Assessment of the presentation: group 5

Introduction

In the background of accelerating urbanization and population explosion, waste

has become a severe problem of environmental in the world. According to a report by
the World Bank News (World Bank, 2018), global waste will increase by 70% by
2050, compared to 2018. Here is an alarming number, and people need to have argent
actions to protect the environment and themselves. To prevent this condition, firstly
people need to know how to properly dispose of waste, and that will be promptly
reflected in the following essay based on the assessment of the group 5 presentation:
Waste disposal through composting. My essay will approach the presentation from
five aspects: the role of analytic incubation on the environment, the knowledge gained
from this presentation, the strengths and weaknesses of this presentation, key
terminology related to the topic, and finally the challenge point for the presenters.

Body

I. The role of composting in the environment

Composting is a great way to recycle the organic waste we create at home.

Uneaten food and yard waste combined make up more than 28 percent of what we
throw away (EPA, 2023). According to estimated data, on average if each person
generates about 1kg of waste per day, with a population of more than 90 million
people, there will be more than 90 million kg of waste per day (Awane, n.d.). On the
contrary, the treatment will consume a huge amount of money in the state budget and
when the waste decomposes, it will cause a stench that causes heavy pollution to the
environment. Therefore, United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the
Institute for Global Environmental Strategy (IGES) have issued guidelines on
composting as one of the best options for managing organic waste while reducing its
environmental impact (UNEP, n.d.).
Proper composting from inedible or unused food - can reduce dependence on
chemical fertilizers, help restore soil fertility, and provide nutrients to plants.
Composting can strengthen the soil microbiome, help increase carbon storage
capacity, and improve water retention, and soil filtration capacity so that soil can
better withstand droughts, heat waves, and heavy rains - all of which are becoming
more extreme and frequent due to climate change. Besides, composting also helps to
save water in a radical way. Nowadays, people are still consuming huge amounts of
water to serve farms and crop businesses, but, when composting can improve the
water-holding capacity of plants, they do not need to work hard to water too much.
According to a report by the California Department of Resources Recycling and
Recovery, California now produces 3.2 million tons of compost, increasing the
amount of water held by about 3.7 billion gallons. (CalRecycle, n.d.). Therefore, using
organic fertilizers to nourish healthy soil can help farmers not only use less water but
also achieve higher yields than farming on infertile soil.

Additionally, by reducing food waste, composting also helps reduce greenhouse

gas emissions that affect climate change. According to the United Nations
Environment Program, the release of food waste into the environment is estimated to
generate 8-10% of global greenhouse gas emissions (UNEP, 2022). It can also
produce greenhouse gas emissions such as methane, which can be up to 80 times more
potent than carbon dioxide (Bertrand et al., 2022). Or it is even estimated that the
annual greenhouse gas emissions from food waste in the United States alone are
equivalent to 42 coal-fired power plants (Davis & Gunders, 2021) causing very heavy
air pollution. Therefore, removing food and other organic waste from landfills and
turning it into compost can significantly reduce these emissions, protecting the human
climate.

II. The summary of knowledge that we gained from the presentation

 Group 5 gave the audience a lot of useful information for today. I was first given
an overview of the definition of composting, then the composting processes at the
factories, the next section was talk about the advantages and disadvantages of
composting, and finally people's attitudes and practices about treating waste in this
way.

Firstly, to the general definition, compost is also known as organic fertilizer. As

far as I'm concerned, UNEP explains that composting is a controlled aerobic (oxygen-
requiring) process that converts organic materials into nutrient-rich soil amendments
or mulch through natural decomposition. (EPA, 2023) We can compost with a variety
of materials: animal manure, litter, yard waste, food waste, etc. Also, people need to
avoid some kinds of products made with meat, cheese, or foods containing milk. This
is considered a type of recycling and a great technique to keep organic waste out of
landfills.

Following this presentation, I was introduced to the processes for composting in

the factories and I was even able to administrate it to compost at home. The first step
we need to collect waste from various sources such as houses, offices, and
businesses….Even during collection and transportation, it is important to separate
organic waste from inorganic waste to avoid contamination. After the wastes are
collected, they will be transported to the composting plant. The second step is to sort
and arrange waste properly. This is considered an extremely important step to ensure
that non-biodegradable substances are separated from those that are biodegradable
(ESCAP, n.d.). And especially when there are hazardous materials, they must be
removed before placing them in the compost bin to avoid contaminating the entire
waste pile. The third step is to mix the organic waste well to balance the carbon and
nitrogen ratios that are needed for the composting process. In the fourth step, people
need to prepare compost bins with a walled structure, bottom mesh, and vent pipes
that are also perforated to help air circulate through the waste. Then fill the box with
organic waste gradually in layers to allow time for oxygen to seep in. Step 5 is also the
most important step to ensure successful composting which requires temperature and
humidity control. And the last step is to wait and see the results. When the waste
changes color like soil and the pile temperature falls below 50°C, it means that the
manure has entered the "mature" stage, just waiting for the next 15 days to be usable
( (ESCAP, n.d.)

Fertilizer is an indispensable raw material in agriculture. Since ancient times,

farmers have known to use agricultural production methods using organic fertilizers
from agricultural wastes such as: straw, manure, green manure, kitchen ash, etc. Until
today, when the level is improved, the core values from the use of organic fertilizers
in cultivation are more and more focused. According to agricultural extension experts,
using organic fertilizer (compost) brings many benefits not only to plants, but also
positively affects the living environment (Awane, n.d.). First, using organic fertilizers
or compost can help improve the soil, enhance the ability to absorb water and retain
water for the soil, promote plant and root growth, and supplement the necessary trace
elements for plants (Thomas, 2018). Besides, organic substances in fertilizers have the
ability to improve the nutrient diffusion rate, helping plants to absorb nutrients for a
long time. In addition to helping to protect and improve the soil, compost also helps
protect the air because the composting process contains less nitrogen and produces
less methane than chemical fertilizers. Moreover, it is a natural recycling process that
is very simple and unlikely to fail (Thomas, 2018). Although composting is one of the
most effective methods to maintain and increase the productivity of garden soil and
has a number of other benefits, it also has some drawbacks mentioned. Foremost, it is
necessary to know how to choose materials carefully because not all materials are
suitable to make compost. Some kinds of products need to avoid such as meat, cheese,
milk, fish, eggs, bones, etc. because they can harm the growth of beneficial
microorganisms. Besides, composting contains a lot of bacteria that attract pests and
insects cause many diseases, and threaten human health. Not to mention, the cost of
equipment for composting at factories is very expensive. It will only be cheaper to
hire investors to support the inputs (Grand & Michel, n.d.). And finally, in order to
compost a large amount, we need to have a large space because the process of
composting can cause the stench of leachate.It is essential to stay away from
residential areas because this will have a great impact on households and people’s
lives. Therefore, organic fertilizers are now more expensive than chemical fertilizers
and as a result, their competitiveness is much lower than other chemical fertilizers.

Composting is a simple and easy process to do, because of this not only factories
people can also process part of their waste at home to serve the purpose of growing
crops. According to a survey report by Ministry for the Environment (2021), the
majority of participants when asked about the importance of protecting and taking
care of the environment, 50% responded that they choose biodegradable products
when shopping. Currently, people have also participated more in activities related to
using organic fertilizers instead of chemical fertilizers to protect the environment. A
number of organizations providing information and activities about compost have also
been established such as Compost Community, Green action center, etc. In addition,
there are many contests in the world with the desire to convey the message and
encourage people to compost at home to reduce waste. For example, the poster
drawing contest organized by International Compost Awareness Week (ICAW) in
2023 on the topic of COMPOST... Nature's Climate Champion (ICAW, n.d.), or the
contest to build a composting machine "COMPOST STEM Challenge 20-21 - BIEA
Competitions" held in the UK ..... (BIEA, n.d.)

III. Strength and Weakness of presentation

The strength

As an audience, I think that group 5 has shown their presentation quite well in 3
aspects: standard presentation skills, confident demeanor, and beautiful slide design.
First of all, I was especially impressed with Group 5 in terms of the presentation skills
of all 3 members. The skill is reflected in their fluent and clear pronunciation, they use
lots of hand gestures, and eye contact that make the presentation engaging. This also
makes it easy and efficient for listeners to follow their group. The presentation style is
very confident and professional, which is reflected in the fact that they have answered
the tough questions posed by the audience calmly and carefully. They may even be
able to give specific examples to back up the answer. All of these factors showed that
the members worked very hard to present the presentation well.

In addition to skills and presentation style, I was especially attracted to the ability
of this group to design slides. With the use of eye-catching colors with a blue-and-
white background, bringing a sense of harmony; use a variety of dynamic images that
are very relevant to the group's theme and attract the audience. The slide is very
scientific, full of content, and few words, they know how to capture and highlight
keywords, this also helps the audience not to be confused with information when
looking at the slide and can focus on the presenter.

The weakness:

Besides the strengths, group 5 also has some shortcomings that should be
improved in the following presentations. First of all, I want to start by discussing the
content of the presentation. This is actually a pretty good topic and there are many
concerns that need to be brought to everyone, so I hope this presentation should be
explored further with useful information that few people are aware of and emphasize
the purpose of the presentation. In my opinion, the content lacked actual logic, which
made me a bit confused. Besides, the information in the presentation is not very good.
It seems that the content is just the ideas listed with available information, not really
digging into the topic. Since the definition, the composting processes, and the pros and
cons didn't really leave an impression on me, I believe the group should come up with
more fresh information to strengthen this presentation’s credibility and valuable.

Furthermore, in my opinion, the team's approach to the presentation was rather

boring. The group did not lead the audience indirectly like asking questions, or
watching a video… They just simply went straight to the point. And by the end of the
presentation, although they answered fluently, there were a few points that I still didn't
like, because they did not give satisfactory answers to some of the questions. For
example, when asked why in the advantages section they say that this is a very simple
and easy way to compost, but when it comes to the cons, they mention that the cost
and equipment used for composting is very high. Although the group provided
evidence, it did not really support the answer. They answered very badly and didn't
get to the heart of the question so I couldn't grasp what they meant. All these problems
show that the team has not delved deeply into the assigned topic.

IV. Key Terms

No. Word Definition Equivalents in Example

Vietnamese
1 Vermicompost N A fertilizer produced from phân trùn quế Vermicompost
waste harvested after the is usually richer
earthworm eats organic in nutrients than
matter conventional
compost
2 decomposition N The process of breakdown sự phân huỷ The
of organic matter by decomposition
microorganisms of organic
waste is due to
composting
3 ambient N The outside temperature of nhiệt độ môi Ambient
the compost pile trường temperature can
temperature
affect the
quality of
compost

4 Humus A kind of decayed organic Mùn, đất mùn The soil is

matter is often seen as covered with a
dark brown or black soil layer of humus

5 N A process that allows sục khí Aeration can

Aeration compost to be exposed to help compost
air to help microorganisms expose to the
with aerobic metabolism air
6 Anaerobic adj Occurs when no need or Kỵ khí Anaerobic
without oxygen incubation is
slow and
odorous.
7 Organic N Compounds whose Hợp chất hữu Cheap organic
molecules contain carbon, cơ food is still hard
with some exceptions such to buy
as carbon dioxide.
8 Inorganic N These are chemical Hợp chất vô cơ Golds and
compounds without a metals are
carbon atom inorganic.
9 Leachate N A kind of liquid that Nước thải Leachate is
absorbs substances from (Nước rỉ của gradually
the material it passes rác) seeping from
through landfills into the
farm
10 Phytotoxin N A substance that are toxic Chất Phytotoxin can
to plant growth phytotoxin cause plant
damage

V. The point to challenge the presenter

As I said, the content of the group's presentation was not convincing to me

because they did not delve deeply into the topic, especially in the section on the
advantages of composting. I think they should reconsider adding important points and
arranging them in the most logical way from top to bottom. As far as I know, the
biggest advantage of composting is that it reduces the amount of waste, but this was
not mentioned in the advantages section of the presentation. Kumar Awasthi states
that (2022) Around 1.3 billion tons of food waste is generated annually and its
production is increasing gradually. The EPA also estimates that in 2019, 66 million
tons of wasted food was generated in the food retail, food service, and residential
sectors alone. As a result, composting instead of disposing of organic materials and
food can radically reduce the amount of waste in landfills to protect the environment -
something other chemical fertilizers cannot do. According to a World Bank report
(2018), about 37% of the world's 2.01 billion tons of municipal solid waste is disposed
of in landfills annually. Besides this great advantage, group 5 should also break down
their content advantages into clearer ideas. For example, for the climate aspect,
composting can reduce harmful methane in the atmosphere, etc., or for the soil aspect,
composting can help loosen the soil, retain water, promote root growth, etc. Breaking
up such sections will increase the rigor of the presentation, making it easier for the
audience to understand and remember.
References

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