happy friday! please turn in your cradle to cradle assignment and the reading to lab table #1. ...
TRANSCRIPT
Happy Friday! Please turn in your
Cradle to Cradle assignment AND the reading to Lab table #1.
Power up! We’ve got things to do today!
Full cost pricing: Full cost pricing = internal costs + external
costs
Internal costs – direct cost paid by consumer
External costs – harmful social or environmental effect of production not included in market price of good
Encouraging full cost pricing Economic incentives
Subsidies for sustainable options (veg, not grain)
Removing market barriers (Mining Law of 1872 - $5/acre)
Ecolabeling programs (informed customer choice)
Encouraging full cost pricing Economic disincentives
Green taxes/effluent feesUser fees for public resourcesPollution prevention or assurance bond
Love Canal Abandoned hydroelectric canal sold to Hooker Chemical Co.
22,000 tons200+ chemicals
including dioxinsWastes covered, site
sold to Niagara Falls school board 1955
Love Canal Birth defects Dark liquids seeped into
basements through walls Noxious chemical smells Trees and shrubs died Mid-1970’s heavy rains caused
groundwater levels to rise Resident Louis Gibbs begins
campaign to get authorities interested
1978 – EPA begins testing 1990 – massive cleanup began
Paper mill wastes Paper mill wastes containing dioxins
dumped in 1960’s and 70’s Land subsided, pits disappeared Crabs, fish have been showing high
levels of dioxins and PCB’s for decades
Dioxins biomagnify ; measured here at 70,000 parts per trillion; 95% of fish and crab dangerously contaminated
“Dioxins can alter the fundamental growth and development of cells. In humans, adverse effects include suppression of the immune system, a variety of reproductive effects from reduced fertility to birth defects, chloracne, and cancer.”
Dioxin limit in seafood: .47 pptrillion Catfish – 8pptrillion Blue crab – 6 pptrillion!
RCRA - Resource Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976
Required all landfills to be designed to “sanitary” standards
Defined hazardous waste: (toxic, flammable, reactive, corrosive)
Required cradle to grave management of hazmat
95% of materials are still “linguistically detoxified”
So what do I do with batteries and CFLs? Houston South Hazardous Waste facility ESC South
11500 South Post OakZIP Code 77035
Harris county facility 6900 N Gessner/290
CFLs contain a small amount of Hg LEDs do not contain hazmat
OK, but what about the wastes dumped before RCRA or illegally?
CERCLA: Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (Better known as Superfund)
Identifies and prioritizes hazmat sites Seeks responsible parties for payment Remediates sites
EPA manages Superfund
National Priorities list
REMEDIATION OF BROWNFIELDS
Abandoned industrial or commercial sites.
New owners must often clean up wastes before new
development can begin
Mechanical remediation Material incinerated
and interred in haz waste landfill
Can get down to deepest contamination
Exposed soil (and contamination) may erode
Phytoremediation Sunflowers –
Lead Mulberry bush
– industrial sludge
Canola plants – selenium
The trade offs of phytoremediation
Less disturbance of area reduces risk of spreading contaminant
Inexpensive Reduces material sent
to landfill
Can be slow acting Can only effect soil
levels which roots can reach
Must match plant to pollutant
Animals could feed on plants – heavy metals could bioaccumulate
Bioremediation
Yeast, fungi, bacteriaDigest organic
compounds into CO2 and H2O
Sites that are unable to be cleaned with microbes include those with high metal concentrations (i.e. mercury), highly chlorinated organics (compounds with many chlorine elements attached), and inorganic salts. These types of compounds are toxic to the microbes.
What are the tradeoffs? Mechanical
remediation Phytoremediation Bioremediation
San Jacinto Waste pits - what are our options?
E-WASTECan you hear me now?
toxic components in a pcSecret life of a cell phone
National Geographic - High Tech Trash January 2008
Pairs -
Apply the concept of product of service to the e-waste dilemma
What would manufacturers have to do to make this Product of Service idea a reality?
Think it’s a pipe dream?
Xerox – Solid ink – ships in block, no packaging,
melts in copierCopiers designed to be disassembled when
outdated. Components are refurbished and included in newer models where possible.
Toner cartridges – returned to be refilled, not thrown out.
Xerox “Before is was categorized as green, we
thought of it as just being efficient.” –Ursula Burns, Xerox President
“I’m in a funny business – I’m looking for ways that companies can print less. Printing is not going to go away, but we think you have to print more efficiently . . .We know that if we do that we can continue to grow.” – John Kelly, president of global services at Xerox
Note Check! How is bioremediation different from phytoremediation? How are bioremediation and phytoremediation similar? What is an advantage of mechanical remediation that
might explain why it is the most common method used? List three toxic materials commonly found in ewaste. List two precious materials commonly found in ewaste. What objectives will be covered on the quiz tomorrow? When is the test on STUFF? When is the “complete the loop” extra credit due? When is the recycling picture assignment due?