Sustainability Merit Badge. April 2, 2016 Palmetto Council Camporee

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1 Sustainability Merit Badge April 2, 2016 Palmetto Council Camporee

2 Requirement #1 In your words, what is the meaning of sustainability?

3 Requirement #1 In your words, what is the meaning of sustainability? Means the ability to endure. Relates to methods of using resources in a way that does not permanently damage them.

4 Requirement #1 Explain how you think Conservation and Stewardship of our natural resources relate to sustainability.

5 Requirement #1 Have a family meeting, and ask family members to write down what they think sustainability means. Be sure to take notes. You will need this information again for Requirement #5.

6 Requirement #2 Water A Develop and implement a plan that attempts to reduce your family s water usage. As a family, discuss water usage. To aid your discussion, if past water bills are available, you may choose to examine a few. As a family, choose 3 ways to help reduce consumption. Implement the ideas for one month. Share with your counselor what you learned, and tell how the plan affected your family s water usage.

7 Requirement #2 Water A What are the biggest water using activities in your house?

8 Requirement #2 Water A What are the biggest water using activities in your home? Clothes washer Shower/bath Dish washer Yard/plant watering Toilet

9 Requirement #2 Water A What are ideas for reducing water usage in your home?

10 Requirement #2 Water A What are ideas for reducing water usage in your home? Low flow shower heads Shorter showers Only full loads in washers Minimize outside watering

11 Requirement #2 Water A How do you figure out how much water you are using?

12 Requirement #2 Water A How do you figure out how much water you are using? Water meter Water bills Rule of thumb should be less than 25 gallons per day per person!

13 Requirement #2 Water B Using a diagram you have created, explain to your counselor how your household gets its clean water from a natural source and what happens with the water after you use it. Include water that goes down the kitchen, bathroom, and laundry drains, and any runoff from watering the yard or washing the car.

14 Requirement #2B

15 Requirement #2 Water B Name 2 ways to preserve your family s access to clean water in the future.

16 Requirement #2 Water B Name 2 ways to preserve your family s access to clean water in the future. Don t contaminate storm water with detergents, oil, and other compounds. Don t contaminate the ground or wastewater treatment plant with material you put down the drain. Conserve!

17 Requirement #2 Food A Develop and implement a plan that attempts to reduce your household food waste. Establish a baseline and then track and record your results for 2 weeks. Report your results to your family and counselor.

18 Requirement #2 Food A How do you reduce food waste? And how do you establish a baseline and then track progress?

19 Requirement #2 Food A How do you reduce food waste? And how do you establish a baseline and then track progress? Plan out menus and food amounts ahead of time. Be careful to only cook amounts that will be eaten. Consider portion size and who will be there. Have a plan for consuming leftovers. First in, first out in the fridge, freezer, and pantry. Establish baseline by weighing food waste before any changes. Track progress by weighing food waste.

20 Requirement #2 Food B Discuss with your counselor the ways individuals, families, and communities can create their own food sources (potted plants, family garden, rooftop garden, neighborhood or community garden). Tell how this plan might contribute to a more sustainable way of life if practiced globally.

21 Requirement #2 Community A Draw a rough sketch depicting how you would design a sustainable community. Share the sketch with your counselor and explain how the housing, work locations, shops, schools, and transportation systems affect energy, pollution, natural resources, and the economy of the community.

22 Requirement #2 Community B With your parents permission, interview and engineer (Mr. Summers). Find out the factors that are considered when using sustainable materials in renovating or building a home. Share what you learned.

23 Requirement #2 Energy A Learn about the sustainability of different energy sources, including fossil fuels, solar, wind, nuclear, hydropower, and geothermal. Find out how production and consumption of each of these energy sources affects the environment and what the term carbon footprint means.

24 Requirement #2 Energy A Fossil fuel Not sustainable, is used up and not replaced. Can have high impact on soil and water and air when it is burned. High carbon footprint. Solar Sustainable because it is renewable. Have to consider impact of building solar arrays and the space taken up and visual impact. Wind Sustainable because it is renewable. Have to consider impact of building wind farms and the space taken up and visual impact. Consider impact of wind farms on wildlife as well.

25 Requirement #2 Energy A Nuclear Somewhat sustainable, creates large amounts of energy from small amount of fuel. Does have impacts on soil, water, and potentially air. Waste can be dangerous. Hydropower Sustainable because it is renewable. Have to consider impact of dams and lakes on the environmental and wildlife. Geothermal Sustainable because it is free and creates very little pollution. Have to consider impact of building units and the space taken up and visual impact.

26 Requirement #2 Energy A What does the term carbon footprint mean?

27 Requirement #2 Energy A What does the term carbon footprint mean? It is a measure of the amount of carbon released to the atmosphere by a particular activity. Carbon from respiration of mammals and combustion of biomass is considered less important that carbon emitted from burning fossil fuels (coal, gas, oil), because the carbon in the fossil fuels has been out of the atmospheric cycle for a long time and is being put back into the cycle, causing a net increase in the amount of carbon in the atmosphere.

28 Requirement #2 Energy A How can your family reduce its carbon footprint?

29 Requirement #2 Energy A How can your family reduce its carbon footprint? Reduce electricity usage (turn off lights and other devices, lower or raise thermostat so HVAC system doesn t run as much, buy energy efficient lighting and appliances). Reduce heat loss through windows and doors (shades, blinds, weather stripping around doors and windows) Reduce car usage (gas combustion)

30 Requirement #2 Energy B Develop a plan that attempts to reduce consumption for one of your families household utilities. Examine your family s bills for that utility reflecting usage for three months (past or current). As a family, choose 3 ways to help reduce consumption and be a better steward of this resource. Implement the ideas for a month, share what you learned with your counselor, and tell how your plan affected your family s usage.

31 Requirement #2 Energy B Example: Electricity consumption Examine power bills. Look for total usage in kwh (kilowatt hours), and usage in kwh per day. Divide total kwh by number of family members to get average kwh/family member. Ideas to reduce: Lights on only in areas occupied, low kw bulbs (CFL and LED), adjust thermostat, reduce loss/gain of heat from windows and doors.

32 Requirement #2 Stuff A Keep a log of the stuff your family purchases (excluding food) for 2 weeks. In your log, categorize each purchase as an essential need (such as soap) or a desirable want (such as a movie). Share what you learn with your counselor. Plan a project that involves the participation of your family to identify the stuff your family no longer needs. Complete

33 Requirement #2 Stuff B Plan a project that involves the participation of your family to identify the stuff your family no longer needs. Complete your project by donating, repurposing, or recycling these items.

34 Requirement #3 Explain to your counselor how the planetary life support systems (soil, climate, freshwater, atmospheric, nutrient, oceanic, ecosystems, and species) support life on Earth and interact with one another.

35 Requirement #3 Soil Plants, bacteria, some animals depend on soil and the nutrients and water contained in it. Interacts with atmosphere, provides freshwater sources, can pollute oceans and freshwater sources if not managed correctly. Climate Life has adapted to and survives in every climate zone on earth. Climate impacts all planetary life support systems.

36 Requirement #3 Freshwater Land based and freshwaterbased plants and animals depend on sources freshwater for life. Interacts with all other life support systems, and is a problem when it is scarce. Atmospheric Much life on earth depends on oxygen in air. Dirty air can cause problems. Carbon levels can influence climate.

37 Requirement #3 Nutrient All life depends on nutrients for proper cellular growth and development. Can be depleted in soils, causing significant problems. Nitrogen in soil interacts with nitrogen in atmosphere. Oceanic Covers a large percentage of the earth, and home to huge amounts of life. Oceans support ecosystems on dry land via food and water (evaporation leading to freshwater).

38 Requirement #3a Ecosystems All life is part of an ecosystem. When not disturbed by unsustainable activity, ecosystems tend to be in balance. Unsustainable practices negatively impact ecosystems. Species Biodiversity in ecosystems is very important for proper balance. Unsustainable activities can impact one species, upsetting the ecosystem. Species are dependent on balanced and healthy life support systems.

39 Requirement #3b Tell how harvesting or production of raw materials (by extraction or recycling), along with distribution of the resulting products, consumption, and disposal/repurposing influences current and future sustainability thinking and planning.

40 Requirement #3b Harvesting or production of raw materials (by extraction or recycling) impacts current/future sustainability thinking and planning through the impacts that we can see. We make changes based on the negative impacts that we see, and we try to estimate the impact that current actions will have on sustainability so that we can minimize future impacts.

41 Requirement #3b Distribution of the resulting products, consumption, and disposal/repurposing Influences current and future sustainability thinking and planning by the observed impacts of transportation, consumption, and waste. As we notice waste and energy usage related to distribution and consumption, we can take actions to improve the impact on sustainability and make positive changes.

42 Requirement #4 Explore two categories. Have a discussion with your family about the 2 you select. In your discussion, include your observations, and best and worst practices. Share what you learn with your counselor.

43 Requirement #4a Plastic waste. Discuss the impact of plastic waste on the environment (land, air, water). Learn about the number system for plastic recyclables, and determine which plastics are more commonly recycled. Find out what the trash vortex is and how it was formed.

44 Requirement #4a Discuss the impact of plastic waste on the environment (land, air, water). Fill up landfills, create trash on land and in water, create air pollution when burned. Production of plastics is somewhat unsustainable, especially if plastic is not recycled (uses large amounts of petroleum products). Plastic bags can kill wildlife.

45 Requirement #4a Plastic Recycling Number System. Most commonly recycled are: PETE (1), HDPE (2), LDPE (4).

46 Requirement #4a Find out what the trash vortex is and how it was formed. Many coastal cities dump garbage into the ocean from barges far offshore. This has caused an area of plastic to form off of California that is said to be twice the size of Texas and is made up of 7 billion pounds of plastic garbage. It swirls in a circle because of currents that is why it is called the trash vortex.

47 Requirement #4d Species decline. Explain the term species (plant or animal) decline.

48 Requirement #4d Species decline. Explain the term species (plant or animal) decline. Reduction in the biodiversity of the Earth. Extinction rates of plants and animals are believed to be such that the number of species on Earth is decreasing over time. This is known as species decline. In many cases the decline is caused by unsustainable activities.

49 Requirement #4d Species decline. Discuss the human activities that contribute to species decline, what can be done to help reverse the decline, and its impact on a sustainable environment. Human activities: Wasteful consumption, consumption of unsustainable products, waste of energy (resulting in more energy extraction). Reverse: Change our habits and activities so that we have a more sustainable impact on our world. Support habitat recovery efforts and conservation efforts. These activities will help to reduce our impact on the environment and help us to become more sustainable.

50 Requirement #5a After completing requirements #1 through #4, discuss what your family has learned about what it means to be a sustainable citizen. Talk about behavioral changes and life choices your family can make to live more sustainably. Share what you learn with your counselor.

51 Requirement #5b Discuss with your counselor how living by the Scout Oath and Scout Law in your daily life helps promote sustainability and good stewardship.

52 Requirement #6 Learn about career opportunities in the sustainability field. Scientists, environmental consultants, restoration ecologists, area specialists, public health, chemists and chemical engineers, biologists, foresters, geologists, civil engineers, corporate sustainability manager.

53 Requirement #6 Pick one and learn about education, training, and experience required. Corporate Sustainability Manager Education: 4 year undergraduate degree in engineering or an earth science, plus a graduate degree. Training: Certain certifications may be helpful Experience: At least years experience in environmental, energy, and sustainability management.

54 Requirement #6 Discuss what you have learned with your counselor and explain why this career might be of interest to you.