Electronic waste

Public Service Fellowship My entry into civil service was through an internship with the San Francisco Department of the Environment. It was also my first exposure to policy analysis and environmental regulation; I supported the team overseeing clean air and transportation emissions reductions programs. I graduated from college shortly thereafter and was fortunate enough to secure a job with the San Francisco Office of Economic and Workforce Development supporting their integrated land-use and…

the economy of many countries in good and bad ways. Industrial by-products, poisonous pesticides, and nuclear waste all have to go somewhere. In most cases, a country can not safely contain substances in order to not contaminate or endanger their people and environment. To avoid contamination, countries ship away by-products to more technologically advanced countries. New imported waste can be beneficial…

In The Washington Post article titled, “A close look at the Great Pacific Garbage Patch” a discussion arises about reusable plastics. The authors asserts that we are using more one-use plastics than ever before. Sandwich bags, soda bottles, and other commonly used plastics are being dumped into landfills. Because of the quickly overflowing landfills, recycling programs began to be implemented. Unfortunately, in 2010, only about 8% of plastics were actually recycled. The vast majority…

First, the reader is informed on current recycling statistics presented by Keep America Beautiful; including how “in 2006, U.S. consumers recycled only 28% of their recyclable waste” (711). Moreover, the authors point out that the increasing popularity of plastic water bottles contributes to the amount of recyclable waste, and how this poses an environmental problem. The researchers then summarizes previous studies done to assess pro-recycling interventions. These interventions include methods…

One of the main challenges currently faced by Alcoa Intalco Corporation, or any aluminum plant, is the disposal of spent liners otherwise known as SPL. On September1988, SPL was listed by the U.S Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as hazardous waste (53 Fed. Reg. 35412) coded as K088, and with that came stricter regulation and much rather extensive fines and matters of safety issues, not to mention, different protocols for safe handling and storage of SPL. Landfilling was considered the…

Landfills are full of waste that is releasing dangerous and harmful chemicals into the world so people want to keep the amount of waste going into a landfill at the absolute minimum. Paper comes from trees and although trees are an abundant resource it is important to not kill any more than necessary. Trees are extremely beneficial…

The Pros and Cons of the Recycling Law, and Where I Stand In the article, "Opposing Veiws on the GatesburgGoGreen Initiative", two separate aruguements were given for a new recycling law. With good reasons, both for and against, I feel it would come down to a vote of the towns citizens. I'm sure the towns people will agree that recycling is a great idea. However, what it'll come down to is, should recycling be made a law? I can agree with many of the points from…

With the process of making toothbrushes and the use of them, most people are unaware of the disposal of the products in toothbrushes. For each item in a toothbrush, different effects occur. Since nylon makes up the bristles of the toothbrush, nylon is disposed at a slow rate. When it is thrown away, it eventually decays but because it has such a slow decomposing process, it builds up in the landfill. Other ways nylons are disposed of are by being burned. The burning of nylon results in chemicals…

With both a growing population and a booming industrial economy the country of Indonesia is experiencing rapidly growing pollution issues, including: mass deforestation, smog, water pollution, and various other forms of environmental destruction. As a poverty ridden nation lead by a government with too little resources at its disposal the issues of extreme pollution are often put on hold to other societal issues. In Indonesia, many forms of environmental pollution / destruction are not only…

to recycle, but then we do not know what to do with this stuff. By making use of waste materials, the manufactures of these new building materials are creating exciting new markets and completing a loop,” says Kate Warner (Shulman). Recycling is a practice familiar to mankind since 400 B.C, though the word itself can trace its origin back to 1922 in regards to industrial processes and in 1960 for the reuse of waste material. Recycling has been a common practice in the efforts to help the economy…