Narrow Your Topic

1. lWhat is the general topic area you are considering?

   I plan on researching the problems excessive waste and landfills cause and possible solutions.

2. Why? Are you truly fascinated/curious/passionate about the topic? (If your answer is no, explain why, and then move on to another topic without answering any more questions.) How did you become interested in this topic?

   I am not passionate about this topic, however, with recent thinking and research, I realized how serious of a threat excessive waste can pose to our planet and way of life.

3. What surprising facts have you gathered so far about your topic? What further questions do you have that you need answered with data? And what sources are you thinking of using?

   I learned that the US alone produces over 220 million tons of waste. I wonder if this includes waste other than solid (liquid, nuclear, etc.)? I will search for annual waste reports from the government to answer this. -

4. Do reasonable people disagree about the topic? (If your answer is no, explain why and then move on to another topic without answering any more questions.) If so, what aspects of the topic to they disagree about? Who disagrees with whom? Name names. Articulate at least three positions you have found.

   Plenty of people disagree with this topic. Republican candidate Donald Trump even said altogether, "Cut the EPA".

   
   

   Republican Governor Bobby Jindal  voted YES on barring a website that was promoting Yucca Mountain (a place to safely store nuclear waste).

   
   

   Democrat Martin O'Malley, however, supported the idea that it is important to take care of waste in America by upgrading water waste treatment plants. 

   
   
   
5. Is the topic researchable in the time you have?

   Definitely.

6. What are some subtopics that have emerged in your research?

   Pollution, the expense of reducing waste, and wasting food.

7. What questions might you pursue in further research, based on what you’ve discovered during preliminary research?

   Perhaps ways to make America more food-efficient, since a majority of the trash we throw out is food.

8. What are some key terms that keep coming up in relation to this topic?

Landfills, Pollution, expensive, solid waste, and wasted food.