Environmental Personal Impact Inventory Water Consumption: Toilet Flushes - 1.6 gallons/flush X 10 flushes per day X 7 Days = 112 Gallons/week Calculated by finding the number of gallons of water per flush as stated on the toilet. Showering 2.3 gallons/minute x 7 minutes/shower x 6 shower/week = 97 Gallons/week There was a measurement of maximum gallons per minute on the shower head, and that number was used to calculate the gallons per week. Clothes Washing 1 Load/week X 20 gallons per wash = 20 Gallons/week Found the average number of gallons used per wash from the Whirlpool website Cooking 0 gallons/week (living on campus) Fuel Consumption: Personal Vehicle 0 gallons/week (no car) Transit Bus 5 miles per week / 5 mpg / 40 people = 0.025 gallons/week Estimated travel distance on the HDPT busses for a typical week, used 5 mpg estimated fuel economy. Heating 2198 kW hours per person average in Chesapeake Hall Contacted Facilities Management director for information on dorm room usage, divided by number of people in the hall to find per person usage. Electricity Consumption: Lighting - 90 total watts X 7 hours/day X 7 days/week = 4410 watts/week Added wattage for all lights in the room (listed on the bulb), calculated per week usage based on estimated hours of lighting Appliances Computer: 120W X 8 hours/day X 7 days/week = 6720W/week Alarm Clock: 6W X 24 hours/day X 7 days/week = 1008W/week Refrigerator: 172W X 24 hours/day X 7 days/week = 28896W/week Found wattage on energy labels, calculated usage based on estimated time of use Material Disposal: Purchase: Styrofoam food containers 9/week Cardboard boxes 2/week Plastic bags 10/week Kept a tally of the type of food containers bought when buying food on campus for one week Residential: Garbage 11 lb/week Recycling 3 lb/week 0 Compost lb/week Found garbage usage by weighing bags and adding weights of bags over a one week period. Same method used for recycling.
Away from home: Bottles, cans, and paper are recycled as much as possible. Purchases of bottles and cans are kept to a minimum (less than 2 bottles/cans per week). Paper is placed into proper receptacles where they are available. Food Production: Chicken: Chickens are produced in large coops on farms. The chickens produce lots of waste, and contribute to the bacterial pollution in water runoff. Chicken is commonly packaged in plastic and Styrofoam containers, which can not be recycled because the plastic has been in contact with raw meats. Whole grains and cereals: Oats, a staple of my diet, do not require very much technology to produce. Whole grain breads are grown in wheat fields, processed at a flour mill, then the flour is taken to a bakery where other ingredients and additives are mixed in, a hot oven is used to bake the bread, and then plastic bags are used as packaging for the bread. Vegetables: Vegetables are usually produced by farms which use pesticides and fertilizers in order to maximize production. The farms are usually operated using large farm equipment that consume a great deal of fuel. The vegetables are washed and processed, which consumes water in doing so. Milk: Dairy cattle produce the milk, and are fed with special food that is often unhealthy and contains byproducts of other cattle. Cows produce lots of methane in the process of digestion, which contributes to the atmosphere of the planet. Fruits: Not very much technology is needed to produce fruits, and very little amounts of processing are required. Food production impact was researched online, and some negative side effects on the environment on production were noted.