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Applying the Pollution Management Model - Suggested Answers

Here are the suggested answers to the review exercise on the pollution management model  Applying the Pollution Management Model

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Here are some suggested answers for managing pollution. If you chose to write an essay question which used these responses, you would need to expand on your points and explain any examples and case studies that you use. You probably will also have to evaluate the strategies or look at them through an EVS lens.

General Pollution Management Strategies

LEVEL OF POLLUTION MANAGEMENT MODEL – APPLIED TO EACH ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUE

Water Pollution

Photochemical Smog

Acid Deposition

Solid Domestic Waste

Human Activity Producing Pollutant

Altering human activity

Change the human activity that leads to the production of the pollutant in the first place, by promoting alternative technologies, lifestyles and values through:

  • campaigns
  • education
  • community groups
  • governmental legislation
  • economic incentives / disincentives

Altering human activity

campaigns / education to change to detergents without phosphates

campaigns / education to reduce use and control timing of artificial fertilisers by farmers / golf courses / gardeners

Altering human activity

Using public transport / car pooling / cycling / walking more

Changing to electric vehicles

Campaigns to reduce use of fossil fuels.

Altering human activity

Switching to renewable energy sources

Using electric vehicles

Campaigns about danger of acid rain on ecosystems

Government subsidising electric vehicles and installing charging stations / infrastructure

Altering human activity

Choosing to avoid packaged goods

Reusing and recycling 

reducing food waste through planning of meals and shopping

legislation on recyclability of packaging

campaigns on bringing reusable shopping bags

government goals to achieve zero waste

Release Pollutant into Environment

Controlling release of pollutant

Where the activity/production is not completely stopped, strategies can be applied at the level of regulating or preventing the release of pollutants by:

  • legislation and regulating standards of emission
  • developing / applying technologies for extracting pollutant from emissions

Controlling release of pollutant

Legislation for standards from water treatment plants

Legislation about need for levels of phosphates and nitrates and toxins allowed to be deposited in public water ways.

Reverse osmosis to extract toxins from water

Active carbon to remove micropollutants

Sieves/Nets on storm drains to prevent plastic pollution entering waterways.

Controlling release of pollutant

Legislation on release of pollutants, e.g. NOx or SOx, from chimney stacks and car exhausts

Legislation on compulsory fitting of catalytic converters to cars

Regulating fuel quality by goverments

Taxes on pollution e.g. trading of sulfur emissions in US

Controlling release of pollutant

Regulation of emissions through scrubbers and catalytic converters on chimney stacks

Legislation on sulfur content of fuel

trading system for pollution in NOx or SOx

Regulations on total SOx and NOx emissions

Controlling release of pollutant

tax on plastic bags

tax on waste disposal

compulsory recycling / sorting of waste

legislation on how waste must be treated, e.g. no landfill

technological development to extract all valuable materials from waste stream e.g. magnets, water treatment, electrostatic precipitators

Impact of Pollutant on Ecosystems

Clean-up and restoration of damaged systems

Where both the above levels of management have failed, strategies may be introduced to recover damaged ecosystems by:

  • extracting and removing pollutant from ecosystems
  • replanting / restocking lost or depleted populations and communities.

Clean-up and restoration of damaged systems

Removing mud and silt from water bodies through dredging

Water fountains to oxygenate water.

Restocking with plants and fish.

Clean-up and restoration of damaged systems

Planting of green areas in cities

Reforestation projects

Fitting spinkler systems at busy road junctions to "wash" pollution out of air

Clean-up and restoration of damaged systems

Spreading limestone on land or in acidified lakes

Restocking of lakes

Restoration of damaged buildings

Clean-up and restoration of damaged systems

Mining / reclaiming landfills

SDW waste to energy programmes

Systems to remove plastics from Great Pacific Garbage patch (see Boyan Slat)

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