Month: September 2020

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New Study Evaluates Pathways for Reducing N.C Transportation Pollution

New Study Evaluates Pathways for Reducing N.C. Transportation Pollution. 18 Feb. 2020, www.southernenvironment.org/news-and-press/news-feed/new-study-evaluates-pathways-for-reducing-n.c-transportation-pollution

A nonprofit institution, RTI International, released a report on evaluating the impact of four strategies that could help reduce greenhouse gas emissions from transportation: Increased transit usage, electrification of passenger vehicles, and vehicle efficiency standards. The report, “Evolving Transportation in North Carolina: An Analysis of Emission Reduction Pathways for North Carolina’s Transportation Sector,” was created to help analyze options for achieving Governor Roy Cooper’s- reducing total GHG emissions in North Carolina to 40 percent below 2005 levels by 2025. For each of the four strategies, RTI estimated the resulting emissions reductions by 2025, examined policies to kickstart and accelerate reductions, and considered how changes in transportation technology and policy can create a more equitable, accessible transportation system in the state. 

 

This article shares information about how transportation is affecting the United States, specifically in this case North Carolina, because of how transportation leads to greenhouse gas emissions and how transportation is the leading cause of that. From the amount of GHG and carbon dioxide emissions being produced daily into the air due to transportation, it is becoming a problem as it can lead to air pollution and climate change. Therefore, to fix this problem North Carolina, and many other states to follow, and increasing the number of eclectic vehicles on the road to help reduce the pollution and spread of C02 and GHG. This article makes me think of how I am polluting the earth due to my gas and car. My car is non-electric, making it use gas which produced more carbon dioxide and greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. In that case, I want to start walking more and carpooling to help reduce pollution and climate change transportation has on the environment. 

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Forest Service Plan Would Fast-track Fracking on National Forests, Grasslands

Center for Biological Diversity. (2020, August 31). Forest Service Plan Would Fast-track Fracking on National Forests, Grasslands. Retrieved August 31, 2020, from https://biologicaldiversity.org/w/news/press-releases/forest-service-plan-would-fast-track-fracking-national-forests-grasslands-2020-08-31/

 

A recent proposal by the US forest service to accelerate and expand fracking across public land has been met with great concern by environmental groups. The plan would circumvent traditional checks to leasing out national forest land for drilling; it would ignore both the National Environmental Policy Act review and any form of public involvement while decreasing requirements that mandate the forest service approves leasing plans. The proposal comes as part of the Trump administration’s broader goal to increase access and boost the economy. However, the plan has many opponents. It would hurt the environment not only through the billions of tons of greenhouse gas emissions it would lead to, but also through harming the ecosystems of up to 192 million acres of national forest. 

 

One could very convincingly argue that there are not enough current checks in place to protect the environment. However, it is without a doubt that circumventing the limited checks that we do have constitutes a wholly unjustifiable defiance to the interests of the environment and the American public. To pass this proposal would be to dramatically accelerate the rate at which fossil fuels are being extracted from 192 million acres of national forest land, all while ignoring environmental acts and local input. This is another example of a high-handed attempt motivated by political ideology to significantly alter environmental policy to a framework where the environment comes last.

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Where To Drop Off Electronic Waste In California

DeVroom, D. (2019, November 26). Where To Drop Off Electronic Waste In California. Retrieved September 09, 2020, from https://blog.idrenvironmental.com/where-to-drop-off-electronic-waste-in-california

 

This article talks about different places to help drop off electronic waste to make it easier for our recycling system. In 2018, businesses and individual people accounted for 50 million tons of e-waste. Only around 12.5% of all of our electronic device waste is recycled. Mercury and many other materials found in old electronics do pose a contamination risk to our environment that we need to be aware of. Trying to separate dangerous materials from the non-toxic materials found inside of these electronics is extremely difficult to do and should only be done by certified professionals. 

This article was much less surprising after reading the previous articles. Overall, I just understood more about how we do not recycle nearly enough of the electronic waste that we produce. We must do this in order to save our environment because many of the materials located inside of these electronic waste are highly toxic for our environment. This is why we must properly dispose/recycle these e-waste for experienced professionals to deal with these products in order to deal with them properly. This is related to Environmental Science because like I said, if we do not properly recycle these electronics, they will end up causing deep harm to our environment.

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$10bn of precious metals dumped each year in electronic waste

Carrington, D. (2020, July 02). $10bn of precious metals dumped each year in electronic waste, says UN. Retrieved September 09, 2020, from https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/jul/02/10bn-precious-metals-dumped-each-year-electronic-waste-un-toxic-e-waste-polluting

 

The article begins by explaining how over $10 billion worth of gold, platinum and other precious metals are dumped into landfills globally, polluting the world and wasting these metals. Overall, e-waste has increased by 21% over the past five years. An interesting quote to think about, “The amount of e-waste is rising three times faster than the world’s population, and only 17% of it was recycled in 2019.” In low and middle income countries, some e-waste is recycled but it is done in an extremely unsafe manner. The repercussions of such methods of recycling can lead to more overall pollution by toxic smoke going into the air, health effects for workers and children who live near those e-waste centers.

I found this article to be exceptionally alarming because the overall concept was that e-waste production is growing at a rapid rate and the recycling of this e-waste is not keeping up at all. Since we cannot keep up with the rate of our e-waste production, we must make serious changes to ensure that our environment is not damaged by the heaps of electronic waste being put into our oceans and landfills.

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Why the U.S. is Terrible at Recycling Electronics

Gladstone, N. (2020, February 27). Why the U.S. is Terrible at Recycling Electronics. Retrieved September 09, 2020, from https://www.digitaltrends.com/cool-tech/e-waste-recycling-united-states/

 

It talks about the unbelievable fact that America does not know where old computers, phones, printers and other electronics will go once disposed of. The materials inside of electronic waste account for 70% of the hazardous materials in landfills. Also, the electronics recycling industry is very crooked, many landfills lie about being entirely environmentally friendly as they claim to be. Many leave millions of electronics in landfill heaps or thrown overseas when they should be properly recycled. Over $20 billion of gold are wasted each year in electronics globally which people do not care much about but many of the other materials built into these devices are extremely hazardous to our environment.

This article surprised me just like the others because I did not fully realize how unprepared America is to deal with all of this electronic waste that we have. We have no legitimate plan of what to do with all of these old electronic devices that get thrown away. In fact, half of the country’s states do not even have rulings or laws around electronic waste disposal, this means that the management of the landfills in those states are free to do what they want with the waste no matter how environmentally friendly it is. Unlike the previous articles, this one spoke about crooked landfills that dispose of their electronic waste by throwing them into heaps in landfills or even throwing it overseas. This is extremely related to Environmental Science because throwing electronic waste overseas is extremely toxic and disastrous for our environment. 

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The Evolution of E-Waste Laws and Regulations

McCrea, B. (2019, February 21). The Evolution of E-Waste Laws and Regulations. Retrieved September 09, 2020, from https://www.sourcetoday.com/industries/article/21867326/the-evolution-of-ewaste-laws-and-regulations

 

This article, The Evolution of E-Waste Laws and Regulations, talks about how global e-waste production is increasing alarmingly fast. It says that the annual value of global e-waste is over $62.5 billion. They claim the best way to cut back our e-waste is, as buyers, to cut back on purchasing unnecessary electronics. An interesting quote is “the production of one desktop computer takes at least 530 lb. of fossil fuels, 48 lb. of chemicals, and 1.5 tons of water.” Many electronic devices are made with materials that cannot be easily recycled, therefore safe disposal is necessary in order to stop any potential risks to the environment.

 

This article is related to Environmental Science because it speaks a lot about the waste of electronic devices and how many of the resources/materials used in these devices could pose as a risk to our environment if not recycled properly. This was very shocking and scary for me to read knowing that one single desktop computer uses almost 50 pounds of chemicals and 1.5 tons of water. I do not know the exact implications of this use of water but most likely we cannot drink this water after it is used which seems extremely inefficient and terrible to our environment. I agree with the article that a great way for us to cut down our e-waste is by not buying unnecessary electronic devices and recycling the ones we have properly.

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A look at where California’s CRT glass is going

Paben, J. (2020, March 13). A look at where California’s CRT glass is going. Retrieved September 09, 2020, from https://resource-recycling.com/e-scrap/2020/03/12/a-look-at-where-californias-crt-glass-is-going/

 

The article, A look at where California’s CRT glass is going, describes how less and less CRT glass is being sent to hazard waste landfills and instead to glass processors. Due to this, the glass processors have more leaded glass that they are forced to send to landfills instead of recycling it. Additionally, companies are making CRT use much less to avoid as much taxing, in 2012 companies produced 212 million pounds compared to 2019 companies produced only 90 million pounds. The amount of unprocessed hazardous waste disposal has trended downwards while the amount of hazardous waste going to intermediate processors has gone up. Because the number of CRT’s entering California is decreasing by so much, people likely will not invest in new CRT processing options.

This is related to Environmental Science because it talks a lot about how CRT (Cathode Ray-Tube) Glass affects the environment of California. It shows how we, as humans, need to become more serious about how we use our resources and what to do with hazardous materials that could damage the environment. My reaction to this article is shock because I did not know how much of an issue hazardous waste landfills are and how much hazardous waste there is in the first place. I thought the numbers were much much lower and they are very surprising to hear about. Additionally, how we dispose of these hazardous waste materials also surprised me because it does not seem efficient or good for our environment.

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Electronic Waste Sepand

Scientists have discovered a protein called lanmodulin that’s created by a certain bacteria that may benefit the e-waste recycling industry. Many modern electronics contain rare earth metals such as lithium or magnets and this protein can help recover them cleanly from e-waste. Not only does this protein work better than chemical washes, but it also works faster and more selectively at eating away the rare earth metals. Furthermore, It works in one step at clearing rare earth metals, unlike other processes.

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Electronic Waste Sepand

California was the first state to create any sort of legislation in regard to recycling electronic waste. In other states, a consumer can buy a tv or monitor and pay whatever the sales tax is for their state. In 2003 though, Governor Gray Davis signed a bill allowing the government to tax individual sales on monitors and tv for the benefit of funding reusing and recycling efforts. For a $700 TV one might pay around $10 in tax that’ll go directly to a recycling center or organizations like Goodwill. There’s been a push for nationwide adoption of this tax but so far it hasn’t passed.

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Electronic Waste Sepand

Modern e-waste recycling is both expensive and environmentally taxing. It involves processes like pyrometallurgy and hydrometallurgy, which both require a combination of heat and toxic chemicals. Which requires a lot of energy while also negatively impacting the environment through the use of energy. That’s why modern researchers are leaning towards bioleaching or the use of microorganisms to extract the valuable metals out of electronics. In the past microorganisms have been used to extract metals from ores and are far cleaner than using toxic chemicals and lots of energy.