Friday, November 7, 2008

Reaction to Dr. Murphy's Presentation

Dr. Murphy's presentation was very informative, and I thought it was a lot better than Dr. Reed's presentation. His presentation was about e-waste and it was tied to obsolescence. We throw so many electronic components away which leads to e-waste. This waste seeps into the soil and makes the soil polluted, which is harmful to humans. If there weren't obsolescence then people would not have as much electronic waste. 
This presentation also tied to oil with the energy that is wasted everyday. Oil is in everything and the electricity we use uses oil to power. 
Dr. Murphy talked about Japan a lot in his presentation and how Japan is trying to manage waste better. He told us that since 2001, TV and appliances must be disassembled and processed. Japanese must recycle their bottles and cans. They no longer allow direct landfills, the trash is either reprocessed or incinerated. They also convert waste to energy. Japan is trying to create a better environment and be self-sustaining on waste.
Dr. Murphy also talked about many laws and policies that Japan has to reduce disposal of toxic waste. One of these laws was Promotion of Effective Utilization of Resources Law. There are many other that he mentioned but I cannot remember what every one of them were. 
With all of the waste disposal that we are creating we face major pollution in the soil, which in turn is in our food that is grown in that soil. The toxic waste that is in the air is harmful to our health and that could lead to major health problems in that future. Another problem that everyone is talking about now is global warming. Some of the metals released in the soil and react with water. When it rains it can cause the metals to explode or catch on fire which releases more toxins in the atmosphere.
Dr. Murphy's presentation was a lot better than Dr. Reed's, and I thought it was very informative, but he talked a lot about Japan and I would have rather have heard what is going on here in America.

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