Weekly Chat
World Resources is the topic of the Weekly Chat for Module 03 during the weeks 7,8 and 9
Background: A resource can be defined as "something we use." Shelter, clothing, transportation, heat, and so on are all resources. The word also applies to the air we breathe, the water we drink, the land we farm, and the space we use for living and recreation. Not only do people use more resources today, but they also use them faster than ever before.
There are three basic types of resources: renewable, nonrenewable, and perpetual. In human terms, wind, solar energy, and the movement of tides last forever, so they can be considered perpetual. Renewable resources replenish through natural or human actions. For example, trees may grow either naturally or in tree farms. Animals that give us food and other products are replaced naturally through reproduction. But renewable resources must be carefully managed. If a renewable resource is overused, it will not recover. Nonrenewable resources exist in finite amounts and once used, are gone. Coal, oil, rocks, and minerals such as gold are examples of nonrenewable natural resources that take millions or even billions of years to form.
Unlike mineral fuels like petroleum, nonfuel minerals like gold are plentiful, and no global shortages are in sight. Mining, however, effects environmental and social change no matter where it occurs. And even though society as we know it simply cannot exist without minerals, we do have choices about our use of mineral resources, where land is designated for mining, and how mining is carried out.
For example, there are more than 2.8 ounces of gold in the circuit board of a cell phone. More than 130 million cell phones go to the landfill in a year; all retired cell phones in the United States amount to more than 750 million. Fewer than 1 percent of these phones are recycled. The amount of gold (180,000 ounces) thrown on the dump in one year is equivalent to the output of a medium-sized mine and carries a total worth of more than $100 million! Moreover, because 1 ounce of gold creates about 77 tons of waste, primarily the toxic chemical cyanide, extracting new gold for one cell phone creates 220 pounds of mine waste. Thus, the simple action of recycling cell phones can significantly limit toxic waste and the need to designate land for further mining.
Transcripts
Check here for weekly chat transcripts to read or watch!
World Resources
April 5, 2007
w/Aaron Doering
Transcript >>
Watch it >>
World Resources
April 13, 2007
w/Peter Sullivan
World Resources
April 18, 2007
w/Alan Doering
and Aaron Doering
Some questions to possibly open the chat with or discuss prior to the LIVE chat!
What types of resources do you use in your daily life? Are these mostly renewable or nonrenewable?
Would you be willing to change your actions to use fewer resources?
What suggestions can you make to reduce the amount of resources consumed in your life?
