How Do Recycling And Composting Fight Climate Change?
Climate change is one of the biggest challenges we face today. As global temperatures increase, weather patterns are disrupted and extreme weather events increase in both number and intensity. We are experiencing more severe droughts, more disastrous flooding, and longer, more intense heat waves than ever before. Moreover, many of the refugee crises that we are struggling to cope with are created and driven by changes in climate. That's because these changes have a disproportionately large impact in parts of the world where people are most vulnerable. However, the scariest fact of them all is this: what we are Read moreseeing now, after a 1.5 degree increase in average temperature, is just a pale shadow of what we can expect if the temperature goes up beyond 2 or even 3 degrees.
What can we do about this creeping apocalypse? Are our children's children doomed to a hothouse world where large areas around the equator are uninhabitable and the rest of the world is hot, crowded, and dangerous?
It turns out that there is a lot we can do. We already have many of the solutions to climate change in our arsenal, ready to go. We just need to get on with it. And here is the good news: these solutions don't have to break the bank. Many of them actually SAVE money. Take this quiz and find out what you know, and what you might not know, about the things a climate-smart, dollar-smart business can do to create a
- 1.
Which of the following are "greenhouse gases", or GHGs?
- A.
Oxygen (O2)
- B.
Carbon Dioxide (CO2)
- C.
Nitrogen gas (N2)
- D.
Methane (CH4)
Correct Answer(s)
B. Carbon Dioxide (CO2)
D. Methane (CH4)Explanation
Carbon dioxide is the most common GHG. Even though, at 0.04%, it is a small percentage of the atmosphere, it traps the sun's heat, causing an overall rise in temperature, just like the windows of your car on a sunny day. Methane does the same thing, only about 28 times better. It's a good thing that methane is at even lower levels (about 0.0002%) in the atmosphere than CO2 (although our landfills are doing their best to change this -- more on that later). Neither oxygen (21% of atmosphere) nor nitrogen (78%) are GHGs.Rate this question:
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- 2.
How much less energy does it take to make a pop can from recycled aluminum than from freshly mined bauxite ore (the source of aluminum)?
- A.
100 per cent less
- B.
95 per cent less
- C.
50 per cent less
- D.
10 per cent less
Correct Answer
B. 95 per cent lessExplanation
The mining and processing of aluminum takes huge amounts of energy, most if not all of which comes from burning fossil fuels. Recycling saves 95 per cent of that energy, and thus up to 95 per cent of the CO2 that would have been released.Rate this question:
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- 3.
Composting organic wastes reduces GHG emissions. True, or False.
- A.
True
- B.
False
Correct Answer
A. TrueExplanation
Although a lot of CO2 and even some CH4 are released in the composting process, scientists consider composting a good way to reduce GHGs. There are two main reasons for this: first, the most common alternative to composting -- landfill -- generates many times more CH4 (28 times as powerful a GHG as CO2); and second, the CO2 released in the composting process is not considered to be adding to the GHGs in the atmosphere, simply because it is part of the natural carbon cycle. With respect to that last point: all organic materials decay eventually, and the carbon they contain is released into the atmosphere as CO2. Fossil fuels are different, because they had been locked away underground for millions of years, so burning them releases "new" carbon, which increases CO2 levels in the atmosphere.Rate this question:
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- 4.
Recycling and composting are good for the environment, but they are more expensive for a business than just sending waste to disposal. True, or False?
- A.
False
- B.
True
Correct Answer
A. FalseExplanation
In general, tipping fees for most recyclables is less than the tipping fees for waste. The secret to saving money is in having an efficient system for separating these materials at source, because contamination increases tipping fees and costs to the company. Organics are also often less expensive to tip than waste, but the collection of organics can be expensive. However, some of the new collection options are no more expensive for organics than for any other material. Where the real savings can be realized, however, is with the frequency of collection of waste. When organics are removed from the waste stream, waste containers can be stored longer on site, without fear of odours or pests. This allows for less frequent pick-up, which can generate substantial savings.Rate this question:
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- 5.
Some things we do add extra carbon to the atmosphere, some things reduce the amount of carbon that we add to the atmosphere, and some things can actually pull carbon out of the atmosphere. Which of the following activities can actually pull carbon out of the atmosphere, reversing climate change?
- A.
Adding compost to soil
- B.
Recycling glass
- C.
Burning wood instead of fossil fuels
- D.
Recycling plastic
Correct Answer
A. Adding compost to soilExplanation
Recycling in all its forms can reduce the amount of GHGs that we add to the atmosphere. The same goes for burning wood, or any other form of biomass, instead of fossil fuels. All of these things are essentially ways to make our products or make our energy with less GHG released to the atmosphere. However, the addition of compost to soil can actually pull existing carbon out of the atmosphere, reducing current GHG levels. How does it do this? The addition of compost increases the beneficial life in the soil -- microbes like bacteria and fungi. These microbes both help plants grow and also help trap the resulting carbon in the soil, where it increases the soil's fertility. So, plants use CO2 to make biological carbon, through photosynthesis, then when they die, that biological carbon gets turned into what we call soil humus -- the nice-smelling dark brown component of healthy soil. When you add compost to soil, you not only make the soil healthier and help your plants grow better, you also "sequester" carbon in the soil, helping to fight climate change.Rate this question:
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- 6.
Reducing waste at the source (e.g., using reusable cups instead of plastic or paper ones) has a greater impact on climate change than recycling. True or False?
- A.
True
- B.
False
Correct Answer
A. TrueExplanation
Although recycling and composting reduce the number of GHGs we put into the atmosphere, eliminating waste completely is even better. When we use reusable dishes, cutlery, etc. we eliminate the need to manufacture new stuff. The amount of energy required to wash a dish is much less than the energy required to make a dish, even if that dish is made of recycled materials.Rate this question:
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- 7.
When we recycle and compost, keeping wastes out of the landfill, we call this practice "waste ________".
Correct Answer
diversion, reductionExplanation
Either "diversion" or "reduction" works here.Rate this question:
- 8.
Because they are low-oxygen environments, landfills emit a very powerful greenhouse gas (28 times as potent as CO2) known as ________ gas.
Correct Answer
methane, landfillExplanation
Methane (CH4) is produced when organic materials of any kind decay in a place where there is little or no oxygen (landfills contain very little oxygen). Methane can also be burned as a fuel, which is why anaerobic digestion (AD) facilities make sense in many circumstances. AD facilities take organic wastes like manure and food scraps and turn them into methane, which is then burned to produce energy. Burning the methane converts it back to CO2 and reduces the amount of fossil fuels we need to burn for our energy requrements. AD facilities also produce a "digestate" that can be used as a fertilizer on farm land (although here at the Compost Council we prefer that the digestate be composted prior to being applied to land, as this reduces both residual methane emissions and nutrient run-off from the fields).Rate this question:
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Current Version
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Mar 21, 2022Quiz Edited by
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Jul 26, 2018Quiz Created by
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