of a modern landfill
Procedure
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
Hypothesis: I will generate 20 grams of trash.
Materials
Reusable bag, trash from past 24 hours, scale
Objectives
- Identify sources of excess waste.
- Explain the problems with the over use of landfills.
- Describe the parts of a modern landfill
Procedure
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
Observations
I had mostly paper towels, as well as two drink containers: a plastic water bottle and a Tab can. There were also Fig Newtons wrappers, gum wrappers, the wrapper from an ice cream sandwich, a twist tie for bread, napkins I'd used to wipe pollen off my car, and several other trash items. The bag was approximately a third full.
Questions
1. What is done to control the amount of pollution created from a landfill?
Amount of trash is decreased by reducing, resusing, and recycling. Landfills are engineered to be compact and use all the space they have for waste.
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.
They need to be maintained and created carefully to ensure that they reduce the pollution problem rather than add to it.
3. How did the amount of waste you and your family each create compare with what you expected?
It was more than I expected.
4.What are some reasons the average could be different then your (or family’s) amount for one day?
I was on the go so I had more packaged snack food than I might have had on another day.
5. Calculate how much trash you accumulate in one month’s time: 1470 grams
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)? 19,110,000 grams
7. What was the total weight of your recyclable material? 48 grams
8. What was the total weight of your reusable material? 24 grams
9. What was the total weight of your compostable material? 20 grams
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? 1 gram. 17,520 grams
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? 18,720,000
1. What is done to control the amount of pollution created from a landfill?
Amount of trash is decreased by reducing, resusing, and recycling. Landfills are engineered to be compact and use all the space they have for waste.
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.
They need to be maintained and created carefully to ensure that they reduce the pollution problem rather than add to it.
3. How did the amount of waste you and your family each create compare with what you expected?
It was more than I expected.
4.What are some reasons the average could be different then your (or family’s) amount for one day?
I was on the go so I had more packaged snack food than I might have had on another day.
5. Calculate how much trash you accumulate in one month’s time: 1470 grams
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)? 19,110,000 grams
7. What was the total weight of your recyclable material? 48 grams
8. What was the total weight of your reusable material? 24 grams
9. What was the total weight of your compostable material? 20 grams
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? 1 gram. 17,520 grams
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? 18,720,000
General Conclusions
Evaluation of Hypothesis: My hypothesis was invalid because I actually generated 49 grams of total trash, 29 grams more than the amount I had expected. I underestimated my ability for drinking beverages with disposable containers as well as using up large amounts of paper towels.
Accuracy: There was trash that didn't go in the bag, like food and tissues, making the test amount not entirely accurate to the real amount of trash. Also, it's possible that, knowing I would have to carry it around, I tried to create less waste than I ordinarily would, like shaking my hands off instead of drying them with paper towels or eating a snack that wouldn't require a plastic wrapper. While these might be good behaviors to adopt into everyday life henceforth, they did not present an accurate representation of my everyday life now.
Real-Life Application: It may seem like reducing the waste we put into landfills doesn't matter much, but recent events have shown that it can save not only the environment but people's lives. After the bombing at the Boston marathon and the subsequent capture of the culprit, officials have begun searching the New Bedford landfill for his computer, which could have information regarding anyone he was associated with or whether there were other bombs (Botelho). If more people in that area reduced, reused, and recycled rather than sending their trash off to the landfill and creating more garbage to look through, the job could prove much quicker than it is and allow police to ensure the safety of the citizens.
Works Cited
Botelho, Greg. "Source: Investigators Comb Landfill for Boston Bombing Clues." CNN. Cable News Network, 01 Jan. 1970. Web. 26 Apr. 2013.
Accuracy: There was trash that didn't go in the bag, like food and tissues, making the test amount not entirely accurate to the real amount of trash. Also, it's possible that, knowing I would have to carry it around, I tried to create less waste than I ordinarily would, like shaking my hands off instead of drying them with paper towels or eating a snack that wouldn't require a plastic wrapper. While these might be good behaviors to adopt into everyday life henceforth, they did not present an accurate representation of my everyday life now.
Real-Life Application: It may seem like reducing the waste we put into landfills doesn't matter much, but recent events have shown that it can save not only the environment but people's lives. After the bombing at the Boston marathon and the subsequent capture of the culprit, officials have begun searching the New Bedford landfill for his computer, which could have information regarding anyone he was associated with or whether there were other bombs (Botelho). If more people in that area reduced, reused, and recycled rather than sending their trash off to the landfill and creating more garbage to look through, the job could prove much quicker than it is and allow police to ensure the safety of the citizens.
Works Cited
Botelho, Greg. "Source: Investigators Comb Landfill for Boston Bombing Clues." CNN. Cable News Network, 01 Jan. 1970. Web. 26 Apr. 2013.