Resource Conservation and Waste Management Eco Sustenance Seminar

The Basics  What is a resource?  What resources have you used today?  Where did they come from?  What is a resource?  What resources have you used today?  Where did they come from?

The Earth: A Dynamic System  Most inorganic resources we use today are a part of a cycle  Rock Cycle  Water Cycle  Carbon Cycle  Length of time between renewal  Most inorganic resources we use today are a part of a cycle  Rock Cycle  Water Cycle  Carbon Cycle  Length of time between renewal

Rock Cycle

Water Cycle

Carbon Cycle

Why are Cycles Important? Cycles show that resources how earth’s resources are naturally renewed Industrial goods, however, do not follow this cycle of renewal

Where Does Our Waste Go? Waste Can Be Recycling and Recovered Burned in an incinerator Put in a Landfill How much waste? About 4.6 pounds of waste is produced per American everyday

Recycling Waste Products  Down-cycling- Turning good into a product of reduced quality  Up-cycling-Turning goods into a product of increased quality  Materials:  Paper  Glass  Plastic  Aluminum  Down-cycling- Turning good into a product of reduced quality  Up-cycling-Turning goods into a product of increased quality  Materials:  Paper  Glass  Plastic  Aluminum

The Key Mantra: Reduce, Reuse then Recycle Reduction and Reusing are just as, if not more, important than recycling: It can take the same amount of energy and resources to recycle good as to create new ones When goods can be produced cheaply, it makes no economical sense to recycle Recycling fosters false sense of security Summary: Trash is bad, Recycling is good, Reducing and Reusing is better

Palmer’s Laws of Getting to Zero Waste 1.Recycling consists of reusing materials and function 2.No article of commerce shall be placed on the market, unless and until, the recycling of that article shall have been provided for, including complete funding, after its next extended use. 3.Large scale recycling cannot succeed until the garbage industry is excluded from the recycling industry 4.Recycling will only succeed when no dump receives a subsidy of any form 5.The economics of recycling must be manipulated to insure that recycling is profitable. The more valuable an item, the more easily it can be recycled

Now, How Does This Apply here at NCSSM?

Citations Home Depot. 30 May HSN Improvements, "Storage Spaces." Improvements - Quick and CLever Problem-Solvers May 2007 < arageutility/ recycling+bins+(3).do>. Kokko, John. "Occupancy Sensors." Technologies and Practices. Advanced Buildings. 30 May "Rain Barrels." Clean Air Gardening May "Recycling and Solid Waste." Wake County Wake County Schoola. 30 May "Solar Panels." Solar Panel Info. 19 MAY May "The Ultimate Recycling Equipment." Recyclingbin.com May 2007