1. What is the difference between renewable, non-renewable, and flow resources?

• Renewable resources have the ability to grow back/replenish within 30 years (trees, fish, soil)

• Non-renewable cannot be quickly replaced by natural means at a pace quick enough to keep up with consumption (coal, natural gas → take thousands of years to form)

• Flow resources renew themselves while being used (wind, water, sun)

2. Explain what your ecological footprint measures and how it is displayed.

• Ecological footprint is the statistic used to measure how people impact the environment, calculated by the natural resources used + garbage made + land needed to make + distribute stuff you use

• displayed in hectares

1. Why does Canada have a large ecological footprint compared to countries like Bangladesh and India

Canada is a lot more car-dependent (oil, wider roads), manufactures more clothes (growing cotton + energy for machines + oil for transportation), people eat more than we need (more crops, more transportation). India and Bangladesh drive a lot less (bike, walk, bus), many don’t have much money so they eat simple local food (sometimes vegetarian)

3. How can you reduce your ecological footprint? Give an idea to reduce energy use, petroleum use and water use.

• energy use:

  • turning off lights when not in use, unplugging electronics + appliances

  • energy-efficient lights/appliances (LEDS)

  • solar panels

• petroleum use:

  • public transportation, carpooling, waking/biking

  • fuel-efficient vehicles (electric,hybrid)

• water use:

  • turning off faucet when not in use

  • shorter showers

  • using dishwasher/washing machine when full

4. List three reasons not to use bottled water.

• more expensive

• less regulated than tap water

• negative environmental impact

5. When did the moratorium (ban) on cod fishing in the Atlantic Ocean and why?

• the ban on cod fishing was put into effect in 1992

• overfishing, destructive practices (dragnets), uncontrolled foreign fishing till 1977, changes in natural conditions (currents + seals)

6. Explain the two reasons why cod fish were so abundant on Canada’s east coast

• large amounts of plankton, which attract fish

• wide, shallow, continental shelf allow sunlight to reach bottom, creating more plankton

7. What are alternative energy sources? What are the advantages and disadvantages to each?

8. How can one person make a small difference in their community towards a sustainable future? Give three specific examples.

• reducing waste: reduce (only taking what you need, limit packaging) reuse (reusable products, finding new uses for things) recycle

• promoting sustainable transportation (walking, biking, public transit)

• eating less meat (plant-based diet) reduces water consumption

9. Explain why our current “materials economy” is harmful to the planet. (Story of Stuff)

• extraction: economy relies on extracting natural resources, destructing ecosystems and wildlife

• production: toxic chemicals are mixed with natural resources → toxic contaminated products

• waste/disposal: planned obsolescence + perceived obsolescence among products causes them to be thrown away → ends up in landfills → waste is burnt (dioxin)

10. Define perceived obsolescence. Give an example of clothing, electronics, and household items.

• when we’re convinced to throw away perfectly functional products

• “fast fashion”, in and out: shoes, computer models, kitchen appliance “must haves”

11. Explain the concept of “manufactured demand” from Story of Bottled Water.

• when companies convince and scare people that the alternative to bottled water, tap water, is unsafe

12. What are some solutions that should replace the materials economy?

• government action:

  • imposing law to reduce waste (limit single ue products, recyclable materials)

  • encourage sustainable practices

• corporation action:

  • reducing waste (designing new product packagin)

  • energy efficient measure

  • transparency about their products

• us:

  • avoiding fast fashion and overspending

  • reducing carbon footprint

  • supporting sustainable products + companies

13. What are the challenges in providing First Nations with clean water?

• ineffective contractors (poor quality job)

• ISC doesn’t check if they did the job well enough

• expensive, communities often have to ask ISC for more money

14. Why will recycling never be enough to deal with all our garbage?

• not everything is recyclable

• not all materials actually end up being recycled (in landfills)

• not everyone participates

• large amounts of energy is used (transportation, incineration, moulding)

• oil companies make the same product → no need to buy recycled materials

15. How is down-cycling different from recycling?

• down cycling is turning one product into another inferior product of lesser value and functionality (end up being thrown out)

• recycling aims to create products of similar/higher quality and functionality

16. How is landfill gas used to create alternative energy?

• landfill gases are collected from gas collection wells

• burn methane as fuel  to generate heat

• generates electricity

17. Explain the solid waste management hierarchy (5 stages).

• Reduce: only taking what you need, limiting packaging, less waste → less disposal

• Reuse: purchasing reusable products, finding new uses for things

• Recycle: most paper, plastic and glass can be recycled

• Recovery: recovering energy from waste (burning)

• Landfill: safe disposal of waste to landfill (leasts preferred)

18. What are the three types of industries?

• Primary:

  • 4% of Canadian jobs

  • raw materials taken from environment (logger, miner, farmer)

• Secondary:

  • 17% of Canadian jobs

  • process raw materials into finished goods (builder, steel plant worker, car plant worker)

• Tertiary:

  • 79% of Canadian jobs (majority)

  • provide services (banker, teacher, mechanic, doctor)

19. In the film ‘Addicted to Plastic,’ we learned about several places in the world and their approach to waste management.

    1. Houston, Texas no longer recycles. What did a citizen have to collect and recycle on his own?

• melt waste plastic → forms into railroad ties

• sells to railroad companies

2. Tennessee  does not sort its waste. What do they do with waste? What do they make? What is it used for?

• collect all waste (plastic, glass, cans, etc) in a system → automatically separates metals and glass

• everything else is pushed into steam system → creates “fluff”

• fluff is a growing medium, can be turned into a useful product (bench)

20. What type of rock is fracked?

• Shale rock

21. Explain what fracking is, how it works, and the benefits and disadvantages of it.

• fracking is the process of drilling down into the earth a rock before a high pressure water mixture (water, sand, chemicals) is directed at it

• allows the gas to flow out to the head of the well

• Alberta, BC, Nova Scotia, NB, USA, UK

• governments, oil companies, NGO’s

• Pros:

  • financial benefits → creates jobs in US

  • natural gas prices drop 47%, GHS emissions drop

• Cons:

  • water contamination

  • pollution (noise, air, water)

  • loss of aboriginal reserves

  • chemical injection

  • weak regulations

  • disposing water in deep rock formation → causes earthquakes

• How are Mexico City and the Aral Sea examples of poor water use?

  • Mexico city is sinking (30ft) because of its large use of water → more they use, the more it shrinks

  • Aral Sea is one tenth of its size 50 yrs ago → unsustainable use of water supply

22. Which foods use the most water?

• Meat tends to have higher water footprints (steak, hamburger, ham)

• one cheeseburger is 2000 L of water

23. 80% of our earth is covered in water. Why aren’t we able to use it all as drinking water?

• 97.5% of water on Earth is salt water → can’t drink

• 2.5% is left → 79% is frozen, 20% is groundwater

• of the 1% of the 2.5%, 38% is in soil, 7% is in air, 1% is in living organisms

24. What are Canada’s conventional energy sources and how does each work?

• fossil fuels (coal, oil, and natural gas) - traditional fuels for energy production

• nuclear energy: non renewable, doesn’t produce carbon, creates waste

• natural gas: non renewable, collected from Earth’s crust (fossil fuel), inexpensive plants + efficient