sustainability, use of alcohol hand gel in a Childre
Posted: Fri Mar 04, 2016 8:49 pm
Hi.
Could you please help me this question?
Q)
In relation to sustainability what must you take into consideration when you are investigating the use of alcohol hand gel in a Children’s Service?
My answer was)
You need to find out what ingredients are in the antibacterial gel. If it is straight ethanol (alcohol) with some form of skin softener it is not as harmful as you may fear.
However i could not pass my assignment.
And I got another answer which is this:
Firstly, saving water is definitely a big issue, but should not be the only factor to consider when making decisions. The toxicity of the chemicals as you rightly point out, and the environmental impact of manufacturing and transporting all those plastic bottles, need to be thrown into the mix as well.
Another often forgotten fact is that the manufacturing process requires a lot of water. This is referred to as 'embedded water'. As it takes 2litres of water 1 to make a single gram of paper, it is quite reasonable to assume that washing hands under running water may not use more than the embedded water in the antibacterial gel - certainly not enough to make water saving the sole decision for it.
Is it correct?
Thank you for your help.
Could you please help me this question?
Q)
In relation to sustainability what must you take into consideration when you are investigating the use of alcohol hand gel in a Children’s Service?
My answer was)
You need to find out what ingredients are in the antibacterial gel. If it is straight ethanol (alcohol) with some form of skin softener it is not as harmful as you may fear.
However i could not pass my assignment.
And I got another answer which is this:
Firstly, saving water is definitely a big issue, but should not be the only factor to consider when making decisions. The toxicity of the chemicals as you rightly point out, and the environmental impact of manufacturing and transporting all those plastic bottles, need to be thrown into the mix as well.
Another often forgotten fact is that the manufacturing process requires a lot of water. This is referred to as 'embedded water'. As it takes 2litres of water 1 to make a single gram of paper, it is quite reasonable to assume that washing hands under running water may not use more than the embedded water in the antibacterial gel - certainly not enough to make water saving the sole decision for it.
Is it correct?
Thank you for your help.