Environment Trivia

1. Hopefully everyone knows cooking grease is fine neither in the sink nor in the toilet. There are many images of fatbergs of gigantic size. But what other commonly "toiletted" household waste is a main ingredient in these fatbergs?

From Quiz After the Toilet Flushes 2

Answer: Wet wipes

Fatbergs started to become a problem when disposable wet wipes were used regularly. Sewer workers coined the term, coming from fat and berg, modelled after iceberg. Of course, an iceberg is something much nicer to look at.

From Quiz After the Toilet Flushes

Answer: S,U,J and P

The flush toilet was not invented by one person at a specific time but can be found in separate developments as early as the 26th century BC. The Romans are well known for theirs as well, although they had no fancy shaped bends.

From Quiz Waste-to-Energy

Answer: All these reasons play a role

The prohibition of landfills is maintained by placing a fine on landfills that is higher than the cost of handling the waste in different ways.

From Quiz A Walk in the Woods

Answer: Daffodils

The daffodils actually contain a toxin for the deer, and they are the safest thing to plant. Tulips are so popular with deer they are called "deer candy", and hostas don't have a chance. They are munched down to the ground.

From Quiz Earthly Cycles

Answer: Photosynthesis

Plants are not the only organisms to use photosynthesis; some bacteria do so as well.

From Quiz After the Toilet Flushes 2

Answer: Alkaline fluids turn fat and assorted insoluble matter into a solid substance

Fatbergs can be as solid as concrete. Some fatbergs take months to remove with special equipment.

From Quiz After the Toilet Flushes

Answer: New Zealand

There were actually some concerns the poor worms could be negatively affected by having to deal with human waste.

From Quiz British Wildlife (fauna, flora and conservation)

Answer: smooth snake & Smooth snake & Smooth Snake

A very rare inhabitant of lowland heaths.

From Quiz Earthly Cycles

Answer: Oxygen

Most of the world's oxygen supply comes from plants.

From Quiz After the Toilet Flushes 2

Answer: Biogas and biodiesel

A fatberg found under London in 2017 was almost completely turned into biodiesel. The leftover piece is now on display in a museum.

From Quiz After the Toilet Flushes

Answer: Vent systems bring fresh air to the pipes.

Usually, those vents exit via your roof, so you need to make sure there are no bird nests or leaves in them if they are not properly covered.

From Quiz Waste-to-Energy

Answer: Incineration

Anaerobe digestion is done with wet organic waste, like manure. Bacteria produce biogas (ca. 70% methane) from the organic matter in an environment without oxygen. During composting of waste, bacteria digest the organic matter in an environment with oxygen and produce mainly CO2. This method does not generate energy.

From Quiz Earthly Cycles

Answer: Bacterial action

Many plants have nodules on their roots where nitrifying bacteria live.

From Quiz After the Toilet Flushes

Answer: This way, the liquid on top can be pumped into the recycling process while the solid waste may be used as fertilizer.

Some of the solid waste may also be used as fuel substitute.

From Quiz Waste-to-Energy

Answer: A cosy yellow fire, like in a fireplace

Not only is there a looking glass in the incinerator, there are cameras as well, so the operators in the control room can keep an eye on the fire.

From Quiz British Wildlife (fauna, flora and conservation)

Answer: Garlic mustard

Traditionally used to flavour sauces and still used in salads.

From Quiz Earthly Cycles

Answer: Decomposer

Without decomposers, the Earth would be covered in many feet of dead stuff- yuck!

From Quiz What is Green Energy?

Answer: tidal

Tidal energy is generated from the rise and fall of tides in the sea or ocean level, due to the gravitational pull of the sun and moon. Tidal power was developed during the twentieth century. The Sihwa Lake Tidal Power Station in South Korea with a power capacity of 254 MW. When completed in 2011, it surpassed the 240 MW Rance Tidal Power Station in France, which was the world's largest for 45 years.

From Quiz After the Toilet Flushes 2

Answer: Each of these causes pollution

Antibiotics simply flushed away is one of the reasons bacteria develop resistance. The amount in the sewers is not enough to kill them; instead it helps those bugs to develop coping mechanisms. Hormone products get into freshwater and cause changes to fish. Cigarette butts release all the bad stuff they filtered from the smoke, including nicotine and heavy metals. Not to mention they also add to the clogging. Cosmetics add to both clogging and pollution as well. Especially bad are cotton pads and buds.

From Quiz Please Accept Our Refuse Now!

Answer: Gas products of combustion

While all of these potentially pose environmental problems, the most significant one is gaseous emissions. The gasses produced in the process will contain all kinds of undesirable substances, and the plant has a series of stages to remove them, so that only carbon dioxide and water are released from the chimneys. These include: a) electrostatic precipitators to remove particulate matter, which is then disposed of along with the other solid waste products; b) scrubbers that remove impurities - first a spray of water that contains chemicals to remove heavy metals and acidic gases, next a spray that removes sulfur dioxide, finally a scrubber to remove residual moisture; c) catalytic conversion or selective non-catalytic conversion removes nitrogen oxides. The water from the scrubbers is then treated to remove the materials it has absorbed, collecting them as sludge before the cleaned water is released. Solid waste, or slag, is also carefully treated to remove reusable substances such as metals before the solids are separated into fragments according to particulate size. Some fractions are useful as a replacement for gravel in construction. The rest finds its way to landfill.

From Quiz After the Toilet Flushes

Answer: The water runs over a filtration medium like carbonized coal, gravel or stones to provide oxygenation.

Large surfaces are used instead of sand to allow for the forming of bacterial films, fungi and protozoa. This is important because this bio-film is the key agent removing or at least reducing the organic content in the water. It is important that this bio-film does not become too thick or the filter will clog. Worms and insect larvae help to achieve the optimal thickness.

From Quiz Waste-to-Energy

Answer: Around half of the energy produced is considered renewable, since around half of the waste is organic matter.

In the Netherlands municipal solid waste is stated to have 47% organic matter. Therefore, for 47% of the electricity produced from the waste, a waste incinerator company can receive a subsidy for renewable energy production.

From Quiz British Wildlife (fauna, flora and conservation)

Answer: Fraxinus excelsior

Fagus silvatica = beech, Corylus avellana = hazel, Castanea sativa = sweet chestnut

From Quiz Earthly Cycles

Answer: Sun

Yep. The plants turned the sun's energy into food.

From Quiz After the Toilet Flushes 2

Answer: Gold, silver, copper, zinc & other metals

In the city of Suwa in Japan, about two kilos of gold per ton of ash is extracted. There are gold mines with lower output than this. Unfortunately, only a few facilities work to retrieve these resources.

From Quiz Please Accept Our Refuse Now!

Answer: Sweden

All four of these countries import waste for their Waste to Energy programs, but Sweden is the only Nordic country listed. Their Waste to Energy processes are so efficient that only about 4% of all waste ends up in landfill. As of 2012, Sweden had used up existing landfills, and the country was not producing enough refuse to keep the plants running, so they began importing trash. They started importing the shortfall, nearly 100,000 tons a year, from nearby countries such as Norway. Norway pays Sweden to take their excess waste, Sweden processes it, and the ash product is returned to Norway where it goes into landfill, at a much smaller volume than the original would have been. There are plans to extend this to take in waste from countries further away which have more substantial landfill disposal practices, such as Italy and the Baltic states.

From Quiz Waste-to-Energy

Answer: During waste incineration, harmful substances are released.

The flue gas cleaning equipment takes up around two thirds of the volume of the plant, all in order to make sure that the flue gases are clean, before they are released to the environment.

From Quiz Earthly Cycles

Answer: Precipitation

Snow, sleet, and any other forms of water falling from the sky are also precipitation.

From Quiz What is Green Energy?

Answer: kinetic

Wind and hydro turbine engines are converting kinetic energy to electrical energy. Wind farms can be built on land or offshore in large bodies of water such as oceans, seas and lakes. Hydropower plants generate power from dams built across rivers. Hydropower was the earliest type of power generation plant used in history.

From Quiz After the Toilet Flushes

Answer: Germany

A very similar system is used in aquariums. They are also known as Rotating Biological Filters.

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Last Updated Oct 07 2026 11:36 AM

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