Write a huge disparity between countries in terms of water consumption which is being exacerbated by
the current climate crisis.
Purpose: To understand your personal water consumption habits to further your environmental
thinking.
To determine your total water footprint, go to the following site: www.waterfootprint.org
1. Attach your personal water footprint breakdown and discuss these trends, including the
food component. How might you decrease your personal water footprint? (2 marks)
2. How might your personal water footprint differ from someone living in the Sahel region
of Africa? Describe these differences (1 mark)
3. Where and how do people living in Toronto get their water from? Please describe the
process from source to tap. (1 mark).
FOOD AND AGRICULTURE
Context: Food is one of the necessities of life. It nourishes our body and give us energy to get
through each day. Healthy eating is fundamental to good health and key elements in healthy human
development, from the prenatal and early childhood years to later life stages.
However, where our food comes from and how it is grown has serious implications for the global
climate. Modern agricultural methods often exploit environmental resources and rely on inputs of
fertilizer and pesticides in order to produce food, which has a cascading effect on the ecosystem.
Purpose: This assignment will help you understand your personal consumption habits and
cropping system to further your environmental thinking.
1. Define what a “locavore” is (0.5 marks). Do you have any items in your refrigerator which
would adhere to a locavore diet? Please list these items and describe where they came from.
If you do not have any, please mention five items which COULD be bought to adhere to a
locavore diet, in the spring/summer season (0.5 marks). Describe the benefits and
challenges of being a locavore within your particular area (1 mark).
2. What is Doomsday Vault? (0.5 mark). Why is it important for the future survival of
cropping and agriculture? (1 mark).
3. What is green revolution? (0.5 mark). How did it change the cropping system of the world?
(1 mark)
WASTE MANAGEMENT
Context: Humans are increasingly generating tremendous amounts of waste which clogs our
natural world. Most of us don’t spend much time thinking about where our waste ends up. But as
you know materials are never destroyed or created, they are just transformed from one shape to
another.
Waste can be solid, liquid, or gas and each type have different methods of disposal and
management. Waste management deals with all types of waste, including industrial, biological and
household. In some cases, waste can pose a threat to human and ecosystem health.
PERSONAL WASTE
As people become aware of waste disposal problems in their communities, we are recycling more
materials. Some things are easy to recycle, such as newsprint, office paper, or aluminum drink
cans. Other things are harder to classify. Most of us give up quickly and throw things in the trash
if we have to think too hard about how to recycle them.
Follow your waste management habits over TWO days and catalogue everything you dispose of
in the garbage, recycling, Green bin or hazardous waste. Use the following guidelines provided by
the City of Toronto (Waste Wizard), in order to check where items should be disposed of.
https://www.toronto.ca/services-payments/recycling-organics-garbage/waste-wizard/
DAY 1
ITEM DISPOSAL METHOD
Apple peel Green Bin
Used Paper Recycling Bin
DAY 2
ITEM DISPOSAL METHOD
1. Please complete the 2-day waste disposal diary (following the format above) and
comment on your personal garbage footprint (0.5 marks). There are various ways of
managing your garbage footprint, how can you alter your habits to reduce your waste
generation or mange it wisely? (1 mark)
LOCAL WASTE
2. What are the various streams of waste management at University of Toronto, St. George
campus? (0.5 mark). Describe the specific objectives of the University of Toronto’s
Environmental Protection Policy (2010) (0.5 mark).
REGIONAL WASTE
3. Ontario is facing looming waste crisis. Based on the article listed below, what are the main
issues facing waste management in Ontario? (0.5 mark). The author states in the article
that, “The key to avoiding a garbage crisis in Ontario is to recognize that a problem is
looming and figure out where the pressure points in the system are and how to ease them.
It’s a problem that has solutions…” Using other sources, what are some of the possible
solutions to Ontario’s waste management crisis. (2 marks).
https://www.thestar.com/opinion/contributors/2019/03/14/ontario-must-face-up-to-itslooming-waste-crisis.html
GLOBAL WASTE
4. For more than 50 years, global production and consumption of plastics have continued to
rise. Most of the plastics end up in our waterways and eventually in the oceans. What is
great Pacific garbage patch? (0.5 mark). Explain the mechanisms that created the North
Pacific garbage patch? (0.5 mark).
Last Completed Projects
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