Wasting resources

Wasting resources

Table of Contents

Introduction 3

Background 3

Problem statement 3

Aim and scope of the project 3

Objectives 4

Literature Reviews 4

Wasting of food 4

Wasting of water 5

Wasting electricity and power supplies 6

Methodology 7

Research design ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………7

Sampling ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….7

Data collection and analysis procedure……………………………………………………………………………7

Schedule and project deliverable 7

Literature review ………………………….……………………………………………7

Research proposal ………………………………………………………………………………..8

Linear responsibility chart …………………………………………………………..8

Closing remark and request to proceed …………………………………………………….9

References 9

Appendix 10

Introduction

Background:

The primary purpose of this research is to analyse and investigate the causes, symptoms, examples and solutions of wasting resources. The research seeks to find a solution to reduce the wasteful use of major resources. The waste of resources mainly occurs because of the lack of knowledge about how important these resources are. The first example of wasting resources that will be discussed in the research is food-wasting which is the amount of uneaten food or thrown food which is considered as a waste. The second example is the water wasting which is any water that has been affected by human use. And lastly, electricity and power wasting which is using the power inefficiently.

Problem statement:

Wastage of resources is a serious issue that faces the world, and it must be talked about to display the dangers and side effects behind wasteful, and each of us responsible for this problem. Wastage of resources is a general problem and means excessive use of one of the sources such as water, food and electricity and used in a wrong way, which causes a general lack of one of the three sources categories listed.

Aim and scope of this project:

In this research, we are going to investigate wasting resources causes and effects in different life aspects. The various elements we will explore and search for our food, water and electricity and power supplies. These sources are the primary sources in our lives, and they are wasted and not used in an efficient way. This research paper will focus on these resources and the effects and results that occur because of this wastage. The primary purpose of this research is to aware people in all age groups about the importance of these resources and how the waste of them could affect society economically and environmentally. Our group proposal includes a background that describes the problem and states the aim of the research, literature reviews, methodology, schedule and project deliverable, references and appendix.

Objectives:

The reason for choosing this topic and conducting in-depth research is to address this issue by instilling a sense of responsibility towards the whole community, attracting people’s attention and responding to it faster. This project is also a reminder to the community who lives within the borders of this planet. It is essential to highlight the truth behind the excessive wastefulness of the primary sources of life and its wealth of significant effects at the individual and community level. Therefore, this is a step to increase awareness in society on this issue. By learning about the adverse effects of wasteful resources, they will begin to feel responsible towards themselves that will help to reduce the factors that contribute to wasting of resources.

1. Literature Reviews

This is a combined literature review combines the three subtopics of the research, which are (Food, water, electricity and power supplies). These literature reviews provide background about the subtopics.

Wasting food

The purpose of this review of relevant literature is to address the problem of food waste, mention the causes behind this problem, and bring up the actions that must be taken in order [1]to get rid of this phenomenon. The central part of this research will focus on the causes, the ways to reduce food waste, and how food wastage plays a huge role in our environment and society.

Food supply chain goes through four stages which are producers, processors, retailers, and consumers. The basic definition of food waste is that it is the food that has been lost during one of the four stages [1]. Food has been wasted at every stage of the food supply chain, which negatively affects our economy and environment.

Lately, food-wasting phenomenon has become a huge concern in the social and environmental sectors. Through the manufacture of food, the lost food that occurs because of the industrial processing is called food waste, according to the BFCN (Barilla Centre for Food and Nutrition) definition [4]. It has been reported that approximately between 33-50% of the global food is uneaten, and this amount of the meal worth over $1 trillion [2].

One of the most known causes of food wastage is the lack of appropriate planning. The reason behind this problem is that people get their food without paying attention to important stuff such as the expiry dates which ends up sometimes to throwing the food as waste. Another cause is purchase and preparation of too much food which most people tend to do, and people prepare too much food more than what is needed which makes the leftover of the food as a waste [4].

For the purposes of the current research, the solutions to this phenomenon must be considered as one of the most critical priorities. Balancing the production of the food with the needs of the consumers, food awareness campaigns and the food recycling are some useful solutions for the food-wasting issue that makes a huge change in the environment and the economy of the country [4].

This review is organized as follows. The first section shows the stages that the food goes through during the manufacturing process, section 3 summarize and gives a brief outline of the causes of the food waste the last section provides some solutions that can help to reduce the food wastage.

Wasting of water

The purpose of this review of relevant literature is to outline one area of wasting the sources that is water wasting and to highlight how this type of resource could end one day due to use it in wrong way. The central part of this research will focus on the causes, effects, and solution for the wasting crisis. Elliot Curry report [5] found that more than a million people die from a lack of drinking clean water every year, and he mentioned an examination of water consumption data.

The data shows that in the last four decades, the consumption of water has doubled more than 1,700 litres per person per day. By 2025, the industrial water use will be more than 200% greater than 1995 levels. He also mentioned that some countries are suffering from water scarcity such as China, nearly two dozen other countries in Africa and the United States. Another report by United Nations University [6] shows that the notion which is water is plentiful and it covers 70% is wrong because of only 2.5% of all freshwater. Besides, it shows many statistics on how wasting water end you[2]p destroying life.

One-example is 1000 children die each day due to preventable water and sanitation-related diseases. Another report from the water project [7] illustrated more statistics that show how some regions are finding hard to drink water, for example, The United Nations estimates that Sub-Saharan Africa alone loses 40 billion hours per year collecting water; the same as an entire year’s labour in all of France.

The last report from the United States Environmental Protection Agency [8] illustrated an existing solution to save more water, by using model, called Water Sense, and it can save 13,000 gallons for the average family per year.

Wasting electricity and power supplies.

The purpose of this review of relevant literature is to outline electricity wasting and to highlight how electricity affects our environment and economy. The central part of this research will focus on wasting electricity and the effect of it on the environment and economy, and what alternative and efficient ways to reduce electricity wastage.

“Electricity Wastage: The problem, the consequences, and the solution” report [9] display how much electricity consumption in UAE over the past years, and how this massive consumption of electricity affect the environment and economy. It also highlights what alternative solutions could reduce electricity wastage when users apply it.

It has been reported [10] that buildings are predicted to be the largest consumer of energy. In large urban areas like New York City, approximately 80% of the carbon footprint comes from buildings. Electricity is produced from burning fossil fuel these days, which produce harmful gases to the environment atmosphere. However, scientists [11] have found a less harmful way to produce electricity using the thermal waste from automobiles and industrial units.

• Methodology

Background

To achieve the main aim of the research on wasting resources, as data collection was conducted to understand why and how people waste resources.  The research applied the use of qualitative and quantitative to provide insight on which type of resource is commonly wasted and to what extent. In terms of qualitative data collection method, simple surveys was conducted in the form of Good forms. In for students who did not have time to respond to the surveys instantly, sample questionnaires with similar questions were provided, which they would later return when filling with their response. Face to face interviews as a form of qualitative research method was used whereby students were asked questions randomly, and they respond instantly. This allowed space for descriptive inferences that are easy to explain with data collected from the quantitative methods.  Further, the research also used highly credible academic articles as primary and foundation source of our study. Because of the significant impact on the on human life about wasting resources, we have to guide the nation and display them evidence, and to support our arguments by surveying to form a stable and deep base of our research.

Survey Design Analysis

A quantitative survey was designed in the form of Google forms that contain 15 short online questions.  The questions were designed into 5 groups of five questions each. The response was to be given online by clicking a Yes and No button for the first two five questions.  The last five questions were designed to provide a more detailed response. Qualitative methods involved simple face-to-face questions where the students would be able to respond to them instantly.  The questions focused on the amount of water used in a day, the amount of electricity consumed in a day in terms of joules and the number of times a student eat food in a day. In the research question design, a day referred to 24 hours before the time of the interview. It will be conducted among 50 students at Khalifa University no matter what stage they are (freshmen, sophomore, junior and senior). As soon as we receive the results back, we will discuss, analyze and study it to expand our research paper with more statistical data.

The qualitative data will be analysed through descriptive and predictive data analysis methods. In this case, the analysis will focus on inferences based on the response from the face-to-face interviews. For quantitative data, the analysis will be done through statistical methods. The data from Google forms and questionnaires will be statistically computed through the statistical package for the social sciences (SPSS).

Target population, sample size & survey administration process

The research targets the young population from Khalifa University. It will focus on the students because they are the most active part of the society consuming more water, electricity and food resources. From the Khalifa University student’s population, the researchers will choose a sample size of 50 students. In the sample, 30 students will be female and 20 students male. First-year students will be 10, and the sophomore will be 10, junior 15 and senior 15. The survey will be administered through class representatives while a system administrator will monitor the Goole surveys. The data that will receive us will be analysed based on specific criteria. The survey will support us to know more information regarding the three subjects. First, it will allow us to assess the level of awareness of Khalifa University students. Therefore, we can analyze what they know previously about the specific research area. Secondly, we can know about their beliefs and point of view about wasting resources. Thirdly, the studying of the survey enables us to know and analyse their position, attitude and the actions that they are planning to take toward this problem. The study is also waiting for a student to give suggested solutions. Therefore, in the end, we can come up with suggestions about future expectations.

1. Schedule and project deliverable

The project is divided into three main parts; each part is distributed equally to each team member.

In the literature review, each student has the responsibility to find out the background of her specific part.

Literature review: This is the first task required from each group member individually; each student supposed to search for background information about the subtopics of the research. Due date 14.09.19

• Aaesha E Alnuaimi: Food wasting.
• Asma Rasheed: Water wasting.
• Awaish Alsudain: Electricity and power supplies.

Research Proposal: This task includes a detailed plan for the research with all the necessary information. (Due date 28.09.19)

• Aaesha E Alnuaimi: Reviewing the plan, Introduction, schedule and project deliverable, Appendix (Gantt chart) and the linear responsibility chart.
• Asma Rasheed: Methodology (Sampling, Data collection and analysis procedure), combine the literature review.
• Awaish Alsudain: Combine literature review, closing remarks and request to proceed, Organizing the references and re-order them.

Key:

1 = primary responsibility, 2 = support/work, 3 = must be consulted, 4 = may be consulted,

• = review, 6 = final approval

1. Closing remarks and request to proceed

To sum up, the goal of this proposal is to demonstrate the effects and causes of wasting resources in different aspects. Various studies and statistics show that wasting of resources causes economical and environmental negative effects. Some of the literature review illustrated few solutions that organizations and companies suggest to reduce wasting of resources. Our research project will include a survey that targets around 30 undergraduate students from Khalifa University to gather information and observe students’ awareness and thoughts about wasting resources. The survey will include different types of questions about wasting resources which can be useful for other students researching similar topics about any of these resources. As a team we will follow the schedule and project deliverables to complete our research project and achieve our main goal by the scheduled time.

1. References

[1]”About Food Waste | Move for Hunger”, Move For Hunger, 2019. [Online]. Available: https://www.moveforhunger.org/about-food-waste/. [Accessed: 14- Sep- 2019].

[2] OLIO, 2019. [Online]. Available: https://olioex.com/food-waste/the-problem-of-food-waste/. [Accessed: 14- Sep- 2019].

[3] Food waste, 2019. [Online]. Available: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/264295330_Food_Waste. [Accessed: 14- Sep- 2019].

[4]”Causes, Effects and Solutions of Food Waste”, Conserve Energy Future, 2019. [Online]. Available: https://www.conserve-energy-future.com/causes-effects-solutions-food-waste.php. [Accessed: 14- Sep- 2019].

[5]E. Curry, “Water Scarcity and the Recognition of the Human Right to Safe Freshwater”, vol. 9, no. 1, 2010. Available: https://scholarlycommons.law.northwestern.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1109&=&context=njihr&=&seiredir=1&referer=https%253A%252F%252Fwww.bing.com%252Fsearch%253Fq%253D%252BWater%252BScarcity%252Band%252Bthe%252BRecognition%252Bof%252Bthe%252BHuman%252BRight%252Bto%252BSafe%252BFreshwater%252BElliot%252BCurry%2526go%253DSearch%2526qs%253Dds%2526form%253DQBRE#search=%22Water%20Scarcity%20Recognition%20Human%20Right%20Safe%20Freshwater%20Elliot%20Curry%22. [Accessed 14 September 2019].

[6]L. Guppy and K. Anderson, “GLOBAL WATER CRISIS: THE FACTS”, 2017. Available: https://inweh.unu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Global-Water-Crisis-The-Facts.pdf. [Accessed 14 September 2019].

[7]”Facts and Statistics about Water and Its Effects”, The Water Project, 2016. [Online]. Available: https://thewaterproject.org/water-scarcity/water_stats. [Accessed: 14- Sep- 2019].

[8]”Statistics and Facts | US EPA”, US EPA. [Online]. Available: https://www.epa.gov/watersense/statistics-and-facts. [Accessed: 14- Sep- 2019].

[9] Team Tempo. “Electricity Wastage: The problem, the consequences, and the solution.” internet: http://feelyourtempo.com/electricity-wastage-problem-consequence-solution/ , July 13, 2017 [Sep. 14, 2019]

[10] Dave Bratlett. “The Top Ten Ways We Waste Energy And Water In Buildings.” Internet: https://breakingenergy.com/2011/07/26/the-top-ten-ways-we-waste-energy-and-water-in-buildings/ , July 26, 2011 [Sep. 14, 2019]

[11] “CURRENT SCIENCE.” (Oct., 2018) VOL. 115, NO. 8,

• Appendix

Gantt chart: The Gantt chart illustrates the tasks starting from the beginning of the semester till the end of the course where the research will be finalized.  The gantt chart includes the tasks and the order of the due dates.