iLab 7: Sustainability
Environmental Science w/Lab (exercises 1-4)
Melissa Rodriguez

Exercise 1:
There are quite a few landfills in the state of Illinois. I found that depending on where you are in the state – county wise – that will depend on where the trash will be taken to. I am interested in finding more information on the following two landfills – Advanced Disposal Services Zion Landfill, in Zion, which takes about 28% of the trash in the state, and River Bend Prairie Landfill, in Dolton, which takes about 1.5% of trash for the city of Chicago.
For the state of Illinois, there have been 33 landfills that have been found abandoned. The problems with the landfills not being properly sealed and closed: they look and smell bad, they have exposed garbage, and have the potential of contamination to both groundwater & surface water.
Both the city of Chicago and the state of Illinois has received monies from the Environmental Protection Agencies in order to conduct inspections, investigate complaints & train landfill inspectors under the state’s certification requirements.
Exercise 2:
Of course we can go on for days about the concerns associated with plastic bags, but the two that I picked – one of the top 10 pieces of trash collected on beaches and the major cause of death of many marine animals, are the ones that I am very concerned about.
When plastic bags are found on the beaches by the marine animals, it is a sad instance to see when an animal eats it and slowly either dies or gets sick because of it. There have been instances that doctors have had to extract the plastic from the mouths or other parts of the animals’ body in order for them to feel better.
Studies have shown that even though it takes years to have the plastic bags decompose, when they are floating along the waters and the sun is shining on them, they seem to decompose faster