Describe historic rates of global population growth

For a long time human population growth remained consistently with under 1 billion with very little change. The population did start growing a little bit to almost 1 billion in 2000 B.C., and in around 1300 A.D. the population had a quick decline because of the black plague. The population started growing rapidly a little bit before the industrial revolution and currently the population is around 7.7 billion.

Are populations currently increasing at the same rate everywhere in the world?

No. At the moment Nigeria and Saudi Arabia are growing rapidly, USA and Australia are growing slowly, Japan and Italy are pretty stable, Germany and Bulgaria are declining. In the middle east the population is increasing rapidly.

What are the advantages of low population growth rate or low fertility rate?

A fertility rate is the average amount of children born per women in a country. Having a low fertility rate means that you population may be more consistent and stable rather than if you have a high fertility rate.

What are the disadvantages of high fertility rate?

High fertility rate means on average more children are born per women. With more people more resources are needed. More people need more land, more food, and more water.

Describe a demographic transition and identify the challenges.

A demographic transition is the transition from high birth rates and high death rates to low birth rates and low death rates. A demographic transition has about 4 distinct stages. Going into a demographic transition can be challenging because some factors can hinder the transition such as shortages of scientists and engineers, shortages of skilled workers, large debts to developed countries, insufficient financial capital, and drop of economic assistance from developed countries.

On March 20th I went with my class to visit SARCAN. There I learned that one of the things that don’t get recycled to often is juice boxes, and that they can be turned into paper towel and tissue. Another thing that I learned that I found interesting is that one can can run a TV for 3 hours or a light bulb for 20 hours and that they usually get shipped to Kentucky. I don’t really know if SARCAN is effective, I’ve don’t remember a time that SARCAN wasn’t here so I don’t remember if there was a change that it brought. Also I don’t really know the numbers and difference that it makes from the recycling because I don’t pay attention to the business. However, I do think that SARCAN is a good thing. It lets use reuse stuff so we don’t have to make it from scratch again. There is also a little less garbage in our dumps. I do think that it is also good that they pay people for there bottles and cans because it kind of promotes people to recycle more. I also think that they are doing fairly well. Us on the other hand, I think that we should just recycle more and sop using so much plastic. We should take a look at what we have and see if we can reuse it somehow instead of throwing it in the trash for it to stay in the dump for years.

List all the trash you created.

5-6 swifter sweeper mop things, moldy orange, dog bone, 2 Kleenex, 2 plastic bottles, plastic bag, banana peel, small plastic container

Did you produce more or less trash than yesterday? 

Less but not by a lot.

Were you successful in reducing your trash since day 1?

Not at all.

Do you think you could transition to a zero waste lifestyle? Why or why not? What would you find challenging along the way? 

I don’t know if I could live a zero waste lifestyle. I like the idea of it but I would have to change the way I live. Today the reason I threw away so much was because I was cleaning up around the house and mopping the floors. The trash wasn’t necessarily mine but I was the one to throw it away. If I were to live a zero waste lifestyle I would first live alone.

Something that I would find challenging along the way is making the time and remembering to make my own products. Also giving up take out and packaged junk food or just packaged food in general. Packaged food is so easy and quick. I would need to find fresh foods and make my meals. I wouldn’t mind that I just need to not be lazy and make time.

I don’t think that right now I could live a zero waste lifestyle but I could cut the amount of plastic that I use and cook with fresh food.

List all the trash you created

Receipt, plastic bag, yogurt tube, small piece of plastic, juice box, granola bar, 10 pieces of paper towel

Did you produce more or less trash than yesterday?

More trash.

What did you do differently that affected the amount of trash you produced?

I used quite a bit of disposable things (ex. plastic bag) in my lunch. I also had to clean up some water that spilled thus the 10 pieces of paper towel.

List all the trash you created

2 Granola bar wrapper, cheese string, juice box, plastic bag (small), chip bag (small), 2 plastic cup (small), 2 Styrofoam cup, 2 paper plate

Did you produce more or less trash than yesterday? 

More trash.

What did you do differently that affected the amount of trash you produced?

Ate take out and wasn’t paying attention to what I was throwing away till the end when I had to writ this all down.

List all the trash you created.

4 Granola bar wrapper, 3 paper towel,

Did you produce more or less trash than yesterday?

Less trash.

What did you do differently that affected the amount of trash you produced?

Stayed inside all day and basically did nothing.

List all the trash you created.

1/2 French toast, chip bag, subway plastic bag, paper, plastic cup(regular), straw, can or pop, 2 napkin, subway cup(regular), 2 popcorn bag(small), Granola bar wrapper

Is there anything you could have done differently to produce less trash? What could you have done?

Eat out less.

What are three things you could try over the next few days to reduce your waste?

Eat out less. Finish all food. Be more cautious on what I use.

Thanks for joining me!

Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter. — Izaak Walton