I need to compare 600 tonnes of litter to something to make it sound impressive. last time I used number of cars (average EU car weighs 1.175 tonnes allegedly).
Any suggestions (preferable ones I can verify).
x London buses
x Elephants
Some kind of ship?
Buses or Wales are the two 'gold standards' for size comparison for volume and area.
How about;
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How much volume is that?
Is this for a school? what about the number of pupils it is equivelent to?
60 million pound coins?
0.000001% of the UK's annual CO2 emmision by weight.
It's for work. I like the buses. They don't grow and given its litter form the marine environment I might have too many knowledgeable people critiquing the whale comparisons.
Is that a reliable bus weight?
Average weight of a human (worldwide) is 62kg, apparently.
which will compare favourably with your 600 tonnes (e.g almost 10,000 people)....
Don't know volume only weight, and that’s accurate as I'm charged by weight. I tried working out the volume once to compare to Olympic swimming pools but it was too back of a fag packet.
Like the people one.
stumpy01 - Member
Average weight of a human (worldwide) is 62kg, apparently.which will compare favourably with your 600 tonnes (e.g almost 10,000 people)....
Or the same size of Chigwell.
Not sure the average weight of a person in Chigwell is 62kg mind...
=600 tonnes
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Go the other way.
Mars bars. At 60g each, there's one fark of a lot of Mars bars in 600 tonnes.
By the way, what sort of tonnes? A long ton, a short ton, a metric ton, or are we talking one of the volume measurements.
1000kg tonnes. We're a European organisation, metric all the way.
Is your audience entirely made up of imbeciles?
You don't NEED to compare it to anything! 600 Tonnes is 600 Tonnes...........
(stop watching crap telly aimed at an audience with an average IQ of 6 đŸ˜‰
The average density of baled plastic waste for recycling is around 300 kg/m^3; a standard 40' shipping container holds about 67 m^3 so it'll take about 20 tons; 600 tons = roughly 30 shipping containers full.
It's for a wee press release. I find the releases that get picked up more are the ones with a gimmick in. Perhaps the press is staffed by imbeciles...
Pick something topical. "400 gritter lorries full of rubbish"
two 747's
14 fully laden artics
24,000,000 packets of crisps (which is probably what the litter is!)
Eric Pickles lunch?
Three Vanessa Feltzs
[url= http://www.theregister.co.uk/Design/page/reg-standards-converter.html ]The Reg[/url] is disappointing on weight conversions.
However, if one assumes "litter" is similar to domestic waste it seems like 700kg/m3 is a reasonable approximation for density and so end up with 150,000 footballs or 0.34 Olympic swimming pools.
TP - Member
It's for a wee press release. I find the releases that get picked up more are the ones with a gimmick in. Perhaps the press is staffed by imbeciles...
in one!
TP what sort of organisation do you work for? Is this waste processor? Management?
It depends what your bias is as to what might be a good comparison! i.e. do you want it to sound good, bad, enticing, avoidable, expensive, cheap or is it just straight business?
Perhaps the press is staffed by imbeciles...
Sounds about right.
How much volume is that?
Volume seems to be a more viable comparison - litter isn't a terribly dense material - as its mostly empty packages, and in a marine environment we're talking about stuff light enough to float - so comparing it by weight to something that is quite dense like a bus or a whale is under-selling it. The point of the comparison is to give a visual scale to the weight. I could fit 600 tonnes of gold in my kitchen, but I'd expect need a fairly sizable warehouse for 600 tons of empty shampoo bottles and sanitary towels.
I think you need to translate it into area - if we think of marine litter as something that you'd encounter on the beach how much area could you cover with a tonne of litter? - If multiplying that by 600 results in 'an area the size of wales' then you've hit the press-release jackpot
Thanks everybody.
glasgowdan - I work for what is essentially a well behaved NGO, we represent local authorities so tend to be on the sensible side of debates. The project in question asks the trawler fleet in Scotland to land any litter they catch in their nets while fishing instead of throwing it back in. Hopefully the press release will highlight what a good job all involved are doing.
maccruiskeen - I know exact weights but would only be guessing volumes and I don't feel too comfortable with any calculations done. They would probably be quoted widely in the marine litter world so I'd rather they were fact. It's scientifically unfounded comparisons that often undermine the environmental sector.
About 50% of the litter landed (by number of items) is plastic. The rest is metal, wood, rubber etc. Because this rubbish has been removed from the seabed it tends to be pretty dense or an item that is easly filled with water.
Just make it up.
...it would fill wembley stadium
...it would stretch to the moon and back
...an area the size of Wales
...6 Olympic swimming pools
was my first thoughtYou don't NEED to compare it to anything! 600 Tonnes is a metric shitload
TP you want to compare it to something small so the number of things is big otherwise you'll get a so what response, mars bars isn't a bad idea as it relates to a common type of litter which helps.
Or a photograph of what just one trawler landed on one trip?
Well why not say hw many average Atlantic cod that equates to! đŸ™‚ Say an average cod weight of 2kg...that's a lot of cod.
6 Sheriff Fatmans.
TP - MemberI tried working out the volume once to compare to Olympic swimming pools but it was too back of a fag packet.
Back of a fag packet is for area, not volume. Volume you need entire fag packets.
I work in waste management (not in a mafiosa kind of way). I could just go and take a photo of 600 tonnes of waste. That is a lot though, so I'd only be able to get a picture of 600 tonnes of compacted waste, which wouldn't look as bad.
24,000,000 Tesco mini pork pies.
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By the way, what sort of tonnes? A long ton, a short ton, a metric ton, or are we talking one of the volume measurements.
The clue is in the question.
Tonne = Metric (as used worldwide)
Ton = Imperial (as still used worldwide in many commonwealth countries)
US Ton (aka 'Short Ton) = Odd US weight (not used worldwide)