Domestic Waste

Hausmüll
Basuras domésticas
Les déchets domestiques
Rifiuti domestici
Lixo doméstico

14–19 English
 teacher’s notes page 1

Domestic waste
This unit is in six parts
Part 1 Introduction
Students begin to consider what sort of waste they create.
What is waste?
Part 2 How much waste do YOU create?
Students survey the solid domestic waste produced in their own home
Waste can be defined as matter for
in the course of a week, and categorise the waste.
which society no longer has any
immediate use – something that is
Part 3 What happens to collected waste?
rejected because it is considered to be
Students investigate the ways that the local community deals with
worthless or not needed.
waste.
This unit deals specifically with waste Part 4 Collating and exchanging information
management in homes and schools.
The class collates information and exchanges it with schools in other
Discussion is focused on solid waste,
countries.
namely paper and paper products,
plastics, organic materials such as food Part 5 What happens to waste across Europe?
waste and garden refuse, glass, metals
The class considers the information received from schools in other
and other household and school waste.
countries and discusses similarities and differences, and how countries
can learn from one another.
It asks students to collect information on
how waste is collected in their homes Part 6 Information section
and schools; what happens to waste Information about waste production and treatment across the world.
after collection and what individual
citizens, the government and other
agencies are doing to deal with the The aims of the unit are:
environmental problems caused by
waste. ❏ to increase students’ awareness of solid waste generated in homes
and schools, and its impact on the environment:
Some users of the unit adopt a short and
simple approach by concentrating on ❏ to develop an understanding of methods available to minimise the
collecting data, completing the form, environmental impact of domestic waste;
exchanging information with schools in ❏ to relate individual and community responsibilities to waste
other countries and finally reviewing the problems and waste management:
findings. Others use the unit as the basis
for more a elaborate project with a ❏ to raise students’ awareness of the ways in which domestic waste is
range of further activities such as visits, dealt with in different European countries.
speakers and exhibitions. The unit can
be a focus for cross curricular work
linking science to geography, modern Prior knowledge and skills
languages and IT.
The unit is intended for use by students aged 14-19 years. It is
assumed they will have the following prior knowledge and skills.

❏ Concepts and knowledge

ecosystems
percentage
categories of materials

❏ Skills
measuring mass
reading thermometers
interpreting diagrams and tables

❏ Safety
precautions to take when measuring waste

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teacher’s notes page 2
Instructions to teachers
Requirements
Before beginning the unit:
❏ provide photocopies of the student pages for each
pair of students;
❏ make a few copies of the Exchange Form to
send you information to other schools.
When you have received the Exchange Forms from
other schools:
❏ copy the Exchange Forms you received from
other schools and the class’ own Exchange
Form for comparison and analysis.
Summary of the unit
Part 1 Introduction
An introduction to the problem of waste. Students
should think about their activities during the course
of a day and the waste that their activities generate.
Table 1 can be used to help them focus on the
activities that generate waste. This is a ‘thinking and
writing’ activity in preparation for the waste audit in
Part 2.
Defining the 4Rs is tricky. Industry and politicians
are not yet agreed on definitions when it comes to
waste. Note that the term recovery often includes
reclamation of solvents, regeneration of chemicals, as
well as recycling and using waste as a fuel to recover
energy. In this unit we have restricted the term
recovery to the use of fuel to generate energy.
Part 2 How much waste do YOU create?
Students should preferably carry out the data
collection over a full week (to include a weekend).
They may need some help in planning this work. One
approach is to provide students with different colours
of plastic bag to take home so that they can collect
the different types of waste hygienically and weigh it.
Students may not have access to suitable means for
weighing the waste so it may be easier for them to
count the items of waste and weigh typical samples
at school. This could certainly apply to cans, bottles,
newspapers and plastic containers. However, organic
kitchen waste may be more difficult!
Some may find that collecting and sorting waste for
Domestic waste
a whole week is unmanageable. If so, ask members of
the class to audit the waste produced at home in one
day (this is the procedure suggested in the Asia-
Pacific version of this unit).
You will have to modify the tables in Parts 2 and 4 if
you adopt this approach. The Exchange Form asks
for the amounts of waste per person per day so that
schools in different regions of the Science across the
World project can exchange comparable information.
Table 2 should be completed at the end of the week.
Part 3 What happens to collected waste?
This activity considers the treatment of waste after it
leaves home. Students will need to do some local
research. The list of references on page 4 suggests
some starting points for finding out about methods of
managing, processing and disposing of waste.
A visit to a local waste disposal site can be very
helpful. Also useful is a survey of local recycling
centres. It is worth pointing out that some materials
cannot be recycled over and over again. Paper, at
best, can be recycled only four times before the fibres
are too short to be used to make more paper. Low
quality waste paper can, however, make such things
as insulating materials and cat litter. Metals can be
reprocessed more or less indefinitely, as can glass but
the energy saving for glass is much less.
To help you research the rules, regulations and
management problems related to waste disposal in
your local community, it would be helpful to ask an
appropriate official to give a presentation to your
class. You could also ask a representative from an
environmental organisation. Encourage the students
to prepare a list of questions to gain the information
they need. Ask two students to act as ’recorders’
during the presentation.
By the end of this Part the class should have
sufficient data for you to complete the Exchange
Form.
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 teacher’s notes page 3

Part 4 Collating and exchanging

❏ Design and carry out an experiment to compare
information the decay rates of organic matter, paper and
Using a copy of the Exchange Form (perhaps on an plastic bags. What implications do the findings
overhead projector), collect together the results the have on the methods that could be used to
class have generated in Parts 1-3. The class should manage waste of this sort - such as composting
help decide which information goes on the form. and landfill?

The form provides the basis for a consistent exchange
of a minimum amount of information. Students find
that the exchange process is greatly enriched by
including more information such as photographs,
leaflets and newspaper articles to give a much richer
picture of the situation in the locality. Students
particularly enjoy receiving photographs of students
in other countries with examples of their work.
❏ Make and test a model biogas digestor.
❏ Investigate what happens on burning very small
samples of various types of solid waste. (Note the
importance of taking appropriate safety
precautions.)
❏ Make a video about waste disposal in the locality
of the school.

Part 5 What happens to waste across
Europe?
The class considers the information received from
other schools in other countries and discusses
similarities and differences, and how countries can
learn from one another.
There are some suggestions for further activities on
Student page 7.
❏ Cooperate with a local bookshop to put on a
display of literature about domestic waste.
❏ Organise campaign to make people more aware of
waste issues, some students working on this unit
designed and printed T-shirts with a logo related
to waste.

Part 6 Information section Acknowledgements

Information about waste production and treatment
across the world.
Maggie Thurgood, Editor, WARMER Bulletin, World
Resource Foundation

lan Dent, BP UK

Ideas for further work

❏ In Part 1 issue students with envelopes

containing pictures of household articles stuck on
card. The envelope represents a waste bin and the
pictures types of waste. Ask students to classify
the types of material in the waste items. Also
invite them to sort items according to the ways
used to dispose of them such as burying, burning,
recycling and composting.

❏ Study in more depth the science of materials and

the processes involved in recycling, building on
the interest aroused this unit.

❏ Produce charts or posters to illustrate the various

methods of processing and disposing of waste.

❏ Design a process for recycling waste materials,

such as paper. Find out the chemical processes
involved in recycling paper. This could be done
practically.

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teacher’s notes page 4

For further information contact:

WARMER, Bridge House, High Street, Tonbridge,

Kent TN9 lDP

Waste Watch, National Council for Voluntary

Organisations, 26 Bedford Square, London WClB
3HU

Friends of the Earth, 26-28 Underwood Street,

London Nl 7JQ

Aluminium Can Recycling Association, 1 Mex House,

52 Bulcher Street, Birmingham B 1 lQU

British Glass Manufacturers Confederation,

Northumberland Road, Sheffield S10 2UA

British Steel Tinplate, c/o Daniel J Edelman Ltd,

Kingsgate House, 536 Kings Road, London SWl OTE

British Waste Paper Association, Alexander House

Business Centre, Station Road, Aldershot, Hants
GUll lBQ

The Tidy Britain Group, The Pier, Wigan WN3 4EX

Pulp and Paper Information Centre, 1 Rivenhall

Road, Westlea, Swindon SN5 7BD

A model biogas digestor can be made using the

apparatus normally found in a science laboratory.

For further information see SATIS 14- 16 unit 201 or

SATIS 16-19 unit 63, available from: The Association
for Science Education, College Lane, Hatfield, Herts
AL10 9AA

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 exchange form page 1

Science Across the World

Domestic waste
Date

To
(teacher’s name)
School

Address

Tel: (with international Fax

dialling code)

E–mail

Web address of school

We understand that your class is studying the problem of domestic waste. We would
like to exchange information about the causes and effects of domestic waste - and
what is being done about it - at national and international levels. We enclose the
opinions of our class in answer to some of the questions in this unit.

Our students are looking forward to hearing from your class. Please reply.

From
(teacher’s name)
School

Address

Tel: (with international Fax

dialling code)

E–mail

Web address of school

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exchange form page 2

We would like to know details about how your community deals with domestic waste. Please give answers to
the following questions. We are asking the same questions of students in other European countries. We have
included our own answers below.

Waste at home

1 On average how much solid waste is generated per day per person in the homes of students in your

school? ........kg.

2 What is the average percentage (by mass) of the different types of the waste produced in
students’ homes?

Waste Average percent (by mass)

Paper products
Organic waste
Glass
Metal
Plastics
Other (e.g. batteries & packaging
made of composite materials)
Total

3 Do most students separate waste at home? Yes ❏ No ❏

If yes, into what categories is it most commonly separated?

newspaper ❏
cardboard ❏
glass bottles ❏
plastic ❏
fabrics (such as old clothes) ❏
aluminium cans ❏
steel cans ❏
kitchen waste ❏
garden rubbish ❏
hazardous chemicals (oil, paint, spray cans and so on) ❏
batteries ❏
medicines ❏
others, please specify . . .

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4 Is waste normally collected from students’ homes? Yes ❏ No ❏

If yes, who collects it? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

If waste in your area is not collected, how do you and your community dispose of it?

...........................................................................

...........................................................................

5 What happens to the waste from home?

Please indicate with: C any treatments provided by the community

F any treatments carried out by individual families

Treatment Type of waste

paper organic matter Glass metals plastics others

Recycled

Landfill

Burned - in the open

in an incinerator

Composted

Others

Waste at school

6 What happens to the waste at school? Is the waste at school separated? Yes ❏ No ❏

If yes, into what categories is it separated?

newspaper ❏ aluminium cans ❏

cardboard ❏ steel cans ❏

office paper ❏ kitchen waste ❏

glass bottles ❏ hazardous chemicals ❏

plastic ❏ batteries ❏

others, please specify . . . .

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Waste in the community

7 What are the major issues concerning domestic waste in your community? (If possible, please send us
some labels, leaflets, or articles dealing with waste issues in your community.)

8 What actions has your local community authority taken to:

a) reduce waste

b) reuse waste

c) recycle waste

d) recover energy from waste

9 What policies have been put in place to improve waste management by your

a) local community authority

b) National or State government

10 List the organisations involved in reducing, reusing, recycling or recovering energy from domestic waste
in your community and indicate how they are involved. (If possible list reasons why the organisations
are involved.)

Organisation Involvement

11 What action has your class proposed that the school should take to cut down on the amount of waste or
to improve the management of school waste?

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Domestic waste
Part 1 Introduction

A ’throw away’ society

Waste is a major environmental issue for all European countries. It

is part of all our lives. In this unit you consider how waste is
produced and the ways in which we deal with it.
It seems that the way we produce and consume things in today’s
industrial societies is based on a ’throw away’ principle. We do not
know exactly what harm we do by dumping or burning waste. Nor do
we know how recycling affects the environment.

Dumping and burning

Nature recycles waste materials by rotting them, but artificial

materials, such as plastics, can take a very long time to rot away, or
may not rot at all. Rotting waste in landfills can cause pollution
unless the gases and liquids escaping from the decaying materials
are carefully managed. Methane, which makes up 50% of landfill
gas, is a major contributor to the greenhouse effect. Some people
argue that only materials which do not rot, such as glass and
plastics, should be dumped in landfill sites.
The four Rs of domestic waste
By dumping waste we throw away valuable raw materials. Burning management
to recover energy does at least avoid a total waste of materials but,
once burned, materials are lost for ever. Besides, we can’t fill every
Reduce
hole in the landscape with waste.
To reduce is to avoid buying over
packaged or disposable items
Avoiding waste
Reuse
So our society has to find ways of cutting down or avoiding waste so
To reuse is to clean a product and then
that there is less to get rid of. We could buy things that are designed
make use of it again for the purpose it
to last longer, or which can be repaired when they break. We could
make more goods from renewable materials and reduce the extent to was used the first time
which we rely on fuels such as coal and oil. We could simply buy
less. Do we really need new fashionable clothes when the old ones Recycle
are not worn out? To recycle is to use old products to make
new ones

Recover
To recover can mean using waste as a
fuel by burning it for heating or to
generate electricity

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What waste do you create?

Consider an ordinary day in your life? What kind of waste does that day
generate? What happens to the waste?

Draw a table, similar to the one below. For each activity during your
day, think about the waste you might generate and what happens to it.
Record your ideas in the table.

Activity Is waste produced? Type of waste produced What happens to the waste?

At home:
cooking
eating
drinking
washing/cleaning
watching TV

In the community:
meeting friends
entertainment
(films, concerts etc.)
sport
part-time work

At school:
lessons
break times

Other

Table 1: Creating waste

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Part 2 How much waste do YOU create?

In this part of the study you are going to carry out a ’waste audit’ to obtain a clearer idea of how much solid
waste is produced in your household in a week, including a weekend. You will need the co-operation of your
family so you must explain to them what you are doing. Perhaps they will record the rubbish as they throw
it away. Or perhaps you will have to do it all yourself

You will need to plan how you collect the data. Prepare containers to collect the different types of waste and
label them. Make sure that there is a note pad and pencil nearby so that people can easily record what goes
into each container.

It may be more convenient to ’count’ some items rather than attempting to weight everything. Your family
will want to throw away waste with the usual frequency so make sure it is counted or weighed before
disposal.

At the end of the week, complete the table below to show how many kilograms of solid waste your home
produces each week. The totals should be in kilograms - though they need only be approximate.

Number of people in the household ....

Total solid waste Average waste Average waste

Waste for the household per person per person
kg per week kg per week kg per day

Paper products
Organic waste
Glass
Metal
Plastics
Other (e.g. batteries and packaging
made of composite materials)
TOTAL
Table 2: Waste audit

Questions
1 Look at the table you completed in Part 1 where you showed some of the types of waste you produce in your daily
life. Compare that to the results of your ’waste audit’. Were there any kinds of waste produced that you had not
thought of originally?

2 What were the sources of paper in your audit?

3 How much of the metal was aluminium and how much was cans (plated steel)? Were there other metals in
the waste?

4 (a) Which materials took up the most space in your waste bin? Which materials weighed the most?
(b) Is mass or volume more significant when measuring domestic waste?
(c) In Europe about three quarters of all waste is dumped a6 landfill. the cost of disposing of waste in landfill sites is
usually based on the volume rather than the mass of waste. Why do you think this is so?

5 (a) How might the waste produced differ when comparing households with babies or very young children to
households with only adults?
(b) How might the waste produced differ when comparing households with young children and parents at home
with households where everyone is either out at work or in school during the day?

6 What types of waste are created at your school?

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Part 3 What happens to collected waste?

Everything must go somewhere . Most of us never bother with what happens to the waste we throw away.
When we do not see the results of living wastefully, we are not troubled by the rate at which we produce
waste.

Waste is not useless. Useful materials

and fuels can be reclaimed from waste.
This is easier if people separate their
waste into different components.

Recycling is often tricky. The weight of

material is only part of the story.

Recycling glass is not easy if bottles are

contaminated with food or dirt. In parts of
Europe waste glass may have to travel
hundreds of kilometres from the recycling
centre to the reprocessing plant. If the
bottle bank contains materials which should
not be there, such as china cups or light
bulbs, the whole load has to be dumped in the
nearest landfill, or even sent back to where it
came from by road or rail.

Waste disposal

Answer the questions below to track where your waste goes.

1 Is your waste separated? Yes (Go on to Question 2) No (Go on to Question 3)

2 Who separates the waste? Which categories are separated out?

What happens to each of these categories? (Go on to Question 4)

3 Why is the waste not separated?

4 Is your waste collected? Yes (Go on to Question 5) No (Go on to Question 6)

5 Who collects it? (Go on to Question 7)

6 If waste in your area is not collected, how do you and your community dispose of it?

7 What happens to the waste from your school? 15 it sorted and collected?

8 Compare your answers to the questions with the rest of the class. Are there any differences in how your household
waste is treated?

9 Together with your class carry out some research to find out what happens to the waste produced by your
community. When your researches are complete, you should be able to complete table 3. Indicate with:
C any treatments provided by the community
F any treatments carried out by individual families

10 Choose one item of waste from Table 3 and draw a flow chart showing what would expect to happen to it from
when it first becomes waste?

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Treatment Type of waste

paper organic matter Glass metals plastics others

Recycled

Landfill

Burned - in the open

in an incenerator

Composted

Others

Table 3: Treatment of waste

Domestic waste management: A shared responsibility

The problem of waste management appears to be everywhere . Different types of waste create different
problems. Governments, local authorities and even some schools and households have developed policies to
improve the management of waste. In addition many organisations,
institutions and companies also play a role for various reasons. Perhaps they
are interested for one or more of the following reasons.

• conserving energy and other natural resources

• save money of even make money
• establishing a reputation within the community

Make a list of all the different ways in which people and organisations in
your community and country are involved in reducing, reusing, recycling or
recovering domestic waste.

Major issues

List what you believe to be the major issues concerning domestic waste
disposal in your community or country.

Make a collection of newspaper articles relating to waste disposal. Do the

stories covered by the newspaper articles match your list of issues?

Future action

Our society has to find ways to change attitudes towards waste

management. We have to find ways of reducing or avoiding waste
BUY LESS
so that there is less to get rid of. We could make more goods from
renewable materials and use energy resources which can be easily
replaced. Being aware of the value of materials in waste means
that we can set up systems for sorting and recycling them.

• In your class brainstorm ways to reduce, reuse, recycle and

BUY LONGER LIFE
recover energy from waste in the school.

• As a class decide which actions you would like to put into

practice. Organise a publicity campaign to persuade others in
the school to support your action plan.
BUY RECYCLED

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Part 4 Collecting and exchanging information

You are going to exchange information about waste with schools in other European countries. To give them
a better idea of the waste produced in your community, you need to pool your results with those of the rest
of your class. Collect the data together so that you can complete the class table below.

Total number of people in all the households surveyed ........

Total solid waste Average waste Average waste

Waste for the household per person per person
kg per week kg per week kg per day

Paper products
Organic waste
Glass
Metal
Plastics
Other (e.g. batteries and packaging
made of composite materials)
TOTAL

Table 4: Average waste per person for your class

Percentage of waste types

Waste % by mass
Use your results to calculate the percentage by mass
of the types of waste produced in each category per
week per person and complete Table 5. Paper products

Organic waste
Exchanging information
Glass
Your teacher has an Exchange Form that contains
some questions similar to those you answered in Metal
Parts 1-3. As a class, decide what information to put
Plastics
Send the form to students in other schools across
Other (e.g. batteries and packaging
Europe. Your school has a list of classes in other
made of composite materials)
countries that are studying the same unit of work.
Your class will receive Exchange Forms from other
TOTAL
schools in return.
Table 5: Percentage of different categories of waste
per person per day

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Part 5 What happens to waste across Europe?

When you have received replies, answer these questions.

1 Are there any differences in the average amounts and types of waste generated per person in different
countries? Can you suggest reasons for any observed differences?

2 Are there waste collection services in all countries? What alternatives are there?

3 Do all countries dispose of the same items in the same way?

4 What differences did you notice in the type and amount of waste that are recycled in different countries?
How do your findings compare with the information in Figure 1 and table 6 7, 8 and 9 in Part 6 of this unit?

5 What new ideas did you learn about the problems of disposing of domestic waste?

6 Are there any organisations, institutions or companies that are involved in recycling programmes across
several European countries?
What role do they play and why have they become involved?

7 Are there any similarities between the action plans for schools in each country?

8 The EC is moving towards a common policy on waste. The policy is described in the "Packaging and
Packaging waste directive". This directive aims to achieve similar recovery and recycling targets in Europe. Is it
a good idea to have a common European policy on waste? Do you have any evidence that a common policy
is having an effect?

Further activities

1 Prepare a wall display of your findings about domestic waste.

Include such things as posters, photographs, newspaper features
and artwork.

2 Carry out a survey of attitudes and actions in your school and

local community to see how concerned people are about waste
and the environment. Table 10 in Part 6 will give you ideas as
you plan your survey. Do people’s attitudes and behaviour with
regard to waste change as they get older?

3 Most waste materials are broken down into ’simpler’ constituents

either by natural processes or by man-made technology. Some of
these ’simpler’ compounds may be toxic or dangerous, others may
be beneficial.

(a) Discuss the implications of harmful compounds entering:

i. the food chain

ii. the natural cycles (e.g. water cycle)

(b) Give examples of valuable breakdown products of waste.

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Part 6 Information section

Figure 1: Typical composition of

household waste in Europe –
percentage by mass

organics paper plastics glass textiles metals residue leather,rubber,wood

Hanoi 51.9 2.7 – 0.5 1.3 0.9 41.4 1.3

Paris 16.3 40.9 8.4 9.4 4.4 3.2 16.5 0.9

Budapest 34.7 20.0 5.7 6.1 – 4.4 29.1 –

Hong Kong 32.0 21.0 16.0 3.0 5.0 3.0 17.0 3.0

Vienna 23.3 33.6 7.0 10.4 3.1 3.7 16.1 2.8

Table 6: Typical composition of waste in five cities around the World (Sources various)

Quantities of municipal waste – 1980/90 (kg/inhabitant)

Country 1980 1990

Austria 222(5) 320

Belgium 313 343
Canada 524 601
France 260 328
Germany 318(3) 348(1)
Greece 259 296
Italy 249 348
Japan 355 408 (1) Situation before 3/10/1990
Luxembourg 351 448 (2) 1988
The Netherlands 489(4) 497 (3) 1987
Norway 416 472
(4) 1982
Portugal 214 287
(5) 1979
Spain 270(6) 322(2)
Sweden 302 374 (6) 1978
Switzerland 351 441
United Kingdom 319 398
USA 723 803
Table 7: Quantities of municipal waste in 1980 and 1990 (Source: Eurostat)

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Waste disposal routes (expressed as % by weight of MSW)

Country Amount (ktonnes/yr) Combustion Landfill Composting Recycling

Austria 2800 11 65 18 6
Belgium 3500 54 43 0 3
Canada 16000 8 80 2 10
Denmark 2600 48 29 4 19
Finland 2500 2 83 0 15
France 20000 42 45 10 3
Germany 25000 36 46 2 16
Greece 3150 0 100 0 0
Ireland 1100 0 97 0 3
Italy 17500 16 74 7 3
Japan 50000 75 20 5 –*
Luxembourg 180 75 22 1 2
The Netherlands 7700 35 45 5 16
Norway 2000 22 67 5 7
Portugal 2650 0 85 15 0
Spain 13300 6 65 17 13
Sweden 3200 47 34 3 16
Switzerland 3700 59 12 7 22
United Kingdom 30000 8 90 0 2
USA 177500 16 67 2 15
Table 8: Waste disposal routes expressed as percentage by mass
Sources: TNO OECD IWM *MSW levels in Japan are calculated after the removal of recyclables

Country glass paper

Denmark 60 35.4
Germany 45 (FDR) 39.6 (FDR)
UK 21 31
Spain 27 51
Portugal 30 39.1
France 28.5 45.7
Italy 48 n.a.
The Netherlands 66 n.a.
Sweden 44 42.9
Norway n.a. 26
Belgium 55 14.7 (1980)
Greece 15 30
Ireland 23 3
Australia 17 (1985) 31.8 (1985)
Canada 12 (1985) 20
Indonesia n.a. n.a.
New Zealand 53 (1985) 19 (1985)
Singapore n.a. n.a.
USA 19.9 28.6
Table 9: Percentage of national production coming from recycled waste (Source: World Resource Foundation)
n.a. = not available

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Actions taken to protect the environment

“Which, if any, of these things do you ever do?”

Belgium Denmark France Germany

% % % %

A Avoid dropping papers or

other waste on the ground 85 86 90 88

B Save energy, for example, by using

less hot water, by closing doors and
windows to save heat 62 77 87 88

C Sort out certain types of household

waste (glass, paper, motor oil, batteries)
for recycling 58 71 58 87

D Save tap water 50 53 54 67

E Not make too much noise 49 43 65 54

F Buy an environmentally-friendly product,

even if it is more expensive 41 54 45 54

G Use less polluting means of transport

(ie walking, cycling, public transport)
than your car, whenever possible 35 36 41 50

H Have your car fitted with equipment to

limit the pollution, for example,
a catalytic converter 15 18 7 46

I Go on a type of holiday that is less

harmful to the environment 32 13 32 26

J Take part in a local environmental initiative,

for example, cleaning the beach or park 11 7 8 16

K Demonstrate against a project that could

harm the environment 12 5 13 12

L Financially support an association for the

protection of the environment 15 23 5 13

M Be a member of an association
for the protection of the environment 10 16 5 7

Table 10: Results of a MORI Social Research Institute survey to test “green” responses in European countries

Source: EUROBAROMETER: Europeans and the environment in 1992, Spring 1992.

Domestic waste Science Across Europe [GB] © ASE/BP 1999