How much solid waste do we generate?
Student worksheet 1

The following questions can be answered by reading the Introduction: "Solid waste in Canada" and Section 1: "How much solid waste" (pg. 1-4).

1. What was the total amount of waste generated in Canada in 2002?
2. Based on Table 1.1, does waste generation in Canada appear to be increasing or decreasing? Support your answer.
3. List the three sources of non-hazardous waste.
4. Think of five examples for each of the three types of non-hazardous waste.
5. Based on Table 1.1, create a pie-chart that illustrates the percentage of each type of waste generated in Canada in 2002.
   
6. Analyze Figure 1.1. Why do you think that organics and paper are the two largest residential waste materials by volume?
7. List the waste your household contributes in each of these categories.

   Organics	Paper	Plastic	Glass	Metal	Other

8. Examine Figure 1.3. What trends do you notice for GDP and solid waste generation? What does this imply?
9. Explain why waste generation has been increasing in Canada. Support your answer using section 1.2 of the article.
10. Using Table 1.2, answer the following:
    1. What three provinces generated the most waste in 2002?
    2. How many tonnes of waste did these provinces produce?
    3. What three provinces generated the most waste per capita in 2002?
    4. Based on the information available, create a bar chart that compares per capita waste generation in 2000 and 2002.
    5. Based on this graph, what trends do you notice?