Story of Stuff
Introduction :-
Materials used to be rare and valuable to
people because they cannot live without the basics and their favorite goods.
Something that most of people don’t realize, however, is that the production
and disposal of their goods can affect the world’s harmony. In ( Story of
Stuff,2007) has conducted research about
the stuff that the people have, buy and throw away in the US and the
disadvantages of this process and found some solutions of how we can solve the
problem of waste. This draws the public’s attention to realizing what we are
doing to our environment.
Extraction :-
Extraction it’s “a fancy word for natural
resources exportation and torching the planet” (Story of Stuff, 2007). The main
reason for the planet’s destruction is that we have too much unused and
unwanted chattels leading to a 1/3 of the natural resource areas to be consumed
.So if we kept corrupting our planet in this way no one can live here anymore
and the people who don’t own or buy a lot of goods appear as if they don’t have
a real value. Moreover, we lose almost about 2,000 trees a minute by cutting them
down and torching them for fuel or to clear space. We must preserve the
environment from this destruction or all animal and humans and the plants that
live in these areas will be extinguished.
Production :-
There are many products which are globally used by people like
coffee, fashion items and cosmetics. As long as there are people to buy these
products production will not stop. The percentage of purchases that the people
use of these products can be less than 1% and 99% are eventually trashed after
a brief cycle. There are many countries that lead in industrial production and
they are called the G8 or the Great Eight. The G8 GDP IS 42.5% currently of the
global economy.
“The Group of Eight (G8) refers to the group of
eight highly industrialized nations--France, Germany, Italy, Great Britain,
Japan, United States, Canada, and Russia--which hold a yearly meeting, the G8
Summit” (Lee, 2009).
The industrial production
system creates environmental problems such as climate change, waste disposal
issues and toxic pollution.
Distribution :-
Distribution is in charge of transporting and selling the commodities
fast and cheaply. Transportation is a very convenient and
low-priced as the networks are set up and there is no route that has not been
exploited. The business world is on an ongoing cycle, and to keep the market
going, products must reach the consumer as soon as possible and in the most
convenient way to keep prices down. This in turn encourages people buy and keep
the materials moving and this is the backbone of world trade and widespread
distribution of products.
Consumption :-
There are many problems in the new world
order and one of the biggest problems is the pattern of consumption as humans
are responsible for their own level of suffering. Governments and other related
agencies in the world are trying to make people buy more and to never stop
spending money an unnecessary items to boast the economy. Technology is
constantly developing new product ranges with new options. One of the main
reasons that help increase consumption is that the media constantly run
different types of advertisements to fuel people’s dissatisfaction levels and
refocus attention to trivial material spending rather than other values.
“The real issue is not consumption itself
but its patterns and effects.” (Shah, 2011)
Disposal :-
Disposal means the process of getting rid
of unwanted items that we use in and the sheer scale of the problem is causing
extreme pressure on the environment. These days, it is very a different issue from
the past due to the evolution of technology and trading and the toxic chemical
substance used in industries. The volume has been increased so much that resources
are limited. The oceans are affected and the sea levels have risen due to the
accelerated pace of climate change. Therefore, recycling has to be extended and
people need to reduce their ecological footprint, and still have a good
life-style.
“Almost 208 million tons of solid waste
each year is generated” (Soto, 2010)
Consumerism in the UAE- 3
recycling concepts :-
The UAE has undertaken some initiatives
to keep their waste disposal issues under control. One of these is the Al Owais Plastic Recycle FZE project, which offers three plants in Sharjah,
Al Ain and RAK to produce new product from waste plastic. This is particularly
helpful as plastic does not degrade naturally and it toxic when burned. They
produce around 12000 tons of products annually to those clients who bring in
the waste materials and service the government sector.
In addition, Dubai municipality has a
plant at Al Aweer, run by the Tadweer Company that deals with mixed waste and
there are plans to expand this facility.
There is also another venue in Sharjah
run by Bee’ah that recycles old glasses, DVDS’s tyres and even hair from salons
to make into mats.
Education seen as key to this project as
Abu Dhabi is behind other emirates in the recycling stakes. There is a
collection depot at Spinney’s but it is said that the materials are not
recycled from there in reality as it is an appeasement policy only for
environmentally aware citizens.
Conclusion :-
Therefore, it is possible to sat that an
overall rationalization of waste disposal globally will help stop raping off
our natural resources from our world .However, this is unlikely to happen
automatically and governments must act together with concerned citizens to help
preserve resources and by save the environment. International protocols have to
be enforced but this takes a political will that is present mostly in Europe
and other developed regions at present.
Word Count :968
References
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