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Life
depends on cycles
In
nature there is no such thing as waste. Everything gets
used and reused in great natural cycles. For millions
of years, water and carbon have flowed through the air,
sea, land, plants, and animals. Everything is linked.
Water and carbon in your body might once have been in
a dinosaur!
Human
activities are changing natural flows of carbon and
water, and affecting the future of life on Earth. There
is general agreement among scientists that we are changing
the global climate. Australia's climate has changed
many times before but this time we will be here to experience
it.
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The
water cycle
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The
carbon cycle
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The water cycle
The
water cycle involves the movement of water from the
sea, through the atmosphere, over and through the land,
and back to the sea. On the way water passes through
industry, houses, animals and people. Humans and animals
are made of 70% water.
The carbon cycle
The
carbon cycle involves the movement of carbon from the
air, into plants, animals, people, the earth, and back
into the air. It also includes the mining and release
of carbon that was trapped in the bodies of ancient
plants and animals.
The industrial cycle-an example close to home
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Kettle
Chips
It's not unusual for the ingredients of manufactured
goods to travel half way across the country or
the world. The transport involved in making all
processed foods is environmentally expensive.
Even
a simple product like a packet of potato chips
takes a lot of energy as well as materials to
make. Kettle chips are made in Shepparton, Victoria,
but the raw materials come from all over Australia.
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The
company uses only Atlantic potatoes that are less
than seven days out of the ground. It buys potatoes
from different growers all along the east coast
of Australia, depending on the season. This ensures
that chips look and taste the same all year round.
Trucks transport the potatoes to Shepparton.
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Cheetham
Salt in Price, South Australia, supplies the salt.
It is extracted from sea water in shallow ponds
using the sun's heat. It's then washed with brine,
spin-dried and dried again with natural gas heating.
It's crushed, sieved and trucked to Shepparton. |
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A
particular type of sunflower seed provides the oil
for frying. High in mono-unsaturated fats, the oil
makes the chips last longer. It is extracted in
Newcastle, NSW, refined in Sydney, and transported
to Shepparton. |
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The
package protects the chips, keeps them fresh and
supplies a convenience-sized snack. It must also
attract customers and carry essential information
about the brand, the ingredients and nutritional
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Two
layers of polypropylene film sandwich a layer of
aluminium and another of ink in between. The aluminium
layer is only about four atoms thick but it's enough
to stop light, water and oxygen from damaging the
chips.
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Polypropylene
film is made from a gas, which in turn comes from
oil. Shorko Australia in Wodonga, Victoria, supplies
the film, which is economical, lightweight and
doesn't react with food or chemicals. One layer
of film is printed in Melbourne, the other is
metallised in Sydney. The two films are then fused
by the printer Finewrap Australia in Melbourne.
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The
inks for printing are made in Melbourne. The nitro-cellulose
base comes from India or China. The pigments come
from Europe and the US. The alcohol is made from
sugar by CSR.
Aluminium is applied to a layer of plastic film
by melting aluminium wire in a vacuum. The metal
vapourises onto the film. Making aluminium requires
huge amounts of energy from coal, oil and gas. It
comes from bauxite, which is mined, crushed and
dissolved in caustic soda. The aluminium oxide or
alumina that forms is filtered, washed and processed
to make aluminium. Kettle imports Italian aluminium
that's probably made with some Australian bauxite.
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Electricity
for all the processes is generated by burning
coal mined in Australia. The fuel for all the
trucks is diesel, which is refined from oil in
Sydney, NSW; Melbourne and Geelong, Victoria;
Port Augusta, South Australia; and Brisbane, Queensland.
The
cardboard cartons that protect the chips during
transportation are made by Amcor Fibre Packaging,
Melbourne, from 100% recycled paper and cardboard.
Recycled cardboard isn't as strong as virgin material
but it doesn't need to be because the chips are
light.
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