The most recent results for Newton's demographics are the 2000 census. The good news is that they were available March, 2001, so maybe the preliminary results for the 2010 census will be made available in March as well. So much has changed, especially with the recession. Also, huge changes in technology! I wonder how much the population has changed.. and how much Newton's waste management has changed. Just got to hold on 'til March, huh? Let's hope.
Okay, here are some of the most relevant questions and answers for 2000:
Q. What is the population of Newton?
A. It was 83, 829.
Q. How densely populated is Newton?
A. It was 4, 643.6 persons per square mile area and 1 778.8 housing units per square mile area. (The states of MA had a density of 809.8 persons/square mile and 334.4 housing units/square mile.
Q. How many housing units are found in Newton?
A. There were a total of 32,112 housing units in Newton in 2000, with 97.1% of them occupied.
Q. What's the trash and recycling deal?? CURRENT
A. The City of Newton provides solid waste (trash and recycling) services to 26,500 households and there are currently 32,816 total households in the City.
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
Monday, February 7, 2011
Post #5--Where it Goes: Trash
And now, about the TRASH.
Newton's trash is transported to the Millbury Wheelabrator waste-to-energy plant. The trash is mass burned and the resulting ash is landfilled in Shrewsbury. The conversion comes out to be 1 ton of ash for every 10 tons of trash burned. Any metals found in the trash stream are pulled out and recycled at the plant. With Newton's curbside recycling program, and appliance recycling it's not a problem. There is also a scrap metal container located at the Recycling Depot at Rumford Ave. Most metal is separated out before it ever reaches Wheelabrator.
So, our trash is collected and mass burned, THEN landfilled. In conventional landfills, food waste breaks down anaerobically and the resulting compost just... sits there. Because it breaks down without oxygen, methane gas is produced-- which contributes to global warming! Contrary to what was previously hypothesized, more organic matter in landfills does not help the real trash to break down. So that diaper? Yeah, the one that your parents used? Or maybe your grandparents? They are all still there, somewhere. And that's just diapers. Think about all the food containers we use, all the styrofoam we don't recycle. All the greasy paper we throw out. All of that is just... sitting somewhere in a landfill, in some way, shape or form.
And now the real question: how much of that doesn't need to be there? How much of it could have been recycled? How much of it could have been composted? According to wastage.com (part of Strategic Materials, the company that bought CRA), food waste is the largest component of discarded waste by weight. Yes, I know, lots of that can't be composted, like dairy and meat scraps, but how much of it could be? All the grapefruit rinds and apple peels and leafy greens and mushrooms we don't get to? And all of that other good stuff that the worms love... Have some love for your worms-- compost it! More on that coming up, when I really get the experiment part of my project started :)
Newton's trash is transported to the Millbury Wheelabrator waste-to-energy plant. The trash is mass burned and the resulting ash is landfilled in Shrewsbury. The conversion comes out to be 1 ton of ash for every 10 tons of trash burned. Any metals found in the trash stream are pulled out and recycled at the plant. With Newton's curbside recycling program, and appliance recycling it's not a problem. There is also a scrap metal container located at the Recycling Depot at Rumford Ave. Most metal is separated out before it ever reaches Wheelabrator.
So, our trash is collected and mass burned, THEN landfilled. In conventional landfills, food waste breaks down anaerobically and the resulting compost just... sits there. Because it breaks down without oxygen, methane gas is produced-- which contributes to global warming! Contrary to what was previously hypothesized, more organic matter in landfills does not help the real trash to break down. So that diaper? Yeah, the one that your parents used? Or maybe your grandparents? They are all still there, somewhere. And that's just diapers. Think about all the food containers we use, all the styrofoam we don't recycle. All the greasy paper we throw out. All of that is just... sitting somewhere in a landfill, in some way, shape or form.
And now the real question: how much of that doesn't need to be there? How much of it could have been recycled? How much of it could have been composted? According to wastage.com (part of Strategic Materials, the company that bought CRA), food waste is the largest component of discarded waste by weight. Yes, I know, lots of that can't be composted, like dairy and meat scraps, but how much of it could be? All the grapefruit rinds and apple peels and leafy greens and mushrooms we don't get to? And all of that other good stuff that the worms love... Have some love for your worms-- compost it! More on that coming up, when I really get the experiment part of my project started :)
Post #4--Where it Goes: Recycling
Okay, so my post was deleted by accident... GRR. Well, I'll just have to write it again.
OKAY! Once at the Materials Recovery Facility (MRF) in Avon, they are sorted by type (papers, plastic, cardboards, glass, etc., etc.) and separated and baled. They are then shipped off to end markets as raw materials to be used again. For example, pick up a glass bottle? There's a chance it may have as much as 70% recycled glass in there. WOW!
PAPER: Paper goes off to lots of places. There's a local paper mill in MA that's part of an organization called the Newark Group that takes over 5% of recovered recycled paper and turns it into new paper products.
CARDBOARD: Lots of cardboard is shipped to China, along with many PLASTICS.
GLASS: The recycling of glass is pretty neat. Glass gets recycled into new bottles and other things as far fetched as road materials. Ever heard of "glassphalt"? Now you have :)
OKAY! Once at the Materials Recovery Facility (MRF) in Avon, they are sorted by type (papers, plastic, cardboards, glass, etc., etc.) and separated and baled. They are then shipped off to end markets as raw materials to be used again. For example, pick up a glass bottle? There's a chance it may have as much as 70% recycled glass in there. WOW!
PAPER: Paper goes off to lots of places. There's a local paper mill in MA that's part of an organization called the Newark Group that takes over 5% of recovered recycled paper and turns it into new paper products.
CARDBOARD: Lots of cardboard is shipped to China, along with many PLASTICS.
GLASS: The recycling of glass is pretty neat. Glass gets recycled into new bottles and other things as far fetched as road materials. Ever heard of "glassphalt"? Now you have :)
Thursday, February 3, 2011
Post #3-- More on Newton Recycling
So our recyclables do go to a processing plant in Avon, Ma, courtesy of Waste Management Recycle America. My mother's crew teammate Courtney Forrester is a recycling manager for the City of Newton's Department of Public Works, and she gave me some very helpful links. The most relevant one here, an incredible video featuring the recycling plant in Avon, Ma! Check it out-
http://www.necn.com/12/09/10/More-communities-turn-to-single-stream-r/landing_business.html?blockID=370137&feedID=4209
What I now need to really figure out is what actually happens to all the recyclables once they are sorted out of single stream. Are they sold back as raw materials to other companies that will then further process them? For example, glass: are they going to crush it up, or melt it down... and then where does that go? Or do they even go so far as to really process it there? The glass will go to so many new types of bottles and other things, so I'm not sure it makes sense for them to create new objects there. I just need to discover the process and the sequencing.
http://www.necn.com/12/09/10/More-communities-turn-to-single-stream-r/landing_business.html?blockID=370137&feedID=4209
What I now need to really figure out is what actually happens to all the recyclables once they are sorted out of single stream. Are they sold back as raw materials to other companies that will then further process them? For example, glass: are they going to crush it up, or melt it down... and then where does that go? Or do they even go so far as to really process it there? The glass will go to so many new types of bottles and other things, so I'm not sure it makes sense for them to create new objects there. I just need to discover the process and the sequencing.
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Post #2--Recycling in Newton
So I've done some research... And for Newton, it takes two: green and blue! Green for recycling, blue for the garbage (so now that I've told you, you can't ever mistake them!)
Newton has single stream recycling, which as I already mentioned, means you can place all of your recyclables curbside together and they are then be transported by Waste Management to a recyclables processing plant located in Avon, MA (I wonder if I can go there...) Once at the Avon plant, the recyclables are "single streamed, sorted, baled and sent to different markets". http://www.newtonma.gov/DPW/recycling/residents/where_go.htm
What I need to do now is find out what happens at the Avon plant and where they go! And what happens to them?? The mention of the Avon plant is preceded with a link to http://www.recycleamerica.com/, so I'll have to check that out too, of course. This is certainly quite the research process.
What I'm also curious about it how effective and efficient recycling is as a whole. Yes, it must be great to reuse and recycle, but what about all the energy it takes? That has to come from somewhere too. I remember watching a video in middle school science class (Hey, Mrs. Carito!) that involved recycling (I wonder if I can get my hands on that, hehe). It showed that it took a lot more energy to make a glass bottle from recycled glass than it does to make a new one. I'm not sure if 1) I'm remembering correctly, and 2) how pollution would play into effect in this scenario... Again, to research.
And now for an interesting fact!
Q. What does the little "chasing arrows" symbol mean? It means "this item is recyclable", right?
A. Apparently not. The chasing arrows symbol, usually with a number inside it indicates the type of plastic the product is made of. The example on the City of Newton website described a plastic bag, made of High Density Polyethylene (HDPE- #2), which is the same material that a milk jug would be made of. That doesn't mean they can be treated in the same way, though! The bag would contain all sorts of different dyes and plastic-modifiers and chemicals that would make it different from the milk jug (one obvious example, it's a film, not a jug...). Also, do you know what else is "same same, but different"? Styrofoam. To make styrofoam, air is added by the manufacturer creating a totally different product that is incompatible with the recycling processing equiptment.
Q. So what can I recycle if I don't know which "chasing arrows" symbols indicate recyclability?
A. The City of Newton asks that you place only stuff plastic containers with the numbers #1-#7 in the green recycle bins. http://www.ci.newton.ma.us/dpw/recycling/residents/faqs.htm
Q. What can I do with my plastic bags?
A. You can reuse them or bring them back to the store for recycling. Many stores do, like CVS.
--I'm not exactly sure HOW they recycle the plastic bags, but it's another thing for me to find out!
Newton has single stream recycling, which as I already mentioned, means you can place all of your recyclables curbside together and they are then be transported by Waste Management to a recyclables processing plant located in Avon, MA (I wonder if I can go there...) Once at the Avon plant, the recyclables are "single streamed, sorted, baled and sent to different markets". http://www.newtonma.gov/DPW/recycling/residents/where_go.htm
What I need to do now is find out what happens at the Avon plant and where they go! And what happens to them?? The mention of the Avon plant is preceded with a link to http://www.recycleamerica.com/, so I'll have to check that out too, of course. This is certainly quite the research process.
What I'm also curious about it how effective and efficient recycling is as a whole. Yes, it must be great to reuse and recycle, but what about all the energy it takes? That has to come from somewhere too. I remember watching a video in middle school science class (Hey, Mrs. Carito!) that involved recycling (I wonder if I can get my hands on that, hehe). It showed that it took a lot more energy to make a glass bottle from recycled glass than it does to make a new one. I'm not sure if 1) I'm remembering correctly, and 2) how pollution would play into effect in this scenario... Again, to research.
And now for an interesting fact!
Q. What does the little "chasing arrows" symbol mean? It means "this item is recyclable", right?
A. Apparently not. The chasing arrows symbol, usually with a number inside it indicates the type of plastic the product is made of. The example on the City of Newton website described a plastic bag, made of High Density Polyethylene (HDPE- #2), which is the same material that a milk jug would be made of. That doesn't mean they can be treated in the same way, though! The bag would contain all sorts of different dyes and plastic-modifiers and chemicals that would make it different from the milk jug (one obvious example, it's a film, not a jug...). Also, do you know what else is "same same, but different"? Styrofoam. To make styrofoam, air is added by the manufacturer creating a totally different product that is incompatible with the recycling processing equiptment.
Q. So what can I recycle if I don't know which "chasing arrows" symbols indicate recyclability?
A. The City of Newton asks that you place only stuff plastic containers with the numbers #1-#7 in the green recycle bins. http://www.ci.newton.ma.us/dpw/recycling/residents/faqs.htm
Q. What can I do with my plastic bags?
A. You can reuse them or bring them back to the store for recycling. Many stores do, like CVS.
--I'm not exactly sure HOW they recycle the plastic bags, but it's another thing for me to find out!
First Post: Getting started
Okay, first blog post... Here I'll just outline a battle plan and notes as I have so far, it's still all up in the air.
Right. So at first I was really confused as to what I should do about my IRP. Originally I was completely lost because I switched into the APBio class two weeks late (which was hard!!). I switched in because I had taken the Biology I course over the summer (to get it out of the way, I didn't think I was a science person) and found I really loved it! But I had no idea what to do for an IRP. I landed on a simple research project, but recently it has sprouted into something huge that I really think can educate the general public and really make a difference! I will use my knowledge from my Biology I course, my APBio course, and my Greengineering smarts to reach my goal.
My mission?? To save the world.
Also, visit the Newton North Greengineering webiste at http://greengineers.wikispaces.com/
I need to research Newton's trash. How much is there? For one... Where does it go, how does it get there, what types go where... A huge thing is recycling. We are supposed to have a super-awesome recycling program, but our high school can't even get theirs off the ground... I'll have to look into that in more detail. I went to the City of Newton website, http://www.ci.newton.ma.us/dpw/recycling/default.asp, to research more about Newton's recycling proram. We have single stream recycling which means you can put all forms of recyclables (plastics, glass, paper) in the same bin and it will be separated at a facility. What I need to find out is where it goes (I think Avon, MA?) But the trash goes somewhere else. Also, what happens to scraps, yard waste and other compostable materials? Do they get composted?
How much could we save if we all recycled and composted? And what if (unlike our high school's recycling program) that system was effective and efficient? How much could we save?
Right. So at first I was really confused as to what I should do about my IRP. Originally I was completely lost because I switched into the APBio class two weeks late (which was hard!!). I switched in because I had taken the Biology I course over the summer (to get it out of the way, I didn't think I was a science person) and found I really loved it! But I had no idea what to do for an IRP. I landed on a simple research project, but recently it has sprouted into something huge that I really think can educate the general public and really make a difference! I will use my knowledge from my Biology I course, my APBio course, and my Greengineering smarts to reach my goal.
My mission?? To save the world.
Also, visit the Newton North Greengineering webiste at http://greengineers.wikispaces.com/
I need to research Newton's trash. How much is there? For one... Where does it go, how does it get there, what types go where... A huge thing is recycling. We are supposed to have a super-awesome recycling program, but our high school can't even get theirs off the ground... I'll have to look into that in more detail. I went to the City of Newton website, http://www.ci.newton.ma.us/dpw/recycling/default.asp, to research more about Newton's recycling proram. We have single stream recycling which means you can put all forms of recyclables (plastics, glass, paper) in the same bin and it will be separated at a facility. What I need to find out is where it goes (I think Avon, MA?) But the trash goes somewhere else. Also, what happens to scraps, yard waste and other compostable materials? Do they get composted?
How much could we save if we all recycled and composted? And what if (unlike our high school's recycling program) that system was effective and efficient? How much could we save?
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