Unit 9 Summative Project By: Behr Kitts and Jack Krebs

How Paper Affects The Environment I bet you didn’t know that paper cuts down 4 billion trees every year, but that isn’t the only way it harms the environment. Paper also releases toxic substances that contribute to global warming and pollution. Trees are very important to our environment because they produce, oxygen, fruits, nuts, seeds, and protection for homes and other things. Tree parts are used in medicines, carpeting, syrup, rubber, cork, soap, crayons, glue, gum, and flavorings. This is why we have to reduce the amount of paper we are using around the world to make sure we keep as many trees as possible.

The disadvantages of disposable Paper Towels Students using disposable paper towels has a negative impact on the environment. It causes deforestation, water pollution and global warming. To make one ton of paper towels, 17 trees have to be cut down and 20,000 gallons of water are used. 3,000 tons of paper towel waste is produced in the US by itself. Decomposing paper towels produce methane gas, which causes global warming. Paper was the largest contributor to landfill waste in A person uses 2,400 – 3,000 paper towels during work, in one year. The United States is very guilty of this with less than 5% of the world's people uses we use 30% of the world's paper. Each person in the US uses about 335 kg of paper each year. That is approximately 7 times the world average. To put this in comparison China has more than 20% or the world's population, and the people there only use 11% of the world's paper, about 27kg per person. India has 16% of the world's people, and they use just 1% of the world's paper, and uses less than 4 kg per person per year. If everyone in the world used as much paper as the average American, the world would need 7x as much paper. It’s obvious that Earth does not have enough ecological space for American consumption habits. According to the US Environmental Protection Agency, paper made up the largest share, 31% of waste in While about half of paper waste is recovered for recycling or compost, the other half ends up in landfills, where it does not decompose. Recycling also does not solve the problem. The recycling process uses water, energy and chemicals. Blue Valley West has a lot of students who use the paper towel dispensers. If we can eliminate them and replace them with better alternatives it can make a difference in the environment.

Plan of Action Our plan consists of many things to install these hand drying machines. The fundraisers we are having are a big part in our plan, because it is how we are raising all of the money to buy the machines. Once we collect all of the money from the donations and fundraisers, we are going to spend it on the machines. We are going to buy the machines off of a website that has all different kinds of hand dryers. We have many different ways we are going to get people’s attention about donating. There will be signs all over the school on how to help raise money. Those signs will show the dates of the fundraisers, what will be there, and where they are. There is another way we are going to get people’s attention about the donations. They will mention the fundraisers on the announcements 3 times a week, and try to get the students and staff to donate money. The hand dryers we picked to install aren't the cheapest but they are effective. They are called World Dryer SMARTdri. Each of the hand drying machines costs about $400. We are going to have to put at least one in every bathroom, so we are going to need to raise around $3,000. The hand dryers we are getting are a lot more energy-efficient than traditional hand dryers. Blue Valley West will save a lot of money in the long run, because they will not have to keep buying paper towels for people to dry their hands. This helps out the environment so much, by using so much less paper, and I think the students and staff will be satisfied with the hand drying machines also. We could also remove the old hand dryers, and sell them in working condition to save some extra money, or we could donate them to other establishments that may need hand dryers really badly.

Fundraising We will have many fundraisers to help raise money for these hand-drying machines. The first fundraiser we will be having is a grill out. This grill out will be in the BVW parking lot. There will be all kinds of food and drinks such as hot dogs, hamburgers, cheeseburgers, soda, gatorade, water, and, potato chips. All of the items that we have there will be different prices, varying from around $1 to $4. The main meals will be the more expensive items. Another way we are going to raise money is having a donation month at our school. We will try to get students and staff to donate money for these hand-drying machines. The donations can be made to your first block teachers, any time during lunch, or at school events such as football and soccer games. Some of the ticket sales at the school events will be donated to us. For one week, at the Chipotle restaurant on Metcalf, 10% of the money made there will be donated to us to pay for the machines. Chipotle is a popular mexican restaurant, so we are hoping that we can get a lot of donations off of this fundraiser. The last way we will be raising money is by having a 5k walk, run or bike. The path will be throughout the lionsgate neighborhood off of 143rd st. People will have to buy a ticket to participate in this. The tickets will be $12 for adults and $8 for kids under the age of 11. At the end of the path, there will be prizes and Chik-Fil-A chicken sandwiches being sold.

How this program will be maintained Before the class of 2018 graduates we will develop and make brochures, and handouts to persuade and inform the students about the program, especially incoming Freshman since they’re the future of the school. Hopefully students see the importance of what the program stood for and how it can easily help the environment and save Blue Valley West money in the long run. By the time the class of 2018 leaves I assume the hand dryers would have already been purchased for. The new students will have to help the school reduce the amount of paper we use in a different way. The new students could raise money to replace the school’s bathroom toilet paper with environment friendly (green) toilet paper. This should be an easier way to help the environment and cost less since the environment friendly toilet paper will cost less. Hopefully the student will be committed on making a difference in the environment and helping the school save money, so they can replace the old toilet paper. The program could also be maintained by the class of 2018 by making a good video on the importance of the program and encouraging them to join and help out. We can also inform the students that by joining the program and helping they would receive community service hours which they need to graduate from highschool. By joining the program the students will learn about hard work and how everything people do and use can affect the earth we live in significantly. Those helping in the program would also serve a greater purpose than themselves and feel good about helping Blue Valley West where they have a great education and an understanding of doing the right thing.

Citations PeopleTowels - the newest concept in sustainability. (n.d.). Retrieved April 29, 2015, from Ayres, Ed. "Whitewash: pursuing the truth about paper." World Watch Sept.- Oct. 1992: 17+. Science in Context. Web. 3 May "Trees." Science Weekly 28 Mar. 2005: C. Science in Context. Web. 21 Apr Fox, Barry. "Tree-free paper saves forests. (Patents)." New Scientist (2003): 16. Science in Context. Web. 21 Apr