8+Science+3+Madison's+MSW+Project

Madison Penegar 8-3 March 1, 2010


 * How Much Waste is Caused by Plastic Cafeteria Straws **

In science class we are learning about municipal solid waste. To help understand this subject, we were assigned a project on municipal solid waste found around the campus. The purpose of this project is to find a producer of municipal solid waste and try to change it by coming up with a report and finding alternatives to help end this problem. If we use eco-friendly straws in the cafeteria, then the amount of municipal solid waste on the campus will decrease.
 * I. Introduction**

independent variable- type of straws used dependent variable- amount of waste in cafeteria
 * II. Materials**
 * 2 hand counters
 * 1 straw


 * III. Safety concerns**
 * slipping and falling while in cafeteria


 * IV. Safety Guidelines**
 * #1
 * #12
 * #25
 * #26


 * V. Procedure**
 * 1) Go to the cafeteria with counter (6th, 7th, and 8th grade lunches)
 * 2) Watch both lines in the cafeteria, and see how many straws are used
 * 3) Go back to classroom
 * 4) Put data into a table
 * 5) Email Mrs. Marsh and ask the price of a pack of straws and how many straws come in each pack
 * 6) Weigh one straw
 * 7) Calculate the number of straws used throughout the year by finding the average number of straws
 * 8) Go online to a weight converter and convert the weight of one straw into pounds, then multiply that by the number of straws used each year (that will give you the total weight all of the straws is)
 * 9) Graph the data by each day and grade
 * 10) Go online and look for cheap, eco-friendly alternatives, and the calculate the prices to see if it is a good alternative

control group- cafeteria with regular straws experimental group- cafeteria with compostable straws


 * VI. Data Table**
 * Number of Straws Used in Cafeteria During Lunch ||  ||
 * || 6th Grade || 7th Grade || 8th Grade ||
 * Number of Straws (Day 1) || 48 || 15 || 51 ||
 * Number of Straws (Day 2) || N/A || 39 || 37 ||
 * Average Straw Use || 38 ||  ||   ||


 * VII. Analysis:**

VIII. Conclusion:**
 * Predictions of Straw Use ||  ||
 * Straw Mass (g) || 1 ||
 * Days in School Year || 169 ||
 * Average Straws / Year || 25,350 ||
 * Average Mass of Straws / Year (lb.) || 56 ||
 * Since our project did not study the change in the amount of straws, we were not able to make a graph. However, our data does not show any trends. The usage of straws varied from day to day. There were not certain days of the week that there were more straws used, or days when there were less.

Our hypothesis was supported. When we found out how many straws we use during the year, and calculated how much weight that contributed to; it ended up being 56 pounds of weight. If we use compostable straws, that will be 56 less pounds in our trash, and will help the environment. If the other compost science projects work,t there could be one large compost bag for straws and various foods. One of the big problems in our experiment was in fact an experimental error. When we collected data, the straws went from 15 to 37. We were afraid that this was one of our on mistakes, but it was actually just the range of the straws used each and every day. We did have problems with our data collection. We were not always able to get to each grade the same amount of days. For 5th grade, we weren't able to collect any days, for 6th grade we only had one day, and for 7th and 8th grade, we only had two days of data. A good solution to the amount of waste caused by straws is compostable straws. They are avaliable online, and the prices for large packs make the price resonable. When we calculated the number of compostable straw packs we would need over they year, it turned out that we would be spending the same amount of money as we are now. It might even cost less in the end. This is a link to the website that we found to have the cheapest straws, which come in packs of 10,000 for various prices. That is how we can help the environment and save money at the same time.

[] [|http://2wplastic.com/pla_straws.htm]