Unit 9 Blog

Unit 9- Waste Management

Hey guys!  Happy spring break!   Since this is a relative short unit, this will be a relatively short blog!  I will begin with suggested vocabulary, pollutants and a new section, diseases!   Like before, you only have to include them in your blog if you want to, but you are responsible for knowing them... especially the pollutants and diseases! 

The second section is your discussion section.  Please respond thoughtfully and thoroughly!

Suggested Vocabulary:

MSW

E-Waste

Closed-loop recycling

Open-loop recycling

Compost

leachate

Sanitary Landfill

Environmental justice

Incineration

Waste-to-energy

Hazardous Waste

Superfund

Brownfield

IWM

Epidemic 

Pandemic

Synergistic Interactions

Biomagnification

Persistence

Pollutants- you should know the health effects and common examples of each and where they can be found

Neurotoxins

Carcinogens

Teratogens

Allergens

Endocrine Disruptors

Diseases- you should be able to differentiate between historical and emergent diseases, explain what causes them/how they are spread, basic symptoms and how they are treated.  WHO website

Plague

Malaria

Tuberculosis

Cholera

HIV/AIDS

Ebola

Mad Cow Disease

Bird Flu

West Nile Virus

SARS

Discussion

Landfill Discussion

Now that we have seen a landfill in person (you did if you went on the field trip), discuss at least 3 types of materials that should not be placed in a landfill and explain the potential environmental and public health consequences of disposing of such things in a landfill.  Outline two methods for reducing the amount of these substances that enter MSW input.  

Recycling Discussion

Three common examples of items that can be recycled are paper, aluminum, and plastics.  Discuss at least one environmental and economic benefit and cost of recycling each of these items.  If your city only had the funding to set up a recycling center for one of these materials, which would you choose and why?  Finally, how would you persuade the members of your community that recycling is ultimately good for the community?

Superfund/Brownfields Discussion

We watched a news clip about the industrial waste buried under the Love Canal near Niagara Falls.  This area was a Superfund site but has been deemed safe enough for people to now live there and has since been redeveloped.  Explain the difference between a Superfund site and a Brownfield and give another example of each in the US.  There are two primary ways for turning these sites back into usable land by either removing the contaminated soil or by planting vegetation that would decontaminate the soil.  Explain two potential problems with each of these methods of reclamation. Reclaiming these sites is a debatable hot topic these days.  Explain one societal and one environmental for reclaiming and using the land.

BIG Picture Discussion

This is where you will make the four BIG PICTURE connections to the ENTIRE UNIT. Please tie in information you learned in your reading (chapters 16 and 17), from the notes in class, the clips we watched and from your reading and research.  There is not an exact length that I am expecting other than it should definitely be at least a paragraph for each section, should be thorough and show understanding of the topic.  Remember to be specific in your examples.  Do not just say "there are laws that govern this" or "people destroy the Earth."  Give me the names of the laws, what they regulate and who enforces them.  Tell me what humans are doing to destroy the earth.      

Your blog is due Monday March 16th by midnight!