IBESS Topics 1.4, 8.2 & 8.3

Sustainability

The use and management of resources that allows full natural replacement of the resources exploited and full recovery of the ecosystems affected by there extraction and use

Ecological footprint

the area of land and water required to support an individual by supplying all resources and assimilating all wastes (measured in global hectares)

Biocapacity

the capacity of ecosystems to regenerate what people demand from those surfaces

Ecological footprints are increased by

• reliance on fossil fuels

• large per capita consumption of food

• large per capita consumption of energy

• large per capita production of waste

• reliance on a meat based diet

Ecological footprints are decreased by

• shifting to renewable energy resources

• practicing the reduce, reuse, recycle and compost mantra

• improving the energy efficient of our possessions

• consuming more plant based foods

• consuming more locally grown foods

• reducing use of fossil fuels by using public transportation, biking, or walking

• improving technology to use fewer resources

Ecological Footprint and Carrying Capacity

A country’s carrying capacity is inversely proportional to its ecological footprint

• the smaller the footprint, the more people the country can support

Modeling Ecological Footprint

• Although an ecological footprint is supposed to account for all resources used and all wastes that need to be assimilated, it is not practical to factor all of these inputs into the calculations.

• For simplicity, the footprint usually focuses on carbon dioxide emissions associated with resources consumed and waste generated.

• The ecological footprints usually underestimate the impact of individuals on the environment but it does provide a quick overview of the consumptive habits of the country.

Who generates that other organisms cannot use?

Humans

Generating Waste

Until a society becomes relatively wealthy it generates very little waste

Planned obsolescence

The process of designing a product so that it will need to be replaced within a few years

Waste

Material that has no value to its producer/consumer

Municipal Solid Waste (MSW)

Refuse collected by municipalities from households, small businesses, and institutions. (includes both trash and recycling)

Solid Domestic Waste

MSW continues to increase as society develops

• More and more of the waste generated is not biodegradable

E-Waste

electronic waste (TV’s, music players & cell phones)

E-Waste pollution

• Most e-waste contains heavy metals like lead, cadmium, and mercury. Heavy metals that leach into the watershed can cause neurologic disorders.

• E-waste also contains precious metals like copper and gold. Recycling of e-waste is rare and many of these precious metals are simply discarded.

E-Waste programs

There are voluntary programs in some communities designed to divert e-waste from landfills

• However, in the US most electrics are not designed to be easily dismantled making recycling of these products difficult and expensive--it is often cheaper for them to go to a landfill.

Plastic Waste

• The amount of plastic produced (and wasted) each year continues to grow.

• Plastic is pervasive in our packaging and our goods.

The more developed…

the more waste

The Great Pacific Garbage Patch

• Ocean gyres cause plastic and other floatable trash to accumulate in certain areas. These areas are known as garbage patches.

  • The waste is not continuous but it is at a much higher density in these areas as opposed to other open water areas.

Types of marine debris

• plastics (make up 60-80% of all marine debris)

• styrofoam

• glass

• rubber

• derelict fishing gear

• derelict vessels

What is the main problem

• The Great Pacific Garbage Patch presents numerous hazards to marine life, fishing and tourism.

• Since the Great Pacific Garbage Patch is so far from any country’s coastline,  nations refuse to take responsibility or to provide the founding to clean it up.

• Charles Moore, the discoverer of the patch in 1997, once said that cleaning the patch would “bankrupt any country” that tried it.

Managing Waste Model

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

RRR Example

Alter:

• Education campaigns about food waste/plastic pollution

Control Release

• Legislation to encourage recycling and reuse initiatives

• Taxes on waste disposal, plastic bags (5 cents), single use plastic

• Bottle deposits or recycling systems (sweden)

• Reusing plastic instead of making new - reduced energy consumption by 66%; half of NOx, ⅓ SOx, 90% less water

Remediate

• Reclaiming landfills

• Ocean Cleanup (similar initiatives to remove plastics from oceans and rivers

• Clothing brands reuse plastic waste

Sanitary Landfills

A method of disposing of solid waste on land without creating nuisances or hazards to public health or safety

• Waste is layered with soil = decomposition and control odor.

• Bacteria decompose waste and the weight of the trash above helps compact lower levels.

Sanitary Landfill Notes

• US requires that all landfills be located away from wetlands and transform faults

• Landfills must be 20 ft above water table

• Landfill must be lined with plastic and impermeable clay.

• Leachate is treated on site for at least 30 years after landfill has closed.

• Groundwater is also monitored regularly for contamination.

• Methane gas produced during decomposition is collected and can be used for energy generation.

• After a landfill is closed, it is capped to prevent water from seeping down and gas from seeping up.

• A closed landfill can then be converted into public grounds.

Sanitary Landfill Downsides

• Leachate may escape from well lined landfills

• Decomposition slows when tightly compressed and dry (intact food, green grass clippings, newspapers have been found decades after burial)

• Methane, a greenhouse gas, is released as organics decompose

• NIMBY (Not in my backyard). Landfills need to be near population centers to make them economically viable, but no one wants to live near a landfill.

Incineration

a process where selected garbage is burned at high temperatures

What waste disposal technique reduces trash weight by 75% and volume by 90%

Incinerators

Incineration downside

• AIr pollution, acid rain, global warming

  • Dioxins, heavy metals, and PCBs can be released into the atmosphere with incineration.

• Emissions are closely monitored and some countries have banned incineration completely.

• Ash that remains must be disposed of in a hazardous waste landfill.

Incinerator notes

• Wet scrubbers spray water mixed with active chemicals to collect pollutants out of the air. The heavy wet pollutant then falls out of the air and is collected.

• Dry scrubbers have a lime filter that collects pollutants.

• The collected pollutants are disposed of as hazardous waste.

• The Baghouse is another series of filters that can capture some more particles that pass through the scubbers.

• Even with the addition of a baghouse and scrubbers, toxic particles are still emitted in incinerators.

Positives:

• Bottom ash can be recycled and used to build roads

• No groundwater contamination

• Retrieve metal from ash which can be recycled

Natural Captial

Resources that are not manufactured but have a value to humans

Natural Income

The money earned from natural capital. Can also represent growth in natural capital

Renewable Natural Capital

Living natural resources that have a sustainable yield equal or less than their natural productivity. They are self-producing and self-maintaining (ex. Timber, food crops)

Non-Renewable Natural Capital

Natural resources that cannot be replenished within a time scale of the same order at which they are removed and used (ex. fossil fuels)

Resources can be valued in the following ways

Economic, ecologic (providing an ecosystem service), scientific, and intrinsic

Maximum sustainable yield

the maximum harvesting of a given resource that does not result in a reduction to natural capital

MSY

= (annual growth and recruitment) - (annual death and emigration)

&

= (biomass/energy) time (1) - (biomass/energy) time (0)

Sustainable societies will

• Discourage earth degrading behavior

• Use full cost pricing

• Increase productivity through technology

• Reduce poverty

• Slow population growth

The value of natural capital is…

dynamic (changes based on demands and current technology)