Post on 18-May-2015
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Food Waste
96,000,000,000pounds of food disposed of every year in the US
FoodPolitics
“The US wastes 40% of all food produced per year.”
GOOD.ishttp://www.good.is/post/the-u-s-wastes-40-percent-of-all-
food-produced-per-year-how-about-we-stop-doing-that/
“...if you never teach your children to be alone, they can only be lonely.”
http://articles.latimes.com/2011/mar/05/science/la-sci-sherry-turkle-20110305/2
If you do not teachpeople how to consume, they will only be consumed.
“Retail Therapy”
Sandra Lee-TakeiMiriam Olivera
Waste
In nature, there is no waste.
Nature’s MostAmazing EventsBBC, 2009
Figure 38.9
Where does it come from?How is it made?
How do you use it?How much? How often?
How do you think about it?How can you think about it?
Where does it come from?How is it made?
Where does it go?
Assignment
keep (track of)
For one day
your trash
or one week,
Kinds of Waste
IndustrialMunicipalMedicalElectronic
Industrial Waste
7,600,000,000tons per year (EPA)
13,000,000,000tons per year (other sources)
In the US
not including agricultural waste or greenhouse gases and other pollution
take-make-wastemodern production is a
system
take-make-forsake
Design is the Problem
Municipal Solid Waste
3 Major Components
Inorganics
Food scraps, yard waste and other biodegradables
Manufactured products and their packaging
254,000,000tonsof MSW
= 4.6 poundsper personper day
In the US
in 2007
In part because our stuff is “designed to be wasted.”
Design is the Problem
74% of our wastewas products and packaging
In the US
in 2005
150,000,000,000single-use beverage containers
320,000,000take-out cups
In the US
every day
Electronic Waste
Assignment
After Dump, What Happens To Electronic Waste?
http://www.npr.org/2010/12/21/132204954/after-dump-what-happens-to-electronic-waste
400,000,000products per year
4,000,000,000pounds in 2005
In the US
85% in landfills
12.5% recycled[80% shipped overseas]
In the US
cell phone upgradesDigital TV conversion
Software upgradesBattery can’t be changed
Cheap printers
Top sources/reasons
Waste Management
“...waste is supported with community services that are more universal, more affordable and more accessible than health care, housing, or education.”
But it’s not supported well.
What happens to trash?
Sesame Street: Keep on Truckin’
Bury it.Burn it.Ship it.
Landfillsbad for land, water and air
Leachate
Collection required by the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act
http://water.epa.gov/scitech/wastetech/guide/landfills/landfact.cfm
But landfills leak
http://www.zerowasteamerica.org/landfills.htm
Methane and other VOCs
Landfill gas
about 50% methane
made up 23% of methane emissions in 2007
Why methane?
Decomposition in landfills occurs viaanaerobic respiration
Anaerobic: C02 to CH4
Aerobic: 02 to H2O
Burn landfill gas for energy?
No! But we already do.
Point-SourcePollution
Pollution from a single, identifiable, localized source
The term "point source" means any discernible, confined and discrete conveyance, including but not limited to any pipe, ditch, channel, tunnel, conduit, well, discrete fissure, container, rolling stock, concentrated animal feeding operation, or vessel or other floating craft, from which pollutants are or may be discharged.
http://www.epa.gov/owow_keep/NPS/whatis.html
LandfillsIncineratorsPower plantsWastewater treatment facilitiesIndustrial sitesFactory farms
Nonpoint-SourcePollution
Nonpoint-SourcePollution
“...generally results from land runoff, precipitation, atmospheric deposition, drainage, seepage or hydrologic modification.”
http://www.epa.gov/owow_keep/NPS/whatis.html
“NPS pollution is caused by rainfall or snowmelt moving over and through the ground.As the runoff moves, it picks up and carries away natural and human-made pollutants, finally depositing them into lakes, rivers, wetlands, coastal waters and ground waters.”
http://www.epa.gov/owow_keep/NPS/whatis.html
Agricultural areasrunoff, livestock waste
Residential areasstreets, parking lots, roads, lawns
Mining areas
Compostreduce leachate,eliminate methane
Recycling
Recycling plastics is really
downcycling
Rethink Production
Newton Running
Hi Albert,
Thanks for your message, and I'm glad to know you're a Newton Runner. We do partner with a non-profit, called One World Running, which is an entirely volunteer-operated organization that collects gently used shoes and distributes them to needy children and adults all around the world. To keep your old shoes out of a landfill, just send them to:
One World Runningc/o Newton Running Warehouse and Distribution Center3655 Frontier Ave.Boulder, CO 80301
I hope this helps-- please let me know if you have additional questions or concerns. Take care and run strong.
Simple ShoesWho We AreWith all the over-built, over-hyped products out there, it's pretty hard to find sustainable shoes that you can live with. So we started Simple, your stereotypical, anti-stereotype brand offering good shoes and a big dose of reality.About a gazillion pairs later... give or take a few... we've managed to learn a few things. Well, actually a lot of things. And none more important than this: HOW we make our shoes is just as important as WHY we make them. That means finding more sustainable ways of doing business so we can make a gazillion more.Which pretty much is where we are today... at the crossroads of here and now, aware of our responsibility to the planet while trying to pay the bills. The nice little shoe company getting in touch with its inner hippie.
Simple Shoes
Cradle to Cradle Design
Reframing production
biological nutrientsbiodegradable, organic materials
technical nutrientsinorganic or synthetic materials
C2C Certification
Product/material transparency and human & environmental health characteristics
Product/material reusability
Production energy
Water use in manufacturing
Social fairness
Stop making“monstrous hybrids”
Ford Model U
Ford Model U
Soy-based foam in seats
Sunflower-seed-based lubricants
100%-recyclable polyester
Bioplastic roof
Modular manufacturing
http://www.good.is/post/ecovative-design-partners-with-ford-to-develop-mushroom-based-car-parts/
Rethink Consumption
Freecycle.org
Rethink Ownership
meshing.it
Collaborative Consumption
weconomy
accessover ownership
reconomy
Zero Waste
Preventing waste
Reducing consumption and discardsReusing discardsExtended producer responsibilityComprehensive recyclingComprehensive compostingCitizen participationBan incinerationImprove product designEffective policies, regulations,incentives, etc.
True Cost
Prices we pay do not reflect the costs inflicted upon people and ecosystems
impacts on human, animal and ecosystem health
$6