Grade 11 Chemistry Blog

Despite there being thousands of people, many of them children in third world countries, dying every year from drinking contaminated water, we still spend millions of dollars on bottled water. So, why do we still spend so much money on bottled water when many of these third world countries can’t afford to build water treatment plants, and when we have clean tap water. According to Tessa Marano from 1 Million Women, people from developed countries still contribute to this crisis because of marketing. It is stated in the article that through marketing, we are brainwashed into thinking that bottled water is cleaner, healthier, crisper and tastier than regular old tap water. ("Why Do We Continue To Buy Bottled Water? | 1 Million Women", 2018) This plays such a big ethical issue on how we abuse our water consumption from not only drinking water but also showering, bathing, brushing our teeth, etc. A study has estimated that bottling water produces 2.5 million tonnes of CO2 in Am

Salt and Sand on Highways During Winter Storms Winter storms occur very frequently in Canada which is why salt and sand is needed to get rid of the snow and ice, especially on the highways. According to the Vancouver Courier, The most efficient way to use a salt-sand mix is by making the mixture, one-part salt to 12 parts sand for increased abrasion and traction. In an article by the Vancouver Courier, it states that by using correct ratios of salt and sand, it will still have its freezing point depression while not having highly negative effects on the environment. There are other mixtures used in order to melt ice and snow including, salt brine — a diluted mixture of salt and water, and calcium chloride (CaCl2) "We make that ourselves," (Cloutier, 2018). By using “salt brine”, there is usually a better distribution of salt since it stays in the pores of the road for a couple of days. Unlike salt and sand mixtures, the brine will have a better distribution of the salt