HSU mason jar analysis

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This is a research project in partnership between Engr308 Technology and the Environment and The Sustainability Office and HSU Dining at Humboldt State University during Fall 2016. The project includes analyzing the various impacts of mason jars impacts on campus. Client leads are

• Morgan King, Sustainability & Waste Coordinator
• Katie Koscielak, Sustainability Analyst
• Ron Rudebock, Director of Dining Services

Our object is to analyze the impacts of mason jars on campus and the effects of the new HSU policy and pricing regarding mason jars versus disposables. A secondary goal is work towards a recommendation regarding the policy. Impacts will be focused primarily on $, CO₂, and Energy. Final products will include:

• Quantification of impacts over mason jar life cycle
• Quantification of impacts over disposable life cycle
• A spreadsheet for HSU specific impacts with clear instruction, outputs and referenced sources. This spreadsheet will include best estimates of the current disposable versus mason landscape gathered from dining data, surveys, and observations. These numbers will be adjustable by the clients and shared for other schools or communities to adapt.
• A graph of the number of times a mason jar must be reused before it buys back its energy in comparison to various disposables (and possibly other reusables).

Some background information:

• Lumberjack article on the mason jars
• Students Promoting ‘Kill the Cup’ Contest
• 

Teams

TEAM 1 NAME

• • Carlos Arreola
  • Rufus Brown
  • Jesus Cornejo
  • Nick Rasmussen

TEAM 2 NAME

• • TEAM MATE NAME
  • TEAM MATE NAME

TEAM 3 NAME

• • Melissa Fawcett-Routh
  • Katherine Nunes-Siciliani
  • Juan Miranda

FREE MASONS

• • Christina O’Neill
  • Rebeca Griner
  • Henry Baker
  • Nick Orozco

TEAM 5 NAME

• • TEAM MATE NAME
  • TEAM MATE NAME

TEAM Meta

• • TEAM MATE NAME
  • TEAM MATE NAME

Research

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I will not be too draconian on writing style... but make sure NOT TO PLAGIARIZE!^[1]

Free Masons Research

Embedded Energy, CO₂, and Life Cycle Analysis Concepts

Embedded energy is the total amount of energy required to make a product, including the energy necessary to make, manipulate, and transport materials and final products. Embedded CO2 is the total amount of Carbon Dioxide emitted in the atmosphere during the making of a product, including the CO2 emitted to make, manipulate, and transport materials and final products.

^[2]

Embedded Energy and CO₂ in materials

Mason Jars have become one of HSU’s new alternative and trendy reusable containers. This is opposed to using a disposable container, even though the University has switched over to biodegradable products. Below are the Embedded Energy and CO2 used in the production of mason jars:

• Embedded energy in different types of glass

Borosilicate: 10^4 MJ/m^3 Soda-lime silicate:10^2 MJ/m^3 Silica:10^5 MJ/m^3 ^[3] Float-Glass: 15.9 MJ/kg ^[4] Toughened: 26.2 MJ/kg Laminated:16.3 MJ/kg Tinted:14.9 MJ/kg ^[5]

• Embedded CO₂ in different types of glass

Embedded CO2 in different types of glass Float Glass- 1.74 kg CO2/kg Toughened- 1.74 kg CO2/kg Laminated- 1.92 kg/CO2/kg ^[6] Soda-Lime Glass- 1.36kg CO2/0.8kg ^[7]

• Embedded Energy in mason jars

14 MJ/kg ^[8]

• Embedded CO₂ in mason jars

0.38 pounds CO2 per 12 oz. glass bottle ^[9]

• Embedded energy in disposable cups

0.55 MJ/cup ^[10]

• Embedded CO₂ in disposable cups

0.11kg CO2/cup ^[11]

Embedded Energy and CO₂ in shipping

Production of the mason jar is only considering part of the environmental impacts of the mason jar use and consumption. Another significant part of this environmental consideration is that of shipping the product from the warehouse to the store that sells the product. Products such as Mason Jars and paper cups are both manufactured in China and require shipping over sea (via container ship) and land (semi-truck) to reach the store where they are purchased.

• General embedded energy in shipping by sea

1.4 MJ/TEU/km for a 4000 TEU Container ^[12]

• General embedded CO₂ in shipping by sea

04 kg/tonne km ^[13] .003 kg/tonne km ^[14]

• General embedded energy in shipping by land

36.63 MJ/vehicle km ^{[15] [16]} 67.677m3/truck ^[17]

• General embedded CO₂ in shipping by land

14 kg/tonne km ^[18] .08 kg/tonne km ^[19]

HSU drinking vessels

• Where do HSU mason jars come from?

“GET Industries.”

• Where do HSU disposable containers come from?

“United Natural Foods Incorporated.”

References