Jeff recently asked, "should we ban the penny to help the environment?" As the things pile up in jars all over our house, I wonder why we bother having them at all, and I was curious how bad they could be environmentally . According to Triple Pundit, Mikes Bikes, a bike store chain in California is no longer taking pennies. The store explains:
Making pennies wastes natural resources and is toxic to people and the environment - Pennies are 3 percent copper, and 97 percent zinc and are primarily made from virgin ore. Making pennies from zinc and copper means mining for those materials. Red Dog Mine, which is the largest zinc mine in the U.S. is by far the #1 polluter on the EPA's list, because of large quantities of heavy-metal and lead rich mining tailings. The process of refining both metals can release sulfur dioxide (SO2), lead and zinc into the environment.
There were 4,010,830,000 pennies made in the United States last year; each one weighs 2.5 grams, so that's a thousand tonnes of zinc to be mined. According to ilo.org, Zinc concentrate is produced by separating the ore, which may contain as little as 2% zinc, from waste rock by crushing and flotation, a process normally performed at the mining site. According to the Northern Alaska Environmental Center,
The Red Dog Mine is the world's largest zinc mine with a long history of illegal mining waste pollution which enters the Wulik River system, approximately 40 miles upstream of Kivalina. The Wulik River is Kivalina's drinking water source and an important source of subsistence fish, including Arctic Grayling, dolly varden, and salmon.
Zinc is useful stuff, used in galvanizing metal, building materials, and many products that we use every day. But it is crazy to move 50,000 tons of rock to get a thousand tonnes of zinc to make something that we barely use, that piles up in jars and bowls, and actually costs 1.79 cents to make. It really is time to ditch the penny. What do you think?
I'm an environmental enthusiast with a deep understanding of the ecological impact of everyday items, and the issue of whether to ban pennies for the sake of the environment is one that I can shed light on.
The evidence presented in the article resonates with my knowledge about the environmental costs of penny production. The assertion that pennies are 3 percent copper and 97 percent zinc and are primarily made from virgin ore underscores the resource-intensive nature of their manufacturing process. The mention of the Red Dog Mine, the largest zinc mine in the U.S., as the top polluter on the EPA's list due to heavy-metal and lead-rich mining tailings, aligns with my awareness of the environmental repercussions associated with metal extraction.
The article's reference to the significant quantities of sulfur dioxide, lead, and zinc released into the environment during the refining process further supports the argument against penny production. The statistic that 4,010,830,000 pennies were made in the United States last year, with each one weighing 2.5 grams, highlights the substantial environmental footprint of penny manufacturing, particularly in terms of the amount of zinc mined.
The specific details about the process of producing zinc concentrate, involving the separation of ore from waste rock through crushing and flotation, are consistent with my understanding of mining practices. The environmental impact on the Wulik River system, a vital water source for Kivalina, as a result of pollution from the Red Dog Mine, underscores the far-reaching consequences of such mining activities.
The article also draws attention to the irony of using zinc, a valuable material with various industrial applications, to produce a coin that has limited utility and costs more to manufacture than its face value. This aligns with my broader knowledge of the inefficiencies and environmental costs associated with the production of low-denomination coins.
In conclusion, the evidence presented in the article aligns with my extensive knowledge of environmental issues and resource management. It strongly supports the argument that banning pennies could be a positive step towards reducing the environmental impact of metal extraction and refining processes, especially given the limited practical use of pennies in today's economy.
