Linggo, Pebrero 1, 2015

Waste Management Gives Significance to Rubbish



Waste management aims in collecting, transporting, processing, recycling and monitoring the waste materials that are produced by the different human activities and is usually undertaken to reduce the effect of these activities on different aspect of life. Waste management is beneficial to recover useful resources from the wastes we produce. These wastes involve all solid, liquid and gaseous substances which are managed with different methods and expertise is required for them.


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Classification of wastes:
In order to understand the severity of the problem and to work towards a solution, one must understand the types of wastes being generated.
  • Biodegradable Wastes - The biodegradable wastes are those that can be decomposed by the natural processes and converted into the elemental form.           (For example, kitchen garbage, animal dung, etc.)
  • Non-biodegradable Wastes - The non-biodegradable wastes are those that cannot be decomposed and remain as such in the environment. They are persistent and can cause various problems. For example, plastics, nuclear wastes, glass, etc.
Sources of Wastes:

  • Domestic wastes
  • Commercial wastes
  • Ashes
  • Animal wastes
  • Bio-medical wastes
  • Construction wastes
  • Industrial Solid Wastes
  • Sewer
  • Biodegradable wastes

Common problems encountered in waste management are:

  • ·        We produce too much waste
  • ·        Improper waste disposal
  • ·        Most of our waste are toxic

Ways or Solutions in handling these Problems:

11.   Landfill- disposing of waste in a way of burying it under the ground which is a common practice in most countries of the world. Landfills are often established in abandoned or unused quarries, borrow pits or mining voids. If a landfill is properly designed and well-managed it can become a hygienic and relatively inexpensive method of disposing of waste materials. 


2.  Plasma Gasification- plasma is a highly electrically charged or ionized gas.A gasifier vessel is one which utilizes proprietary plasma torches operating at more than 10,000 °F or 5,540 °C which is the surface temperature of the Sun, so as to order to create a gasification zone of up to 3,000 °F or 1,650 °C which will convert solid or liquid wastes into a sun gas.
When the municipal solid waste is subjected to this intense heat within the vessel, the molecular bonds of the wastes break down into elemental components. The process results in elemental destruction of waste and hazardous materials which were originally present. Plasma gasification offers states new opportunities for waste disposal, and more importantly for renewable power generation in an environmentally sustainable manner.


E-Waste Management

      3.   E-waste management- "Electronic waste" is defined as all the secondary computers, entertainment devices, mobile phones, all other items like television, refrigerators, whether they are sold or donated or discarded by their original owners or users.




Waste Management

hazardouswastedisposalsystem.com

        4.   Recycling- "Reduce, Reuse, Recycle" aka 3 R's of the waste hierarchy. Recycling involves processing used materials to make a new product which prevents waste of potentially useful materials that will reduce the consumption of fresh raw materials and reduce the energy usage, water pollution and reduce air pollution by reducing the need for "conventional" waste disposal, and lower the greenhouse gas emissions as compared to original and fresh production. Recycling is a key component of modern waste reduction, saves money, energy, trees in the planet Earth.


   5.   Incineration- is a disposal method in which solid organic wastes are subjected to combustion so as to convert them into residue and gaseous products. This method is useful for disposal of residue of both solid waste management and solid residue from waste water management. The process reduces the volumes of solid waste to 20 to 30 percent of the original volume. Incineration and other high temperature waste treatment systems are sometimes described as "thermal treatment". Incinerators convert waste materials into heat, gas, steam, and ash. Incineration is carried out both on a small scale by individuals and on a large scale by industry. 

    6.   Sustainability- involves making decisions and taking action that are in the interests of protecting the natural world, with particular emphasis on preserving the capability of the environment to support human life.Environmental sustainability is about making responsible decisions that will reduce your business' negative impact on the environment. 

File:Compost Heap.jpg

7Biological reprocessing- Recoverable materials that are organic in nature, such as plant material, food scraps, and paper products, can be recovered through composting and digestion processes to decompose the organic matter. The resulting organic material is then recycled as mulch or compost for agricultural or landscaping purposes. In addition, waste gas from the process (such as methane) can be captured and used for generating electricity and heat (CHP/co-generationmaximizing efficiency. The intention of biological processing in waste management is to control and accelerate the natural process of decomposition of organic matter.

File:Haase Lubeck MBT.JPG     8.Energy recovery- Energy recovery from waste is the conversion of non-recyclable waste materials into usable heat, electricity, or fuel through a variety of processes, including combustion, gasification, pyrolyzation, anaerobic digestion, and landfill gas recovery. This process is often called waste-to-energy. Energy recovery from waste is part of the non-hazardous waste management hierarchy. Using energy recovery to convert non-recyclable waste materials into electricity and heat, generates a renewable energy source and can reduce carbon emissions by offsetting the need for energy from fossil sources as well as reduce methane generation from landfills. Globally, waste-to-energy accounts for 16% of waste management.

9.   Resource recovery- Resource recovery is the systematic diversion of waste, which was intended for disposal, for a specific next use. It is the processing of recyclables to extract or recover materials and resources, or convert to energy. These activities are performed at a resource recovery facility. Resource recovery is not only environmentally important, but it is also cost effective. It decreases the amount of waste for disposal, saves space in landfills, and conserves natural resources.

Benefits of Waste Management:
  •  With proper waste management, we can save our Mother Earth and at the same time we can receive many benefits not only for the environment but also for us.
  • This has allowed cities to make use of organic waste to create compost for public areas. There are even some cities that package and sell the compost to make money. 
  • Waste items can be reprocessed and recycled and will be used in producing new products. This method has helped reduce further consumption of natural resources and at the same time lowers the ultimate needs for waste disposal.
  • It  is also beneficial to health as well. According to health agencies, when garbage and plastics are being burned, they produce particulate matter that are solid compounds and are suspended in the air which can cause serious ailments to the body and can lead to death. Removing waste from public areas helps reduce risks to overall health, decreases exposure to bio-hazards and reduces infestation of pest.
  • There is another advantage of proper waste management that not so many people are aware about. It is in the form of waste energy- derivative of some techniques of waste management. Although incineration releases large amounts of carbon dioxide as well as other pollutants, modern advances have been available to capture the energy being produced in incineration and utilize it to generate electricity. 

Sabado, Enero 31, 2015

Ways to Conserve and Protect the Environment

Before we discuss about the ways to conserve and protect the environment did you ever wonder why do we need to conserve and protect the environment?
For me it's simply because the environment/the earth is where we live in. It's our home so it is a common sense to protect and conserve it and  NOT to destroy it.

Many people don't care in the environmental conservation and protection. They just keep on destroying nature for the sake of earning money as a result they suffer from the natural phenomena in which many things are destroyed and many people die.  "You Reap What You Sow" if you're taking good care of of the nature you will not suffer from it.


Ways To Conserve and Protect the Environment

  • Plant Trees - Trees takes in carbon dioxide which is the cause of global warming and it also holds into the ground that can prevent landslides.
            • Source:http://connectnigeria.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/plant-trees.jpg
  • Don't Burn
    Source: http://daq.state.nc.us/enf/openburn/images/barrel.png

  • Stop Illegal logging 
    Source:http://fc00.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2012/022/e/a/stop_illegal_logging_by_rarasnp-d4n7tyr.png
  • Proper waste disposal 
    Source: http://www.instablogs.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/garbage_2EdlK_3868.jpg
  • 3R - Reuse, Reduce and Recycle 
    Source: http://behance.vo.llnwd.net/profiles13/2350873/projects/8308183/c28000fb7b95da73cd32cd434f2f16d5.jpg
  • Limit your use of electricity 
    Source: http://www.cornwall.gov.uk/media/3622702/newmp_electricalfiresafety1.jpg
  • Use organic fertilizers 
    Source: http://www.herbsandoilsworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/natural-fertilizers.png


These are just some ways how to conserve and protect the environment. These things are common sense learn to apply it if you want to have a bright and successful future.

Watch: 

Credits to the owner (not mine)

New Found Solution: ECO BAG

Due to the chaotic atmosphere in terms of Environmental Conservation and Protection in the use of plastics or paper bags on how durable, reusable and it's environmental impact. The Eco bag is the new found solution.
Source: http://image6.spreadshirt.com/image-server/v1/products/15621788/views/1,width=378,height=378,appearanceId=140/Creme-Green-Tree-(2c,-Eco)-Bags-.png


TRIVIA:
  • Hundreds of thousands of whales, dolphins, sea turtles and other marine mammals die every year after eating discarded plastic bags they mistake for food. (credits to: http://environment.about.com/od/recycling/a/reusablebags.htm)



Source:http://images.huffingtonpost.com/2012-01-11-OtterMomandPupwithPlas.jpg





Unlike the production of plastics and paper bags, Eco bags are made of materials that don’t harm the environment during production and don’t need to be discarded after each use. Let's be practical think about how much do the grocers spend in buying plastics and paper bags daily? a lot, maybe and the thing is we only use it once or twice such a waste of money and more importantly it destroys our environment. Why don't we use Eco bag? It may cause Php 200 or more but think about it how many trees will be prevented to cut down? how many animals will live by not eating plastics by mistake?  So we encourage you to use Eco bags.



WATCH:

Credits to the Owner (not Mine)


Martes, Enero 27, 2015

Usage of Plastic or Paper Bags: A Friend or A Foe?

 
There is always a chaotic atmosphere in terms of Environmental Conservation and Protection in the use of Plastics or Paper bags. One can say, it is more efficient to use plastics. Others say, it is more eco-friendly to use paper.  But if we try to dig deeper through where this objects came from, how many times we could reuse it, how durable it is and so on; will our perspective be different? Which is which? 




Credits To: Evelyn Pantig
Here are some things we can think about:

SOURCE: 
Where does plastic come from?
{http://www.design-technology.org/plastics.htm}

Plastics can be either found in natural substances or may be man-made. Most of the plastics used today are man-made. Man-made plastics are known as synthetic plastics. Natural 'plastic products' occur in such things as animals' horns, animals' milk, insects, plants and trees.

Where do brown paper bags come from?
{http://www.treehugger.com/culture/paper-bags-or-plastic-bags-everything-you-need-to-know.html}

Paper comes from trees -- lots and lots of trees. The logging industry is huge, and the process to get that paper bag to the grocery store is long, sordid and exacts a heavy toll on the planet. First, the trees are found, marked and felled in a process that all too often involves clear-cutting, resulting in massive habitat destruction and long-term ecological damage. Mega-machinery comes in to remove the logs from what used to be forest, either by logging trucks or even helicopters in more remote areas. This machinery requires fossil fuel to operate and roads to drive on, logging even a small area has a large impact on the entire ecological chain in surrounding areas.

www.treehugger.com
biofinagroup.com
      
DURABILITY:
Bag is a must in our grocery shopping. It is significant to choose what type of bags we have to use. We have been accustomed to plastic a long time. It is light, easy to carry and is not torn easily.  Frequently, argue arises in the implementation of the usage of plastic bags because of its durability. In the market, even in meat section, they will give you the paper bag which in turn will be damaged after a minute or two because of the moist of what you have purchased.

  
RE- USABILITY/RECYCLE ABILITY:
  • Consumes water: The production of paper bags uses three times the amount of water it takes to make plastic bags. in the process of recycling, it will take more water to be use. 
  • Inefficiency: The process of recycling paper can be inefficient -- often consuming more fuel than it would take to make a new bag . In addition, it takes about 91 percent more energy to recycle a pound of paper than a pound of plastic . In the other hand,  several negative effects arising from the consumption and disposal of plastics materials are described. Such consequences include the aesthetic damage created by landfills containing plastic waste, the impact to marine life of plastic residuals, the hazardous emissions of plastic incineration, and the economic inefficiencies created by the difficulty of plastic re-utilization from recycling.
  • Produces waste: According to some measures, paper bags generate 80 percent more solid waste.  While,  enough plastic is thrown away each year to circle the earth four times.We currently recover only five percent of the plastics we produce. Plastic accounts for around 10 percent of the total waste we generate. Annually approximately 500 billion plastic bags are used worldwide. More than one million bags are used every minute.  It constitutes approximately 90 percent of all trash floating on the ocean’s surface, with 46,000 pieces of plastic per square mile.
  • Biodegrading difficulties: Surprisingly, the EPA has stated that in landfills, paper doesn't degrade all that much faster than plastics. These volume of paper can be decomposed in a shorter span than plastics. In the case of plastics,  it takes 500-1,000 years for plastic to degrade.
  • Recycling difficulties: Although for the most part, plastic takes less energy to recycle than paper, plastic bags are a frustrating recycling dilemma. The curbside recycling in many communities is not meant for plastic bags because they can screw up the plant's machines . Instead, some stores offer bins in which to properly recycle plastic bags. Because of its lightness, plastics were drag everywhere by the wind of those which a re not disposed properly.

ENVIRONMENT IMPACT:
Use-Less-Stuff.com (“ULS”) has issued a report and has the following findings:
www.mrbambooflooring.com

www.quazoo.com
flightkeeper.hubpages.com\
ocean.si.edu


1. Plastic bags generate 39% less greenhouse gas emissions than uncomposted
paper bags, and 68% less greenhouse gas emissions than composted paper
bags. The plastic bags generate 4,645 tons of CO2 equivalents per 150 million
bags; while uncomposted paper bags generate 7,621 tons, and composted paper
bags generate 14,558 tons, per 100 million bags produced.

2. Plastic bags consume less than 6% of the water needed to make paper bags. It
takes 1004 gallons of water to produce 1000 paper bags and 58 gallons of water
to produce 1500 plastic bags.

3. Plastic grocery bags consume 71% less energy during production than paper
bags. Significantly, even though traditional disposable plastic bags are produced
from fossil fuels, the total non-renewable energy consumed during their lifecycle
is up to 36% less than the non-renewable energy consumed during the lifecycle
of paper bags and up to 64% less than that consumed by biodegradable plastic
bags.

4. Using paper sacks generates almost five times more solid waste than using
plastic bags.

5. After four or more uses, reusable plastic bags are superior to all types of
disposable bags -- paper, polyethylene and compostable plastic -- across all
significant environmental indicators.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rbFPkOwUojY


Either way, we can say that the use of both deprives the beauty of environment. But the reduce of their usage, discipline in disposing, and so on is in need. As the adage says, "We can not  avoid things to happen" but "Prevention is better than a pound of cure" .
Why not promote the these. 

Source: Check
Durability: Check
Re-usability/  Recycle- ability: Check
Environment Impact:Check

ecoki.com

Citations:

  • 22 Facts About Plastic Pollution (And 10 Things We Can Do About It) by  April 7, 2014 from http://listverse.com/2013/01/27/10-ways-recycling-hurts-the-environment/. 
  • Paper Bags or Plastic Bags? Everything You Need to Know by Collin Dunn July 9, 2008 from http://www.treehugger.com/culture/paper-bags-or-plastic-bags-everything-you-need-to-know.html
  • Which is more environmentally friendly: paper or plastic?
  • by Jane McGrath from http://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/green-science/paper-plastic1.html  Retrieved on: January 29, 2014.