In our AP environmental science class we are carrying out an experiment, trying to figure out how much waste we produce as individuals. On the first day of the experiment we were given trash bags and told from then on put all of our daily trash in it. After one week of collecting waste our class started finding data on each of our trash bags. We collected data on the different types of trash, weight of trash, and number of pieces.
What category of solid waste was most common in the room?
Plastic
What are the health impacts of plastics life cycle?
A.) It gets into the ocean and hurts ocean life
B.) releases chemicals into soil
C.) bad chemicals from plastic can get into groundwater
If my parent were doing this experiment how would it differ?
I believe that since my parents have more disposable income than I do that they would make more trash than me. Also shopping for house supplies is something that my parents do that I don’t.
Did I change the way I bought/consumed things during this experiment?
Since I wanted to keep my trash bag on me I tried to make a point of keeping my consumption low so that I wouldn’t have to carry around as much waste. At times I would want to go to jakes but wouldn’t, because I didn’t want to make more trash. Also when I did buy jakes, I only bought items with a small volume.
Significant aspects of this experiment.
For me the most significant part of this experiment was seeing how I could lower the amount of waste I made by just being mindful about buy food. I feel that if everyone tried a little we could make a big difference with little change to our lifestyle.
Would I change anything about this experiment?
No
AP Enviormental Science 