Title: export-category
Course: Project week - Leuphana-Copy

Q: [Image: Green roof | (c) Jayesh Patil on flickr]

Many people in developing countries have difficulties accessing clean drinking water, whereas citizens in the U.S. and E.U. member states spend billions of dollars buying bottled water – athough clean drinking water from the tap is available.

One way to evaluate the usefulness of a product is to compare its costs and benefits. In the case of water bottles, think of its production process: How much water is used on average to produce just one bottle in comparison to its water capacity?
- It takes twice the amount of water to produce the bottle as it does to fill it.
- The amount of water to produce the bottle equals the amount to fill it.
- It takes 4 times the amount of water to produce the bottle as it does to fill it.
- It takes 3 times the amount of water to produce the bottle as it does to fill it.
- There is no water needed in the production process of a plastic bottle.
A: It takes 3 times the amount of water to produce the bottle as it does to fill it.
Feedback: Did you know...?! Annually, 53 billion gallons of bottled water are consumed all around the world. To produce the bottle itself you will need three times the amount of water as you can eventually fill in. Additionally, around 17 million barrels of oil are used in the production process of water bottles annually – enough to fuel 100 million cars for a whole year! Because only 1 out of 5 water bottles is recycled, the remaining four bottles contribute to the huge amount of plastic waste. More surprisingly, an average bottle of water costs $10 per gallon compared to tap water, which costs only $.0015 per gallon. [Image] Learn more about this topic and visit the Facts About Bottled Water.

Q: [Image: Marina plastic pollution | (c) Balazs Gardi]

It usually takes a certain amount of time for materials to biodegrade, that is to dissolve under the influence of bacteria or other biological means (for example, light, water, oxygen). A compost pile is an example of biodegradation.

How long do you think it takes for conventional plastics – let's say a plastic cup holder or a plastic bottle – to biodegrade?
- 6 months
- 1 year
- 10 years
- 100 years
- 500 years
A: 500 years
Feedback: Did you know...?! Convestional plastics made from polypropylene and polyethylene – two of the most common types of plastics as used for plastic bags and other everyday-life products – need whole centuries to biodegrade! Biological organisms that can be found in compost piles, for example, are not able to dissolve plastics: "Nature doesn't make things like that, so organisms have never seen that before." says Kenneth Peters, who is an organic geochemist at Stanford University. Plastic trash that pollutes the environment might have been used on a single occasion only. Its impact, however, can last much longer. [Image] Learn more about this topic and visit the live science website.

Q: [Image: Plastic trash | (c) Danielle Scott]

Plastic, like almost no other material, is part of our everyday lives. It is used for food containers and packaging, technological devices, toys, and even furniture. On top of that, there are 3D printers today that are able to produce virtually every shape made from plastic.

In 1960, plastics constituted less than 1% of solid waste in American communities. How big do you think is the share of plastic trash today?
- almost 0% because of efforts to reduce and recycle plastics
- 1%, that is about the same as in 1960
- 5%, which is slightly more than in 1960
- 13%
- 50%, because of all the new plastic products and our behavior in today's 'thow-away society'
A: 13%
Feedback: Did you know...?! Plastics make up almost 13 percent of the municipal solid waste stream. Doesn't seem much? Well, compared to the year 1960, this means an increase of about 1300%! In other words, despite all efforts to reduce and recycle plastic, its share of all trash produced in towns and cities today is almost 13 times as much as 50 years ago. | [Image] | The largest amount of plastics is found in containers and packaging (e.g., soft drink bottles, lids, shampoo bottles), but they also are found in durable (e.g., appliances, furniture) and nondurable goods (e.g., diapers, trash bags, cups and utensils, medical devices). The recycling rate for different types of plastic varies greatly, resulting in an overall plastics recycling rate of only 9 percent, or 2.8 million tons in 2012. However, the recycling rate for some plastic products is much higher, for example in 2012, 28 percent of HDPE bottles and 31 percent of PET bottles and jars were recycled. — U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, EPA [Image] Learn more about this topic and visit the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's website.