Refer to your completed Environmental Impact Matrix and write a 350- to 700-word paper in which you explain your findings.
Address the following in your paper:
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- What impact does the product have on the environment? Consider the materials/processes that must be used to deliver the product to the consumer.
- Describe how individual choices and/or behavior contribute to or diminish environmental sustainability.
- How can you or your community reduce your impact on the environment as it relates to this product?
Use at least 1 outside reference.
SCI/256 v8
Environmental Impact Research
Matrix
SCI/256 v8
Page 2 of 2
Environmental Impact Research Matrix
Instructions
Analyzing the life cycle of a product is one of the best ways to understand the impact of our consumption on the environment. In this assignment, you will research the series of steps that it takes to deliver a common product to the public and consider how consumers’ choices and behavior can contribute to or diminish environmental sustainability.
Select one of the following products: car, new cell phone, plastic grocery bags, food of your choice, a new 3-bedroom home, an online purchase of your choice, or another product of your choice with faculty approval.
Research the life cycle of your selected product using the internet, textbook, University Library, or other resources.
Analyze the environmental impact of the purchase or usage of the product you selected by completing the matrix below. Answer each question in the matrix with a 1- to 2-sentence response. Be sure to provide references for the sources you use. A partial example has been provided for you.
Example
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Name of Product/Process: Cup of Yogurt
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Question
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Answer
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1. How is the product/process obtained or created? What raw materials are required?
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Every cup of yogurt requires sugar, milk, bacteria, and water, but cow’s milk is the most common ingredient. The states that supply the most dairy in the U.S. are California (18.5%) and Wisconsin (14.2%).
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2. How is the product processed or implemented?
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Many different types of milk can be used, but typically, each half cup of yogurt requires half a gallon of milk.
Petroleum oil is used to make yogurt cups.
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Sources:
The California Dairy Press Room & Resources. (n.d.). Retrieved from
http://www.californiadairypressroom.com/Press_Kit/Dairy_Industry_Facts
Matrix
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Name of Product/Process: Plastic Grocery Bags ______________________________________________
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Question
Answer
1. How is the product/process obtained or created? What raw materials are required?
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Plastic grocery bags are made from a polymer substance known as polyethylene, made by extracting ethylene from natural gas and treating it to become the polymer. Plastic grocery bags are then created by repeating polyethylene structures to form a patterned structure, then modified into different shapes and sizes.
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2. How is the product processed or implemented?
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The process used in manufacturing plastic grocery bags is known as extrusion (Xanthos & Walker, 2017). The polyethylene plastic is heated up to a temperature that melts the pellets, then subjected to cooling, where it is cut and sealed as desired.
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3. How is the product delivered or transported to you?
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After the plastic grocery bags have been produced and wrapped, they are transported by trucks to different ports and different warehouses in different cities.
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4. How is the product disposed of?
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Responsible end users of plastic grocery bags dispose of them in plastic bags’ recycling bins, whereas others throw them away where they may bring about landfills and hazards to the environment.
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5. What kind of waste is generated? How can it be recycled?
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After plastic grocery bags have been used and disposed of, they end up as ocean waste, street waste, or landfills when disposed of irresponsibly. Plastic waste can be recycled by mechanical recycling, where the plastic waste is washed, ground into powder, and eventually melted, or by chemical recycling, where the plastic waste is broken down into monomers (Saidan et al., 2017).
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6. List any other observations or insights pertaining to the environmental impact of the product.
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Plastic grocery bags waste poses a danger to animal health, human health, and the environment at large. Plastic bags waste cause flooding in the streets, drain blockages, ocean waste, and landfills.
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Sources:
Xanthos, D., & Walker, T. R. (2017). International policies to reduce plastic marine pollution from single-use plastics (plastic bags and microbeads): a review. Marine pollution bulletin, 118(1-2), 17-26.
Saidan, M. N., Ansour, L. M., & Saidan, H. (2017). MANAGEMENT OF PLASTIC BAGS WASTE: AN ASSESSMENT OF SCENARIOS IN JORDAN. Journal of chemical technology & metallurgy, 52(1).
Copyright 2020 by University of Phoenix. All rights reserved.
Copyright 2020 by University of Phoenix. All rights reserved.
