Solid waste Inventory Lab
Collaborators-
Griffin Matthews
Griffin Matthews
Abstract-
An experiment was conducted to discover how much solid waste I produce in a period of 4 days. That data was then extrapolated to fit a one month span and a one year span. I produced 37 items of waste over the 4 day period which can be extrapolated to 286 items per month and 3376 items per year. These item numbers appear to be lower than the average United States citizen's waste production. My family recycles almost all waste that can be recycled and reuse certain things around the house, so, both those factors will effect the data. I found that I could most likely cut the amount of trash I throw away altogether and recycle more materials that can be recycled. This would leave less of an environmental footprint if I could implement these changes.
An experiment was conducted to discover how much solid waste I produce in a period of 4 days. That data was then extrapolated to fit a one month span and a one year span. I produced 37 items of waste over the 4 day period which can be extrapolated to 286 items per month and 3376 items per year. These item numbers appear to be lower than the average United States citizen's waste production. My family recycles almost all waste that can be recycled and reuse certain things around the house, so, both those factors will effect the data. I found that I could most likely cut the amount of trash I throw away altogether and recycle more materials that can be recycled. This would leave less of an environmental footprint if I could implement these changes.
Problem-
How much solid waste do I produce in an average 4 day period? How can I improve this?
How much solid waste do I produce in an average 4 day period? How can I improve this?
Materials-
1. A writing device
2. Notebook to record waste
3. 4 days (at least one of which must be a weekend day)
1. A writing device
2. Notebook to record waste
3. 4 days (at least one of which must be a weekend day)
Methods-
1. Select a suitable 4 day period of which the experiment can be conducted. Remember, at least 1 of these days must be a weekend day.
2. Record all waste produced by you in your notebook. Categorize the waste items by type and material like aluminum, plastic, paper, etc.
1. Select a suitable 4 day period of which the experiment can be conducted. Remember, at least 1 of these days must be a weekend day.
2. Record all waste produced by you in your notebook. Categorize the waste items by type and material like aluminum, plastic, paper, etc.
Data-
Days of experiment- Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday.
Total number of solid waste items for 4 days = 37 items
Total number of solid waste items for 1 year = 3376.25 items
Total number of solid waste items for 1 year = 3376.25 items
Data Analysis-
The average american produces 4.40 pounds of solid garbage or recyclables per day according to the EPA (Link to Site). I was not able to weigh my trash per day or for the four days, but I don't appear to have more than 4.4 pounds of waste. This leads me to believe that I produce less waste than the average american. My family attempts to recycle all that can be recycled and we did, for a time, have a compost bin, however the compost bin is long gone and is not included in this data. The biggest outlier probably is the school related paper category which was 21% of the total items produced. I recycle papers that I have used for scribbling down miscellaneous things in class that are of no use to me afterwards. I stopped for Sonic on sunday which is where much of the paper and plastic waste was produced as drive through fast food uses an excessive amount of paper products. We also save all plastic grocery bags and use them for other purposes around the house, so those items are not included as they were not thrown out. The mixed metal category consists of discarded musical instrument strings.
The average american produces 4.40 pounds of solid garbage or recyclables per day according to the EPA (Link to Site). I was not able to weigh my trash per day or for the four days, but I don't appear to have more than 4.4 pounds of waste. This leads me to believe that I produce less waste than the average american. My family attempts to recycle all that can be recycled and we did, for a time, have a compost bin, however the compost bin is long gone and is not included in this data. The biggest outlier probably is the school related paper category which was 21% of the total items produced. I recycle papers that I have used for scribbling down miscellaneous things in class that are of no use to me afterwards. I stopped for Sonic on sunday which is where much of the paper and plastic waste was produced as drive through fast food uses an excessive amount of paper products. We also save all plastic grocery bags and use them for other purposes around the house, so those items are not included as they were not thrown out. The mixed metal category consists of discarded musical instrument strings.
Conclusion-
1. Pollution is controlled in the landfill by the companies putting impermeable membranes under the landfill to prevent toxic chemicals from seeping into the surrounding land. They also cover the landfill with dirt everyday and cap and seal the landfill when they stop using it. There are also leachate collection systems and methane collection systems.
2. All the safety and environmental barriers like membranes and pipe systems cost money. Also labor costs are included with the employees sorting and monitoring trash. All these systems and employee costs add up very quickly
3. I expected us to be below average and we were. I didn't expect us to be producing an incredibly small amount compared to the average and we weren't. We were low but not surprisingly low.
4. We recycle a good amount of our trash, so I can see how we are lower than the average. We reuse glass water bottles instead of buying bottled water, we save plastic bags, and we don't produce a ridiculous amount of trash in the first place.
5. I will produce 286.75 items of trash in a month.
6. Using my average items per day (I talked to some classmates and most people produced less waste items than me so i'm not sure how accurate this estimate will be), a school of 1,800 students will produce 5,161,500 items of trash in 1 school year. That's a lot of garbage.
10. Like I said, we recycle most of what we can, but I suppose we could find new trash items to recycle in the future. Now that I think of it, the mixed metals aren't recycled, I could start recycling them considering they are made of nickel and other metals. I think it would make a difference, but not an incredibly large one. The biggest change would be producing less trash in the first place.
11. I think the school does a fine job of recycling, but a large quantity of paper is still thrown in the trash. If they could somehow raise awareness and cut paper and recyclables out of the normal garbage then I would estimate that they could cut their trash output by 50%.
1. Pollution is controlled in the landfill by the companies putting impermeable membranes under the landfill to prevent toxic chemicals from seeping into the surrounding land. They also cover the landfill with dirt everyday and cap and seal the landfill when they stop using it. There are also leachate collection systems and methane collection systems.
2. All the safety and environmental barriers like membranes and pipe systems cost money. Also labor costs are included with the employees sorting and monitoring trash. All these systems and employee costs add up very quickly
3. I expected us to be below average and we were. I didn't expect us to be producing an incredibly small amount compared to the average and we weren't. We were low but not surprisingly low.
4. We recycle a good amount of our trash, so I can see how we are lower than the average. We reuse glass water bottles instead of buying bottled water, we save plastic bags, and we don't produce a ridiculous amount of trash in the first place.
5. I will produce 286.75 items of trash in a month.
6. Using my average items per day (I talked to some classmates and most people produced less waste items than me so i'm not sure how accurate this estimate will be), a school of 1,800 students will produce 5,161,500 items of trash in 1 school year. That's a lot of garbage.
10. Like I said, we recycle most of what we can, but I suppose we could find new trash items to recycle in the future. Now that I think of it, the mixed metals aren't recycled, I could start recycling them considering they are made of nickel and other metals. I think it would make a difference, but not an incredibly large one. The biggest change would be producing less trash in the first place.
11. I think the school does a fine job of recycling, but a large quantity of paper is still thrown in the trash. If they could somehow raise awareness and cut paper and recyclables out of the normal garbage then I would estimate that they could cut their trash output by 50%.
Citations-
"Municipal Solid Waste." EPA. Environmental Protection Agency, n.d. Web. 12 Dec. 2013. <http://www.epa.gov/epawaste/nonhaz/municipal/index.htm>.
"Municipal Solid Waste." EPA. Environmental Protection Agency, n.d. Web. 12 Dec. 2013. <http://www.epa.gov/epawaste/nonhaz/municipal/index.htm>.