Pollution

table of contets

• Causes of air pollution 
• Causes of water pollution
• Take Action!
• Pollution Survey and Results
• SMaRT Station Visit and Interview

Major sources of air pollution

• Greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide from car exhaust
• Burning fossil fuels to generate electricity
• Forest fires 
• Volcano eruption

effects of air pollution

• Global warming, extreme weather
• Melting ice-bergs, rising sea levels
• Acid rain
• Damage to Human Health, like lung and heart disease
• Air that is not fit for breathing

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Reducing air pollution

• Commuting by bike, foot, or mass transit
• Increase carpooling
• Use clean energy like wind and solar
• Use electric car

Some causes of water pollution

• Marine dumping of garbage, sewage, industrial waste 
• Agricultural run-off (fertilizers/herbicides in ground water) 
• Toxic waste being disposed of incorrectly
• Fuel storage leakage (like underground gasoline tanks)

effects of water pollution

• Kills aquatic life
• Overgrowth of algae in lakes, rivers causing oxygen depletion
• Can give people sicknesses like cholera, hepatitis, and meningitis
• Decreases the amount of drinkable water

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preventing water pollution

• Use less fertilizer herbicides and pesticides
• Buy organic foods not regular food
• Use biodegradable chemicals
• Dispose of toxic waste correctly

Taking Action!!

• Built a website with informative links
• Surveyed people about the ways in which they create pollution
• Provided fliers to interviewees with links to websites 
• Interviewed workers at the SMaRT Recycling Center
• Published information on the SMaRT Center's capabilties, services

My Website

• https://sites.google.com/a/cusdschools.org/polution---jason-s/
• Go there to check out information, other web sites
• Learn ways to reduce pollution
• Take the Online Pollution Survey

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Survey Participants

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Survey Results...

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Survey Findings:  Good Practices

• Biodegradable chemical use at home is high
• Fireplace use is low
• Most people do not use pesticides or herbicides
• About half those surveyed bought organic produce
• Most people took their car to a carwash

Survey Findings: things to improve

• Increase use of mass transit (free days, increase # of routes)
• Encourage the purchase of electric vehicles
• Encourage the purchase of organic produce (more sales/coupons!)
• Reduce, Reuse, Recycle at Home!

Visit to Recycling Center

Interview with Debbie Sargent

• Debbie is a PR specialist at the SMaRT Recycling Center
• Goal of interview:  Learn about the recycling process
• Asked about the amount of material that gets recycled annually
• Received a tour of the process
• Understood how material we recycle is handled

Tour of smart Center

Unsorted materials for recycling

Sorting Recyling into types

Saw for cutting up large objects

Machine for creating bales of recycling material

Paper is compressed into bales

Plastic is sorted and compressed into bales

Metal is compressed into bales (40,000 cans per bale!)

They also recycle batteries, lightbulbs and...

Electronics

reflection on project

• I am more concerned about pollution now  
• I set out to inform people about what pollution does to the enviornment
• The people I talked to want to help the environment!  
• I will do my part to Reduce, Reuse, Recycle 
• As we learn about pollution, we will find new ways to reduce it!

What I will do Next..

• Use more reuseable items to reduce amount of trash I create
• Use energy efficient light bulbs and don't leave lights on
• Conserve water
• Compost with my parents to eliminate fertilizers in our home
• Keep learning, add content to my website to help others learn too!