Land Management
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Created by:
alanawaggoner on March 29, 2011
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37 terms
Terms | Definitions |
|---|---|
 urbanization | the growth of the cities into rural areas |
| conservation | sustaining land resources for future generations by careful and efficient management |
| preservation | minimizing human impact to protect ecosystems |
| The Pacific Garbage Patch | patch of garbage in the North Pacific Ocean |
| biodegradable | has an origin from living materials and can be broken down by microorganisms |
| non-biodegradable | discarded substances that are not biodegradable and can be potentially harmful (glass, metals, plastic) |
| hazardous waste | discarded chemical and biological substances that are potentially dangerous to humans |
| leaching | contamination in groundwater from landfills |
| municipal solid waste | solid waste from homes, office buildings and restaurants |
| sanitary landfill | waste is put in the ground and covered with soil everyday |
| secure landfill | used for handling hazardous wastes |
| incineration | burning of wastes |
| Brownfield sites | abandoned industrial/commercial facilities available for reuse |
| NIMBY | people create large amounts of trash and want it disposed of, but they don't want landfills or incinerators near their houses or in their neighborhoods |
| smart growth design | many side walks, no gated communities, no single-use zoning, integrated neighborhoods |
| phytoremediation | putting vegetation in a Brownfield site, trees and plants will absorb contaminants through their roots |
| superfunds | EPA gives states money to clean contamination sites |
| materials economy | the system of stuff we use, it is in crisis because it is a linear system on a finite planet |
| extraction | natural resource exploitation |
| externalizing the cost | the real cost of making things isn't captured in the price, other people had to pay along the way |
| how much stuff is still in use 6 months after it was used? | 1% |
| planned obsolescence | designing products to be thrown away shortly after they are bought |
| perceived obsolescence | changing the look of products so that people feel embarrassed to have the old version |
| how much garbage does an American make each day? | 4-4.5 pounds |
| urban sprawl | an unplanned, disorganized growth of housing on the edge of a city |
| types of land use | urban, suburban and rural |
| negatives of urban sprawl | dead city centers, loss of open space, isolation, possible economic collapse, and obesity |
| 4 reasons humans produce so much garbage | higher population, people consume more, planned obsolescence, more plastic usage |
| dumps vs. landfills | dumps have rats, odor, leaching and fire problems |
| envi. problems with landfills | -methane emitted -property value reduction -physical disruption -possible leaching -mixed in hazardous wastes -unattractive, greatly increases traffic |
| envi. problems with incinerators | -nasty pollutants are released (CO, metals, dioxins, PM10) -hazardous wastes aren't sorted and end up being burned -unattractive smokestacks and greatly increase traffic |
| how is the land broken down? | 93.4% rural, 6.6% urban/suburban, 75% of the population lives in urban/suburban areas |
| causes of urban sprawl | fed gov: low interest morgages after WWII, $ for highways, no $ for cities, traveling electricity, cars local town: single-use zoning, cheap gas |
| envi. problems with urban sprawl | flooding, more pollution, waste, road congestion and greenhouse gases |
| hazardous waste classification | highly flammable or explosive, corrosive or reactive, toxic, infectious, radioactive |
| landfills vs. incinerators | landfills: if there is lining it is the safest way to contain waste, methane can be used to generate electricity, become parks, etc. incinerators: require smaller space, remove 90% of garbage, sorts waste better, heat used to burn waste can be used to heat homes |
| how can a high school limit their garbage? | use refillable cups, get rid of styrofoam, COMPOST, use washable trays, recycle more, stop selling plasic water bottles |
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