Paper or Plastic?

Food for thought

OEB 11/2015

Food lost and food waste is another form of pollution that we don't really think too much about. Binge eating and the rising number of all-you-can-eat restaurants doesn't really help with preventing food waste either - we know that it eventually gets returned to the environment in one way or another, perhaps in your toilet

When we toss out expired food or fail to finish what is on our dishes because we overestimate how much our stomachs can hold (or if you are a selective eater and could care-less where it goes, just not in our stomachs) - we have just contributed to pollution - this is called food waste. What a waste of resources!

When I say resources, I mean all the energy inputs and water consumption that are required to grow, harvest and transport the food we consume (keep in mind that there's obviously more to this life-cycle). In fact, "one-third of food produced for human consumption is lost or wasted globally, which amounts to about 1.3 billion tons per year" (FAO, 2016).

So next time you order that mouth-watering eggs bennie at your favorite local diner, consider eating what is only nutritionally necessary for your body, while trying to limit your waste.

Short-lived goods

My baby 05/2015

It is a common misconception that long-lived products cause less of an environmental impact than short-lived products. However, both cases pose an interesting question, what are the materials and the energy inputs involved in creating these products? 

Lets say, we have a long-lived product like a vehicle - does this vehicle cause less of an environmental footprint than something like yoga pants which have a relatively higher frequency of turnovers? This is a tricky question to answer. Vehicles run on fuel, thus emitting harmful chemicals into the atmosphere. But also consider the life-cycle and all of the energy inputs the vehicle had to go through prior to us owning one. Now in terms of the yoga pants - what do you do with it once its battered and the life is exhausted - well, lets just say it eventually ends up in our landfills - and we purchase a new pair. 

So which has a higher environmental impact?

This is a very complex question to answer as we have to consider all of the energy inputs and the materials used in the products life-cycle. 

Consider my bike that I purchased last year.. how much energy is required in constructing this beauty? Undoubtedly LOTS. We also have to consider the transportation aspect in the products life-cycle. Hence, the individual parts that comprise this bike has to travel some distance to finally meet in a factory and be assembled, then transported to the bike store where it can be purchased and further transported home. Add this all up in our equation = more energy!

Am I really reducing my footprint by riding my bike to work for three months of the year (i.e. if the weather permits me to)? Tradeoffs are inevitable. After all, I am just 1 person out of the 7.3 billion we have today - what are you doing to reduce your footprint?

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Another way we can prevent waste is by giving it to someone else - there are a suite of ethics involved here - BUT nevertheless, it's a great solution to minimizing waste in our landfills! - I know what I'll be doing with my bike once its life has degraded.

Urban Culprits

Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam 07/2010

Resident view - Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam 07/2010

Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam 07/2010

My first time traveling to Vietnam was a total culture shock. It never occurred to me that the main mode of transportation were motor bikes - both in the cities and rural areas. Don't get me wrong, it's not as bad as Beijing - however, traffic pollution is a problem everywhere. 

Second time - it was still a shock to me. The major cities that I traveled to, including: Ho Chi Minh, Danang, Da Lat, and Nha Trang and the smaller cities of Pleiku and Kon Tum - these are very distinct regions, but the mode of transportation was the one thing that was familiar in all of the cities. 

Air pollution is a pervasive health and environmental issue. The air quality reduces when natural or anthropogenic substances accumulate in the atmosphere. Some of these nasty substances include (but not limited to): CO, CO2, fine PM, and your NOx, VOCs and SOx's. This is the chemical makeup that allows us to travel thousands of kilometers. Amazing right?

We can't forget that air quality is also affected by a range of factors, such as weather conditions and topography of a region. Auto emissions are just one of many anthropogenic culprits of air pollution.

Dilution is not the solution to pollution

Leatherback sea turtle - Canadian Wildlife Federation 2016

Pollution poses serious threats on sea turtles and their food sources. They often mistakenly ingest balloons and a variety of plastic products (thinking they are jellyfish) that end up in our oceans and coastal beaches because of careless human behavior.

Plankton absorb chemicals and toxins that are released into the oceans from urban runoff or oil spills - these harmful toxins accumulate and become concentrated in their tiny bodies and ingested by relatively larger marine animals - like our amazing leatherback sea turtles!

NO, the ocean is not an extensive pool where pollutants will miraculously disappear or eventually be diluted with time. Out of sight, out of mind right? Not so much! We have to be a little more responsible than that and take accountability for our actions. In fact, the pollution we continuously and irresponsibly release into our ocean is NOT diluted, just transferred into the food chain!

2350 lbs - Art or Pollution?

Pike Place Market Gum Wall - Seattle, WA 09/2013

Pike Place Market Gum Wall - Seattle, WA 09/2013

Pike Place Market Gum Wall - Seattle, WA 09/2013

  

What are the 5 R's in minimizing waste?

• REDUCE 
• REUSE
• RESPONSIBLY RECYCLE  
• RECOVER
• RESPONSIBLY DISPOSE

In terms of Pollution Prevention, the two most important R's are reduce and reuse. Reducing the amount of waste that we create means less waste to manage, treat and dispose. These processes use up a heck of a lot of resources and energy - and causes a suite of environmental problems that are sometimes not obvious to most of us. Reusing simply means using the product for the same purpose over and over again.

I'd be kidding myself to say that I do not live a wasteful life. It's sad and disappointing; however, we can start by reducing our consumption and reusing what we already have until its useful life is exhausted. Making a small change from plastic and paper bags to reusable bags is one simple way to reduce our production of waste. We also don't really know what we are reducing until we actually take a good look and dive deep into our own garbage can (perhaps our neighbors trash bin). I have just recently started doing this and I feel like such a big hypocrite. I think everyone in society should be looking in their garbage cans. WHY? Because it's our responsibility to take care of our planet - and we can do so by minimizing our footprint. 

 

Polluted Routine

Imagine waking up in your bedroom, taking breaths of air aided by your malfunctioning HVAC system, and drinking water that has gone through a rigorous process to eliminate contaminants and bacteria prior to being supplied to your tap through an aging piping system. You then start your car, blast the heat, and let it idle for about 10 minutes because its winter and -30 degrees out. You go on about your day making your first trip to the coffee shop, letting your car idle for another 2 minutes in the drive-through lineup. You're running late for your first class or your first important meeting of the day, so what's bumping your speed another 15 kilometers down the highway? You arrive at your destination and need to take a quick washroom break. You dispose your coffee cup into the recycling bin and check your messages and emails (perhaps check-in with your social media accounts) on your smartphone while making your way to the washroom. The automatic flusher has a mind of its own and is continuously flushing. You wash your hands without bothering to flick the water off, you pull off 1,2, perhaps 3 sheets of paper from the automatic dispenser to dry your hands and perhaps a 4th sheet to avoid making contact with the door knob... and your day goes on without thinking twice about your morning routine.

Let's be honest, the majority of you can probably relate to this scenario, or knows someone who does (I am guilty myself, more or less). You may wonder, what is the problem with this routine? And what does it have to do with pollution?! Well, lets break it down:

• HVAC System: these systems are created with the aim to provide comfortable temperature and humidity levels indoors, while eliminating any harmful concentrations of air pollutants. Typically, our ventilation system is constantly working to supply outdoor air and removing indoor air and ensuring this air is sufficiently circulating throughout the indoor space - this distribution of mixed air is important in keeping our homes and buildings non-polluted. When faulty, like in our situation, harmful concentrations of pollutants from numerous sources can contribute to poor indoor air quality and health associated risks. Not to mention, a waste of energy!

• Water System: typically, our water is transported to our homes through an extensive piping system. Prior to this, it goes through a series of mechanical, biological, and chemical processes before safely reaching our homes. This takes energy! And with an aging piping system, we've got to remove and replace it. So where does the deteriorated pipe go?

•  Idling Vehicle and Speeding: now this is a no-brainer! You are not only wasting fuel, you are contributing to and introducing unnecessary hazardous pollution into your community. Your tailpipe is spewing out nasty stuff, like excessive CO2, CO, particulate matter, NOXs and VOCs that contribute to smog and soot. This can contribute to a rising number of health problems. Nasty right? So think twice before needlessly idling your car. It's not likely that you'll freeze to death in your car seat! In fact, studies show that idling your car for greater than 10 seconds wastes more fuel than restarting the engine (Environmental Defense Fund 2009). You may say it's only another 15 km on top of the 100 km you are already driving. YES, this wastes fuel (depending on the make of your vehicle). Slow down Charlie (or wake up earlier)! And why not park and shut off your engine to pick up your coffee if the line-up runs down to the next block. It's inconvenient? It's cold out? That's unacceptable. Small actions practiced by everyone will make a huge difference.

• Recycling: does the coffee cup you just threw into the recycling bin really get recycled? This is an intriguing and controversial question that came up in my ENVS4407 Pollution Prevention class. Recycling coffee cups is extremely difficult. Why? Coffee cups are typically lined with a plastic film of polyethylene which prevents liquids from warping and making the cup soggy. However, this is the same material that is used to coat juice boxes and milk cartons (which can be recycled). See the disconnection here? Some will say, skip the coffee cup and purchase a reliable stainless steel coffee tumbler. However, we are forgetful human beings and needless to say, you may forget your reusable tumbler and opt for purchasing a coffee in a disposable cup because you absolutely need that hit of caffeine prior to your 8am Monday class (I plead guilty). Is it worth it? Now consider that coffee tumbler and all of the energy input and materials used to create it. What's the trade-off here? If you're forgetful, like me, what is the point in purchasing a travel mug when its going to be stored in your cupboard - forgotten - so you opt for the disposable one. IT ADDS UP. Pollution is inevitable and inescapable here. The production of both the tumbler and the disposable coffee cup is created by the same company who would very much profit from both products. Now you're left wondering, which product should you opt for? You be the judge. We are the culprits here - perhaps we need to weigh out our poor judgements and forget our dose of java? Absolutely not.

• The Internet and Social Media: It's hard to imagine that you are the cause of pollution when you are browsing the web, re-tweeting a clever remark or sending a quick email, but reality is, everyone who uses the internet is contributing to some form of pollution. I've spoken to friends in-passing and they think that the internet, in other words, this "virtual world" exists in the atmosphere. Does it really?? The internet consists of an extensive computer network and these social media platforms are run in data facilities both inland and offshore with countless rows of servers that typically spread over hundreds of thousands of square feet of land. These centers need to be equipped with extensive commercial cooling systems as the heat generated can destroy these facilities. I'm a culprit myself. This post itself probably contributed to some type of pollution. SO NO, using the internet does not vanish into space folks. Think again before you scroll through your instagram feed and load a photo, applying that filter because the lighting looks bad, and posting a witty comment on a friends post. This all has a very minute but very damaging effect on our earth - it's sad because the majority of us don't even think twice about this because we have made it acceptable.

•  Waste: whenever I step into the washrooms on campus, which is often because I have the tiniest bladder, it always surprises me how much unnecessary waste is generated. No, I don't only mean what is expelled from your body - it's the overflowing garbage can filled with paper towels, coffee cups and tissue paper that is distributed on the floor of the stalls that catches my attention. Upon observation, is it really necessary to pull 4 sheets of paper to dry your hands? And what's so bad with air drying them? (Proud to say that I do this - sometimes). Come on folks, reducing your paper waste is not that hard! This could be prevented, and its simple, use only what you need (or none at all because lets be real, the automatic hand dryer blows out literally millions of bacteria). I know some of us pay ridiculous amounts of tuition - so we believe that we have the right to maximize the resources provided to us - don't be selfish.

Do we really want our future generations to face this pollution burden? Absolutely not. Its unacceptable! Always stay consciously aware and be mindful of your actions. Even if you cannot do anything about it, pass on the knowledge - someone else will.