It’s easy to ignore how much trash each person generates on a daily basis, especially with
the convenience of curb-side trash pickup. Throwing away a banana peel or old
newspaper might not seem like much, until we see the cumulative impact of everyone’s
combined trash production. By performing a personal trash audit, you will gain
perspective about how everyone’s individual waste contributes to solid waste
management problems.
Activity Summary
For this assignment, you will keep a trash log where you record everything you dispose
of for three days, except for sewage well because that’s just gross. Write down in a
notebook, or on your phone, what you throw away. Keep track of how you dispose of
each item: garbage bin, recycling bin, compost bin, litter, other. Please be mindful and
honest.
Deliverable
You will need to submit via TurnItIn on iLearn a paper of at least two (2) pages, 12-point
font, double spaced. Your essay must be written in a proper format: introduction,
methods, results, discussion, and a strong conclusion. Don’t forget to cite all your
sources and include a references section.
Your paper must address all of the following questions in the Discussion section:
- What did your trash log show you?
a. What kinds of waste do you generate?
b. Which of your activities generate the most waste?
c. Why might this be the case? - Extrapolate your waste production to one year.
a. Think about how much domestic waste the city of San Francisco
produces in one year (864,000 people).
b. Think about how much domestic waste the Bay Area produces in one
year (7 million people). - What’s one fairly simple change you could make to generate less waste?
a. How likely are you to make this change? Explain. - What’s another larger or less simple change you could make to generate even less
waste? The article & videos on iLearn can help you answer these questions.
a. How would you go about implementing this change?
b. How likely are you to try? Explain.
GEOG 301: Bay Area Environments Fall 2021 - How does your consumption and waste disposal behaviors compare with
those of your housemates, family members, co-workers or friends?
a. How do these people influence your consumption and waste disposal
behavior?
b. How do you (or how might you) influence theirs?