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Apostle Markos Lyceum - Archangelos

PARTICIPATION IN THE PROGRAMM:

«YOUNG REPORTERS FOR THE ENVIRONMENT»

Our team:

Angelina Kouppanou

Andreas Hadjiyiannis

Panagiwta Evangelou

Team coordinator:

Kouttouki Savvoula (Biologist)

"TRIPLE THREAT DEFEAT"

   What is global warming and what causes it? Over the decades Earths' average temperature has risen due to greenhouse gasses such as carbon dioxide and methane constantly being released into the atmosphere. Over the long-run global warming causes climate change resulting in disasters. Research has shown that approximately 11% of greenhouse gas emissions come from food waste and that the amount of food wasted is about one-third and one-half of all food manufactured. A large percentage of the population of each country takes food for granted and this results in people buying more food than is needed as well as them cooking larger portions of food than necessary. This excess food is thrown away and transported to garbage dumps where it begins to decompose. During decomposition, harmful greenhouse gasses such as methane and carbon dioxide are produced and emitted into the atmosphere. Methane is a stronger greenhouse gas that is 84 times more potent than carbon dioxide and its' increasing concentration in the atmosphere along with its' heat-trapping ability has a huge negative effect on global warming. In addition to methane emissions, food waste has major implications on the amount of energy expended to grow, harvest, package, and transport it. The more food that is wasted the more energy is wasted.

   The consequences of global warming are catastrophic causing glaciers to melt, sea levels to rise, water shortages, and heatwaves resulting in plant and animal species being driven to extinction. As the current citizens of this world, it is our responsibility to implement measures that protect Earth against the impending threat of global warming.

   The first phase of our project focused on creating a questionnaire that would evaluate people's level of awareness about climate change. The results were encouraging with 85% of subjects indicating that they were well informed about climate change, its' causes, and its' impact on the environment, versus 15% that declared they have little knowledge on the subject matter.

   The questionnaire also assessed people's willingness to take action that would help mitigate the effects of climate change. 85% of the people surveyed indicated a willingness to take action in contrast to 5% that were not. 10% of the respondents indicated that they have no knowledge or opinion on the subject matter.

   As part of the Young Climathon competition, we attended a series of webinars in which a Premier Shukuroglou company representative highlighted food waste as being a major contributor to greenhouse gas emissions and explained how his company turns large amounts of food waste into compost. We also took part in an interactive environmental workshop that was organized by Ms. Soulla Karra and Mr. Andreas Pastide, both members of the Cyprus Energy Agency. This workshop focused on mitigating the phenomenon of climate change by challenging us to maintain the greenhouse gas emissions in a virtual world. These activities highlighted the enormity of the problem our generation faces and motivated us to start searching for an innovative way to repurpose food waste in a way that supports the earth's atmosphere.

   Our idea to tackle food waste and its' impact on the environment was further aroused after watching a moving environmental video titled, Food Waste and Climate Change. This video highlighted the fact that food waste is a preventable problem and that by addressing food waste in farms, grocery stores, and at home, we could feed billions of people and curb greenhouse emissions.

   Further research led us to the discovery that the European Commission is taking the issue of tackling food waste very seriously and that policies have been put in place to promote sustainable production and consumption. We aim to work in line with the European Union's Green Deal, Farm to Fork Strategy in an effort to mitigate global warming by promoting healthy food systems that control food waste. In addition, we aim to tackle the food waste problem by establishing an incentive-based food waste recycling system. Which offers a tangible solution to food waste through the use of smart bins. These smart bins will be deposited throughout municipalities within the country to provide residents with easy access. These automated bins come equipped with scales, Radio Frequency Identification and are programmed with an app that calculates a tax reduction percentage based on the weight of the food waste that is deposited.

   The bulk of the food waste will then be transported to a processing site where it will be composted and turned into fertilizer (100% organic). The fertilizer will be produced in a way that preserves the integrity of the ecosystem and will enable our eco-conscious consumers to enjoy fertilizing their gardens knowing they have cut their carbon footprint. The infrastructure of the composting site will be outfitted with a specialized system focused on capturing methane molecules emitted during the composting process. Blowers will direct Methane gas towards Zeolite sorbents designed to capture methane molecules. The blowers move air through the sorbent beds pushing methane molecules into holding tanks where it will ultimately be burned and converted into fuel or electricity.

   When this fuel is burnt it produces less carbon dioxide than fossil fuels. In conclusion, aims to put waste to good use. Capturing Methane and repurposing it as a source of fuel to power the nation will mitigate greenhouse emissions. This idea addresses three problems at once. Firstly it reduces CO2 and methane emissions as well as the huge amounts of food waste.

Climate change is upon us and we cannot afford to procrastinate. We must hold ourselves accountable for the future of our Earth and that means facing climate change head-on!

Sources:

• https://www.worldwildlife.org
• Don't Waste Food - Let's Make Cyprus Green
• Global Food Waste FAO (madr.ro)
• Helping to stop food waste in Cyprus - OLIO (olioex.com)
• Food Waste Is a Massive Problem-Here's Why | FoodPrint
• Global Warming 101 - Definition, Facts, Causes and Effects of Global Warming | NRDC