Chapter 23- Guided Reading Assignment

Pg. 520: Treasures of the Cell Phone 1.) What are the reasons why e-waste is not recycled more? It is not recycled more because it is not a simple thing to do, and it cost more than the not recycling method. 23.1: The Importance of Resources to Society 1.) Define the following: Renewable Resources: resources that is naturally recycled or recycled in an artificial process Non-Renewable Resources: resources that is cycled so slowly by natural Earth processes that once used, it is essentially not going to be made available within any useful time framework What differentiates renewable and non-renewable resources? The difference between the two is their availability 2.) How many tons of non-fuel minerals does the typical American use per year? 10 tons of non-fuel minerals per year 23.2: Materials Management: What is it? 1.) Define Materials Management: methods consistent with the ideal of industrial ecology, making etter use of materials and leading to more sustainable use of materials and leading to more sustainable use of resources 2.) What are 5 ways that this can be pursued? - Eliminate subsidies for extracting virgin materials - Establish green-building incentives that encourage the use of recycled-content materialsand products in new construction - Assess financial penalties for production that uses poor materials management - Provide financial inventives for industrial practices and products that benefits the environment by enhancing sustainability - Provide more incentives for people, industry, and agriculture to develop materials-management programs that eliminate or reduce waste by using it as raw materials for other products 3.) How does the idea of materials management and recycling changing where paper mills are located? Now they are located near cities with large supplies of recycled paper because there are more paper in those places. 23.3: Mineral resources 1.) When metals are concentrated in such high amounts by geologic process, ore deposits are formed. 2.) In the Earths crust, which element makes up the most % by composition? What is 2nd? Oxygen, then the second one is silicon 3.) How are sedimentary processes and weathering involved in mineral deposits? It gets transported by the wind, water, and glaciers. Concentrated materials would often be extracted. Some minerals can be weathered down, when that does happens, then it would be oxide.

23.4: Figuring Out How Much is Left 1.) What is the difference between a mineral resource and a mineral reserve? Mineral resources are concentrations of elements, minerals or rocks. Mineral reserves are concentrations that can be extracted and sold for profit 2.) Earths mineral resources can be divided into which broad categories? Metal production and technologies 3.) When the availability of a particular mineral becomes limited, there are four possible solutions: a. Finding more sources b. Recycling and reusing the things that have been obtained c. Reducing consumption d. Finding a substitute 23.5: Impact of Mineral Development 1.) What are some of the environmental impacts of surface mining (open-pit mines)? It will cause the environment to degrade, change the topography, and release traces of harmful elements. 2.) What are some of the social impacts of large scale mining operations? It will cause stress on local services, such as their water supplies, sewage, and disposal systems. 3.) What are the 3 Rs of waste management? Recycle, reduce, reuse 23.6: Materials Management and Our Waste 1.) Compare dilute and disperse to the contemporary method of concentrate and Contain. Dilute and disperse= to easily get rid of waste Concentrate and contain= to hold chemicals in tank that have the ability of leaking 2.) In the next few years, how many U.S. cities will run out of landfill space? Around half of all the cities in the U.S. will run out 3.) What is NIMBY? Not in my back yard 4.) Describe the concept of industrial ecology and how it will be essential in the future. The study of relationships among industrial systems and their links to natural systems. It will be essential in the future by using what is consider as a waste in one place to be used in another as resource. 5.) What is your opinion of pay as you throw? Defend your opinion I think that this would prevent people from disposing their things, which can be reused. It will be beneficial to the environment and reduce the amount of trash in landfills. 23.7: Integrated Waste Management 1.) Define Integrated Waste Management (IWM): a set of management alternatives 2.) What is waste stream? Something that is produced by waste. 3.) What is single-stream recycling? Recycling process in which paper, plastic, glass, and metals are not separated prior to collection.

4.) What are some creative ways that industry are encouraging recycling? Some companies are redesigning products so that it can be more easily disassembled after use and have its parts be recyclable. 5.) How can human waste (night soil) be re-used and recycled? What are some drawbacks? It can be used as fertilizer, but it may contaminate some food, which can cause people to get sick from the contamination. 23.8: Municipal Solid-Waste Management 1.) Which product comprises the largest percentage of waste dumped in the United States? Is this surprising? Wood/paper. It is not surprising because paper is a common product that are used daily by most of the people in United States. 2.) Define Composting: (What are the pros and cons?) It is a biochemical process, when organic materials are composed into rich, soil-like materials. Pros: it can be done anywhere that have dirt and animals that have the ability to decompose things Cons: inorganic things must be separated from the organic things 3.) What are the pros and cons of incineration? Pros: it reduce that amount of waste, and it can be used as a generator Cons: this process might increase air pollution and produce toxic ash 4.) What is a sanitary landfill and how is it accomplished? How is a sanitary landfill selected? What things need to be considered? A landfill that is designed to concentrate and contain refuse without creating a nuisance or hazard to public health or safety. They are selected by its topography, location of the groundwater table, amount of precipitation, type of soil and rock, and location of the disposal zone in the surface water and groundwater flow system. They need to consider the amount of people that already lives in those areas. 5.) What is environmental justice? The study of social issues in siting waste facilities, chemical plants, and other such facilities is an emerging field 6.) What is leachate? Noxious, mineralized liquid capable of transporting bacterial pollutants. 7.) How can pollutants enter the environment from sanitary landfills? Atmosphere; Retention in soil, Groundwater; Surface runoff from land; Removal in crops; Plant residue; Stream flow; Wind 8.) What are the federal mandates for sanitary landfills? Landfills may not be sited on floodplains, wetlands, earthquake zones, unstable land, or near airports Must have liners Must have a leachate collection system Operators must monitor groundwater for many specified toxic chemicals Operators must meet financial assurance criteria to ensure that monitoring continues for 30 years after the landfill is closed 9.) What are some actions you can take to reduce the waste you generate? It can be reused, and recycled. You can also reduce the amount of products you use.

23.9: Hazardous Waste 1.) Where is most of the hazardous waste generated in the U.S.? What are the sources of hazardous waste in the United States? In the east of the Mississippi River. Chemical-products industries. 2.) Summarize (in 3-4 sentences) the story of Love Canal. In 1976 near Niagra Falls, New York the water got contaminated with chemicals from Hooker Chemical Company. They did not clean up the place where they dumped their wastes, then they sold their piece of land to the Niagra Falls School district for only one dollar. The people then inhabit that area, then they soon all go sick from the contaminated water. The water then cause them to have some bad health effects. 23.2: A Closer Look: e-waste: A Growing Environmental Problem 1.) Summarize the problems with e-waste in the United States. E-wastes that are produced in the United States are being transported to developing countries, such as China and Nigeria. The people in those countries then take apart the electronics and take only the parts that can be sold, while the rest of the product gets left there to slowly decompose over time. Those unsold parts then pollute the land. The people who takes apart those products gets exposed to all the toxins that are in the e-waste that is from the United States. 23.10: Hazardous- Waste Legislation 1.) What is the purpose of RCRA (Resource Conservation and Recovery Act)? Their purpose is to issue guidelines and assign responsibilities to those who manufacture, transport, and dispose of hazardous waste. cradle to grave management. 2.) What is the purpose of CERCLA (Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act)? They make policies and procedures to reduce the amount of hazardous substance from being released into the environment. 23.11: Hazardous- Waste Management: Land Disposal 1.) Look at the chart on pg. 541- List the PROS/CONS of each of the Hazard Reduction Technologies. Parameter Compared: o Pros- effective o Cons- environment media most affected Landfill: o Pros- cheap o Cons- releases toxins Injection: o Pros- cheap o Cons- corrosive, toxic Incineration: o Pros- can be used to generate energy o Cons- expensive

23.13: Ocean Dumping 1.) What are some of the ways that ocean pollution has affected ocean life? It interrupts the carbon cycle, creates water pollution, and kill marine organisms. 2.) Why are the marine waters of Europe in trouble? Algae blooms are blooming in their waters because of all the urban and agricultural pollutants that contaminated the water. 3.) Why is the microlayer of the ocean considered to be so important? The base of the marine food chain consists of planktonic life abundant in the microlayer, and the young of certain fish and shellfish also reside there in the early stages of their life. 23.14: Pollution Prevention 1.) What are the steps of ocean pollution prevention? First they purchase the proper amount of raw materials that no excess remains to be disposed of. Then exercise better control of materials used in manufacturing processes so that less waste is produced. After that they substitute nontoxic chemicals for hazardous or toxic materials currently used. Finally, they improve engineering and design of manufacturing processes so less waste is produced. 23.15: Sustainable Resource Management 1.) What is the R to C Ratio- What does it tell us? A measure of the time available for finding the solutions to depletion of nonrenewable reserves. R is the known reserves, and C is the rate of consumption. Read: Can We Make Recycling a Financially Viable Industry? Answer the following: 1.) What can be done about the global problem of e-waste? Could more be recycled safely? The e-waste should stop being sent to other counties. It could be recycled safely. 2.) What can be done to assist recycling industries to become more cost-effective? By giving people incentives, recycling industries would become more cost-effective. 3.) What are some of the indirect benefits to society and the environment from recycling? The environment would become cleaner. 4.) Define or criticize the contention that if we really want to do something to improve the environment through reduction of waste, we have to move beyond evaluating benefits of recycling based simply on the fact that it may cost more than dumping waste in a landfill. 5.) What are the recycling efforts in your community and university, and how could improvements be made? You can sell your recyclables in my community. it can be improved if the price for each item increases. Summary: Suppose you found that the home you had been living in for 15 years was located over a buried waste disposal site. What would you do? What kinds of studies could be done to evaluate the potential problems?

I would find out the details of the waste disposal site. I would not worry, unless it have been buried in an unclean style. I would also find out whether it was contaminated, if it was then how bad was the contamination.