UC Davis Recyclemania Impact Calculations

Avoid generating trash. Try to use only recyclable and reusable materials.

C02 Emissions

We were able to divert 1,324,000 lbs of C02 from the atmosphere with our efforts during recyclemania! (EPA WARM MODEL)

According to the EPA 99% of the CO2 in gas is released into the air during combustion, and there are 2,421 grams of carbon in a gallon of gas. Finally, the molecular weight ratio of carbon to oxygen is 11/3.

The following is a calculation of how much CO2 comes out of a gallon of gas:

2,421g X 99% X 11/3 = 8,788g = 8.8 Kg = 19.4 lb/gallon

Next we convert our CO2 savings into miles driven assuming the average car has a mileage of about 25MPG:

25 mi/gallon X 1 gallon/19.4 lb = 1.29 mi/lb X 1,324,000 lbs = 1,706,186 mi

1,706,186 mi X 1/8 weeks of competition X 1 week/7 days = the equivalent 30,468 mi of driving saved/day by your efforts!

Landfill Diversion

We diverted 50.4 tons of bottles & cans + 66 tons of cardboard + 85 tons of mixed paper + 107.3 tons of food organics = 309 tons of recyclables

We produced 1085 tons of trash during the competition.

This makes our diversion rate 309/(309+1085) X 100% = 22.2% diversion

Landfill Lifetime

The UC Davis landfill has 20 tons added to it per day.

1 day/20 tons filled X 309 tons = The landfill will last 15.5 days more

Sources

The sources from which these calculations were derived are:

• EPA WARM Model
• Car Data
• Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)