Sustainability Issues:
Environment—
During the manufacturing of the equipment and components, such as the BJT and test equipment, manufacturing companies release toxic byproducts into the environment. These byproducts (pollution), in the long run, damage countless ecosystems and the environment.
In addition, the production of materials used to make our laboratory equipment (i.e computers, multi-meters, circuit components, etc.) requires mining, metal smelting, and refining of petroleum; all of which are detrimental to the environment. The release of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere illustrates one of these detrimental effects.
As the First Law of Ecology points out, the effects of the release of these by-products are not local, rather, they ripple throughout the interconnected eco-system.
Economics—
Due to the low quantity of components used for this experiment, the inflation of the lab kits increases. El Corral charges twenty dollars for a set of components, which manufacturers sell for a much cheaper price. Due to the cost of this kit, students who are on a tight budget must make adjustments in their finances thus illustrating another case of the First Law of Ecology.
By investing in the lab kits, we gain valuable knowledge about BJT characteristics operations. The learn-by-doing philosophy that Cal Poly promotes, applies to the experiments that pertain to the course materials.
Energy—
Although we only construct simple circuits, we consume a lot of power. For example, the oscilloscope alone uses 0.3 kW-hrs per lab session (100W * 3hr lab time). In addition, we use the “Sweep N’ Go” software, which requires us to have all of the lab bench devices on because they share a common databus.
Equity—
Since the lab experiments require the proper components for this lab, the bookstore inclines to (and does) overcharge students for these kits. Compared to what the IEEE club sells the kits for; the bookstore charges 4 times as much.
The lack, or difficult, recycling required to reuse our circuit devices demonstrates another aspect of equity for future generations. As technology development continually accelerates, a silicon chip produced may have only a few years life span (if that). Unfortunately silicon dies with the kitchen scraps since most old computers and electronics are simply thrown away when outdated. Although silicon is fairly abundant at this time, continued mining without recycling will led to a shortage of future generations.
Comments (2)
Anonymous said
at 11:28 pm on Nov 18, 2008
I thought the environmental part was written well. It provided in detail, effects of constructing the equipment used in experiment. However, the first paragraph of the economics and equity section says the exact same thing, worded differently. Omitting one of the repetition would make your sustainability statement more efficient. Furthermore, it would be better if you provided references for evidence (eg. the price the bookstore charges, and a link to manufacturer website).
Anonymous said
at 11:56 am on Nov 19, 2008
I like that you tittled each section so it was easy to follow what you were saying. The environment part is good but you should be more specific. For example, you mentioned that production releases toxics maybe you should mention what kind of toxics and what they do. You are missing references that boost the credibility of your report. For me it seemed that the Environment and Equity section repeated it self. be more clear in those sections. i liked that you put the 1st law of Ecology but reference where you got this from. Keep up the good work. AIZ
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