Trash+and+Litter+II

__ How does the type and amount of garbage vary in throughout the park as a function of seasons and weather over time? __
 * Title and Thesis Question:**

For our project, we will collect garbage in Flat Rock Brook in order to find out what types of users using Flat Rock Brook and in each season. Our Independent variables are time, people, and the seasons. Our dependent variables are the amount of trash in Flat Rock brook and the type of trash. For instance if we see a lot of brown bags we can assume that there are a lot of class trips there. We predict that in the area we designated to observe and assess the amount of litter, that there will be a moderate amount of trash in the fall, virtually no trash in the winter, and a surge of litter in the spring. This, we believe, will be due to the moderate weather in the fall, the cold and the amount of snow in the winter, and the warm,sunny weather in the spring.
 * Hypothesis:**

Though it is common for people to throw trash around on the ground, litter is not an environmental issue to be overlooked. It affects animals, bodies of water, and it even affects us humans by costing us money. According to a Prague science journal, there are ten major sources of litter: 1. People walking, dropping garbage in the street or in gutters. 2. Drivers, throwing garbage out of the window of their vehicles. 3. Uncovered loads - Items that are not secure can be blown out of trailers and cause roadside littering. 4. Household disposal and collection. --> animal scavengers and the wind can displace trash that is not securely placed in their cans that are waiting outside the house for collection. 5. Commercial garbage and disposal - if commercial trash is not secured in its cans for collection,it can also become litter very easily. 6. Construction projects. - If the building waste is not kept under control or surveillance, and the workers' snack and lunch break garbage not thrown away, it can become litter. 7. People at leisure (in a park, or in a nature sanctuary like Flat Rock) 8. Entertainment events - If event holders do not plan out ahead of time a successful trash controlling method, these events can cause a large amount of litter to overflow into neighboring areas where they may be harmful. 9. Illegal dumping. 10. Intentional or habitual littering -- Some people may be too lazy to simply put their trash in a can or hold it until they find one, or some people litter as an act of rebellion, for some reason. The effects of litter that come from these primary sources may seem simple, but their effects can be global. Litter from the streets can find its way into storm drains that systematically flows into our bays and oceans, where the trash can harm wildlife. The measures taken to clean up litter cost humans tons of money as well. It also affects humans by being a threat to public health because it attracts vermin and is a breeding ground for bacteria. Broken glass and syringes can be hazardous in public places that are frequented by people and children. Trash left on the ground can also be a fire hazard, especially cigarette butts. Litter also mars the appearance of our environment, that could hamper the inflow of visitors and tourists to certain places that would normally be attractions. Litter is also an invitation to some people to litter more. It shows that the people in the area don't care about their environment and that it is okay to litter. Discarded trash can harm or kill wildlife, by choking or suffocating birds and marine life or trapping small mammals and woodland creatures. Lastly, litter damages our waterways. Organic litter, such as leaves and grass clippings, and even dog fecies, pollute and harm our waterways.
 * Background Information:**
 * Materials:**
 * rubber gloves: (Acme United Latex Gloves,Powdered Inside/Out,9"-Larger,Large,100/BX,CL)
 * Garbage Bags: (16 gallons)
 * Our tablet to catalog our data:Fujitsu T Series Lifebook

Walk the same designated area each time examining the litter and trash in the garbage. Place the trash into the bag and catalog items into categories. To collect and analyze the trash we will walked around the picnic area. The red circled area is the area where we collected data from. We were walking along the blue trail and found very little trash along it till we got to this area by a large rock. We found that there was a lot of trash around there.
 * Methods**:

Trash Data Collection: The trash assessment protocol involves picking up and tallying all of the trash items found within the defined boundaries of a site. When repeated several times throughout a year, this procedure allows for the assessment of temporal changes in impairment, usage patterns. All surveys are initiated at the end of the selected reach so that trash is not obscured after disturbing the area. Tasks are divided according to the number of team members. For a team with two members, both persons, equipped with gloves and garbage bags, pick up trash. A trash grabber, metal kitchen tongs, or a similar tool can also be used to help pick up trash. One team member begins walking along the edge of the designated area, looking for trash, while moving inward. This person picks up trash and tallies the items on the trash assessment worksheet. The other person walks along the other edge of the area, picking up and calling out trash items found in the water body and on the opposite edge, for the tally person to mark down appropriately on the trash assessment sheet. A three-member team has one designated note-taker and two trash collectors.

Results:

Fall:



Winter:



Spring:





Discussion: As one can see in all of the data, collectively,the amount of cigarette butts exceeded the amount of any other type of trash. It seems that this area is frequently used by smokers, who occasionally eat there too. Our hypothesis was correct; there was virtually no activity or visitation in the winter, and the spring saw the most. The last graph shows the same thing, that the most amount of trash was in the spring. The exception, however, is the plastic in the Fall. This can be explained by the fact that the plastic seen in the fall were more small pieces and the plastic found in the spring were larger pieces, thus not as many, though more harmful. It seemed that generally, the visitors picked up their larger pieces of trash, but had trouble or simply looked over the smaller pieces, which were not very easily seen by standing at the site and looking.

Conclusions: Looking at the trash distribution on the blue trail, we conclude that somewhere along the blue trial or at the entrance at Van Nostrand Ave, there should be a garbage can to prevent litter on the trail, and perhaps an ashcan for the smokers that frequently use the area.

References: http://www.waterboards.ca.gov/sanfranciscobay/docs/swampthrashreport.pdf --> From this website, we got the information for our procedure and our assessment method. We changed it, however, to be more compatible with our topic, because the website had more to do with litter in the water, and we wanted to focus more on litter on the trails and a rock that we found that seemed to have a lot of visitors.

http://www.praguepost.cz/PPEF/09SC030219.pdf --> Where our background information came from.