Waste Diary
Procedure:
1. Carry a trash bag around for 24 hours collecting all waste, except food and bodily fluids.
2. Sort the waste into categories: paper products, aluminum, metal, plastic, synthetic fibers, natural fibers, styrofoam, glass, and other. Weight each category and record the results.
Observations and Data:
1. Carry a trash bag around for 24 hours collecting all waste, except food and bodily fluids.
2. Sort the waste into categories: paper products, aluminum, metal, plastic, synthetic fibers, natural fibers, styrofoam, glass, and other. Weight each category and record the results.
Observations and Data:
Analysis and Conclusions:
Lab Questions:
1. What is done to control the amount of pollution created from a landfill?
-To control the amount of pollution, people are encouraged to reduce the amount of waste they produce, reuse what they can, and finally, recycle if they are able to.
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.
-Of course landfills are not just holes in the ground. Extensive layering and surveillance is done to make sure garbage does not leak into the ground and the water table.
3. How did the amount of waste you created compare with what you expected?
-The amount of waste created was somewhat lower than expected. This is probably because the data was collected during the weekend on a day that not much was done. If the test was completed on a schoolday, more waste would have been created.
4. What are some reasons the average could be different then your amount for one day?
-The average could be different because various amounts of waste are made each day, depending on the activities.
5. Calculate how much trash you accumulate in one month’s time.
-According to the data, 4374g of trash would be accumulated after one month (4.374 kilograms).
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?
-Using the data, 56862000g (56862kg) of waste would be produced over the course of ten months.
7. What was the total weight of your recyclable material?
-The total weight of recyclable materials was 108.4g.
8. What was the total weight of your reusable material?
-The total weight of reusable materials was 5g.
9. What was the total weight of your compostable material?
-The total weight of compostable material was 20g.
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?
-Only 12.4g of trash would be produced at this rate, not including those materials. That would save 48691g (48.691kg) per year (4526g as compared to 53217g).
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?
-At this rate, the school would save 4836000g (4836kg) in one school year if these materials were not thrown in the landfill (52026000g as compared to 56862000g).
General Conclusions/Analysis:
This lab proved the importance of reducing, reusing, and recycling one's waste. In fact, in this lab, only about nine percent of the waste remained once the reducible/reusable/recyclable material was removed. The amount of waste collected was much less than expected (especially once the certain materials were taken out). Obviously, this data does not represent every day, and the waste amount would fluctuate depending on what was done each day. Also, all waste was not collected. If food and waste having to do with bodily fluids were to be collected, the weight would probably have been much greater. Of course, some food waste is compostable, but some is not (such as meat) and would add to the final weight.
Lab Questions:
1. What is done to control the amount of pollution created from a landfill?
-To control the amount of pollution, people are encouraged to reduce the amount of waste they produce, reuse what they can, and finally, recycle if they are able to.
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.
-Of course landfills are not just holes in the ground. Extensive layering and surveillance is done to make sure garbage does not leak into the ground and the water table.
3. How did the amount of waste you created compare with what you expected?
-The amount of waste created was somewhat lower than expected. This is probably because the data was collected during the weekend on a day that not much was done. If the test was completed on a schoolday, more waste would have been created.
4. What are some reasons the average could be different then your amount for one day?
-The average could be different because various amounts of waste are made each day, depending on the activities.
5. Calculate how much trash you accumulate in one month’s time.
-According to the data, 4374g of trash would be accumulated after one month (4.374 kilograms).
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?
-Using the data, 56862000g (56862kg) of waste would be produced over the course of ten months.
7. What was the total weight of your recyclable material?
-The total weight of recyclable materials was 108.4g.
8. What was the total weight of your reusable material?
-The total weight of reusable materials was 5g.
9. What was the total weight of your compostable material?
-The total weight of compostable material was 20g.
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?
-Only 12.4g of trash would be produced at this rate, not including those materials. That would save 48691g (48.691kg) per year (4526g as compared to 53217g).
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?
-At this rate, the school would save 4836000g (4836kg) in one school year if these materials were not thrown in the landfill (52026000g as compared to 56862000g).
General Conclusions/Analysis:
This lab proved the importance of reducing, reusing, and recycling one's waste. In fact, in this lab, only about nine percent of the waste remained once the reducible/reusable/recyclable material was removed. The amount of waste collected was much less than expected (especially once the certain materials were taken out). Obviously, this data does not represent every day, and the waste amount would fluctuate depending on what was done each day. Also, all waste was not collected. If food and waste having to do with bodily fluids were to be collected, the weight would probably have been much greater. Of course, some food waste is compostable, but some is not (such as meat) and would add to the final weight.