Consumption
I. Introduction
Overconsumptionhas been a trend in America. Society does not realize that
their consumptionhabits are not normal and not much is being done to inform them
about thesehabits. Overconsumption is a problem because it leads to an
unhealthyenvironment. Society’s obsession with possessions is indeed trashing
our planet(Leonard,book). Society consumes so much on a daily basis that it has
beenproved that each individual contributes four pounds of trash to our
landfills (Leonard,Story of Stuff video). Overconsumption is a conclusion of
corrupt politics andindustries. A system called, planned obsolescence was
developed from architectsof factories systems. A simple definition for planned
obsolescence is “designedfor the dump.” In the 1950’s Brooks Stevens, an
American industrial designerwho is widely credited with popularizing the term:
“instilling in the buyer thedesire to own something a little newer, a little
better, a little sooner thanits necessary.” Basically products are intended to
be replaced as soon aspossible (The Story of Stuff 161).
Theseconsumption habits are directing the planet to an environmental
crisis.According to Okrand Carey, eachyear, an estimated 500 billion to one
trillion plastic bags are consumedworldwide. That comes out to over one million
bags per minute. Billions end upin streets, parks, oceans or in landfills.
Plastic bags are non-biodegradable,and take thousands of years to decompose.
Many of the times decomposing doesnot occur at all in landfills. Landfills
receive trash every day and at the endof the day that trash is covered with dirt
preparing the landfill for the nextday. Oxygen is not able to reach the trash
because of the dirt covering it;consequently the trash does not decompose due to
this matter. Even thoughphotodegradation breaks the substance down into
molecules, the molecules willnever decompose (Ramos, Francisco).
Thiscase study is the focus of overconsumption in plastic. This is not only
relatedto overconsumption but can be called the heart of this issue. The reason
forthat is because plastic is one of the most common materials used to
makeoverall products. Plastic is non-biodegradable yet so much is consumed.
Almost threemillion tons of plastic are used to bottle water each year
worldwide, andeighty percent of water bottles are not recycled resulting them to
end up inlandfills (Okrand Carey). According to Addicted to Plastic, 100 billion
poundsof plastic are created yearly with only 5% being recycled. The other 95%
endsup in landfills, oceans, and streets. Now how did this get to this extent?
Inthe late 1800’s, plastic was developed with intentions to an alternative to
rawmaterials that became scarce overtime (Addicted to Plastic). Now industries
arecareless and prioritize in the cheapest, strongest material, leaving out
theconsequences to the consumers, employees interacting with this material,
andthe environment.
II. Political and
Social Connections
Aswell as environmental issues, overconsumption makes an impact in social
issues.Planned obsolescence and perceived obsolescence was a designed lifestyle
forAmerica. Perceived obsolescence is the motivation to throw away stuff that
isstill perfectly useful, by changing the design of things. Planned
obsolescencemeans designed for the dump (Leonard, Story of Stuff video).
Products aredesigned to be thrown out as quickly as possible and replaced.
Plastic waterbottles are a great victim of this plan. “Only in the United States
people consumemore than half a billion bottles of water every week, that is
enough to circlethe globe five times”(Leonard, video bottled water).
Overconsumption in waterbottles is ridiculous, “ each year making the plastic
water bottles consumed inthe United States takes enough oil to fuel a million
cars” (Leonard, videobottled water).According to The Effects of Bottled Water on
the Environment, roughly 1.5 million tons of plasticare expended in the bottling
of 89 billion liters of water each year. Thereason why water bottles are being
consumed at this pace is manufactureddemand. Manufactured demand is the business
ofattracting customers through brain wash advertisements; making the
individualfeel scared and insecure if they do not own or follow upon
advertised.This is what the water bottle industry did; their major objective was
tap water”(Leonard, video bottled water). Insecurity being applied about tap
water, adds to overconsumption inwater bottles.
Politicsand overconsumption are allies. The economy relies on
overconsumption. Politicsare influenced by the founders of overconsumption. They
spoil the bigindustries because they’re the ones bringing in the big amounts of
money, andlet them keep trashing our landfills with plastic bottles. Lobbyists
are incharge of making this happen; a lobbyist is a person who tries to
influencelegislation on behalf of a special interest (Political Glossary).
“The relationship between lobbyists andlawmakers is tenuous, lobbyist pursue
relationships with lawmakers in order toshape legislation so that it benefits
those who would be affected by the newlaw” (OpenSecrets). Manufactured demand is
an example to prove this correct. Awarenesshas been spread, to stop the reusing
of water bottles due to chemical leeks;making individuals feel afraid causing to
the consumption of plastic waterbottles.
Nobodyis limited to their plastic consumption, being the blame for
ouroverconsumption with this material. Egalitarianism seems the best direction
tohead when dealing with this issue. “Egalitarianismis a trend of thought in
political philosophy. An egalitarian favors equalityof some sort: People should
get the same, or be treated the same, or be treatedas equals, in some respect
(Stanford encyclopedia of Philosophy). Egalitarianismis the way to go because
everybody will be taxed equally on their plasticconsumption, yet have the option
to say no to plastic and avoid tax. Additionalcost to plastic materials could be
the real awareness of not only plastic but overallconsumption.
III.
Causes:
The work, watch, shop treadmill is a product of anation of over consumers.
“In the U.S we spend three to four times as manyhours shopping than our counter
parts in Europe do” (Leonard Story of Stuff,video). Being result of a cycle that
is made out by going to work, coming homeexhausted to watch TV full of
commercials informing you how bad you are for nothaving what promoting, then
working twice as much to pay for what you justbought, becoming more exhausted,
and being result of a nonstop controllingcycle.
An outcome for this cycle was overall reduction ofhappiness. The United
States national happiness peeked in the 1950’s “the sametime when this
consumption plan exploded” (Leonard Story of stuff, video). The cause for
this is because all of ourpossessions do not bring us happiness. Happiness is
delivered to us by qualitytime with our friends and family. Since time is a
problem due to hard workingto sustain our consumption habits. Even though we
have a scarce amount of timeto ourselves two things we do when we do have it is
watch TV and shopcontributing to the cycle.
Plastic overconsumption is the result of limitedtime, un-awareness, and
downcycling. Limited time is a result for much plasticconsumption. Parents
invest many more hours for work than to provide for theirfamily. Fast food
restaurants always are the easiest, fastest, and cheapestplan to follow. Single
use plastic packaging and tableware are accompanied mostof the time with these
reliable meals. Un-awareness of actions such asoverconsumption in water bottles
is a big branch of this issue. Manufactureddemand is the blame for this
particular issue, causing chemical exposures toour environment and bodies by the
production, transportation, and purchase ofthis product. This product being so
inexpensive to produce makes it physicallyand economically for industries to
make again instead of taking in andrecycling used water bottles they get send to
third world countries like India(Leonard, Story of Stuff video). Being
un-informed about plastic bags in ournation increases its threat day by day. We
live in a consumer’s nation,shopping is done every day marking high in demand in
plastic bags. More andmore bags are either stored or thrown out. 500 billion to
one trillion bags areconsumed per year, and only up to three percent get
recycled (Are Plastic Grocery Bags Sacking theEnvironment).
IV.
Solutions:
Overconsumption is ruining a way ofliving. Things like, plastic water
bottles, plastic tableware at fast foodrestaurants, and plastic bags are not
being cooperative towards solving thisissue. Careless or boughten politics are
statues to this problem thereforeawareness is not being spread. Overconsumption
can be solved with the ethicalperspective of egalitarianism.
Table ware in fast food restaurantsis a big issue. No extra cost is added to
the customer so he or she gladlyaccepts it and utilizes it. The correct solution
for this from anegalitarianism perspective would be limiting the supply and
choices to the fastfood restaurants and adding an extra cost for the customer.
The idea for thisis for both the people and the restaurant be treated the same.
Adding a cost totableware will limit the customer to ask for it or receive it,
minimizingoverall consumption. Limiting the supply of plastic table wares they
can offerwill lead to alternatives such as paper cups, plates, and bags being
taken inwith an extra charge. This will reduce much plastic consumption across
thenation.
Water bottles are the number oneover consumed product. Banning plastic water
bottles in schools accompaniedwith provided reusable bottles, adding more water
fountains in public areas,and charging a minimal fee for a refill at designed
stands. Everybody havingaccess to water at most places will definitely minimize
consumption rates forplastic water bottles. This change will also save us
barrels of petroleum.Equal water system for all and new water refilling centers
is a good choice.
Plastic bags are the most reusable plasticmaterial, but the most harmful to
the planet. A good way of controllingconsumption habits towards them would be
charging an extra fee as well foreveryone utilized in the stores or deduct an
amount for every bag not needed.This will not only be equal to the store but to
the customer as well. The storewill charge what their being charged for
providing plastic bags and thecustomer will obtain a discount for cooperating
with this issue. Like this manystores will start enforcing reusable bags to
eliminate both fees for theircustomers and themselves, reducing the consumption
of plastic bags.
Overall, a big harm to plasticconsumption is plastic bags, plastic tableware,
and plastic water bottles.Reducing the amount of these consumed product will
beneficial us economicallyand environmentally.
Annotated Bibliography
I.
Book
(Shorten)
Leonard, Annie, and Ariane Conrad. The Story of Stuff:How Our Obsession with
Stuff Is Trashing the Planet, Our Communities, and OurHealth--and a Vision for
Change. New York: Free, 2010. Print.
This book
explained to me differentconcept in a materials economy, provided evidence,
problems, and solutions tosupport their claims. This books topic is overall
overconsumption but explainsthe different affects from extraction from natural
resources to disposal. Thisbook provided me with Appendix 1&2, giving me
many tips to become a betterconsumer. This is going to guide me to the first
part of this research paper.
II.Short Newspapers Articles
"Are Plastic Grocery BagsSacking the Environment?" Daily Nature and Science
News and Headlines |National Geographic News. 2 Sept. 2003. Web. 25 Oct.
2011.<http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2003/09/0902_030902_plasticbags.html>.
Thisarticle gave me another perspective to the article I read before (the
oneabove). I believe because it reminded me that even though we consume so
manyplastic bags. Plastic bags is the most reused item around the house;
book,lunch, clothes, trash, and to go bags. But many don't get recycled which
leadsto a huge issue in the landfill.
"Egalitarianism(Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)." Stanford Encyclopedia
ofPhilosophy. Web. 04 Nov. 2011.<http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/egalitarianism/>.
Knoblauch, Jessica A. "Plastic Not-So-Fantastic: Howthe Versatile Material
Harms the Environment and Human Health: ScientificAmerican." Science News,
Articles and Information | Scientific American.Environmental Health News, 2 July
2009. Web. 29 Oct. 2011.<http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=plastic-not-so-fantastic>.
Thisarticle was a fantastic resource both scientific and political view.
Itexplains how the things plastic is made of harms humans’ health. If an
abundantof things we eat and drink from is made out of plastic we run a risk to
bebringing “phthalates” into our bodies. Phthalates is a material used
asplasticizers when manufacturing food packaging, medical device, vinyl
flooring,and wall coverings. According to Environment and Human Health, eight
out ofevery ten babies and nearly all adults have measurable levels of
phthalates intheir bodies. This article developed many questions in my head,
like what isthe government doing to protect out health? Why is this legal
material if itharms our health?
"Lobbyists | OpenSecrets." OpenSecrets.org:Money in Politics -- See Who's
Giving & Who's Getting. Web. 04 Nov.2011. <http://www.opensecrets.org/industries/indus.php?ind=K02>.
"Lobbyist| Politics Glossary | Washingtonpost.com." The Washington
Post:National, World & D.C. Area News and Headlines - The Washington
Post.Web. 04 Nov. 2011.<http://projects.washingtonpost.com/politicsglossary/general/lobbyist/>.
“New York Times - Lawmakers Consider Statewide Tax onDisposable Shopping
Bags.” NYT. Gregory B. Hladky., May 13, 2009. Web. 17Oct.
2011. <http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/17/nyregion/connecticut/17bagsct.html?ref=plasticbags>.
This article analyses one of the solutions to reduce plasticshopping bags. It
provides various opinions from certain different people andreally shows pros and
cons for taxing shoppers an extra five cents per plasticbags. This article is
really informative to know about what is going on to stopexcessive consumption
of plastic shopping bags and the outcome of it.
Okrand, Carey. "Cut Your Use of Plastic, Plastic,Plastic | EcoCenter |
Smithsonian Magazine." History, Travel, Arts,Science, People, Places |
Smithsonian Magazine. 14 Apr. 2008. Web. 29 Oct.2011.<http://www.smithsonianmag.com/specialsections/ecocenter/How_to_Tuesday_Cut_Your_Use_of_Plastic_Plastic_Plastic.html>.
This article focusedin solutions. Not overall, government wise but
changes as individuals thatcontributes to helping our planet. It says bottled
water is a big issue becausethey are not recycled and provided me with these
shocking statistics “eachyear, an estimated 500 billion to 1 trillion plastic
bags are consumedworldwide. That comes out to over one million per minute.
Billions end up aslitter each year or in landfills. If that’s not enough, almost
3 million tonsof plastic are used to bottle water each year worldwide. Nearly 80
percent ofall water bottles are not recycled and wind up in landfills.” This
articlehelped me with the process of solutions to my case study.
Ramos, Francisco."AIDemocracy.org | Our Culture of Consumption."
AIDemocracy.org |Educating, Cultivating, and Mobilizing Young People. 20 Feb.
2009. Web. 02Nov. 2011.<http://www.aidemocracy.org/students/our-culture-of-consumption/>.
"The Effects of Bottled Wateron the Environment." All About Water - Read,
Learn, and Know aboutWater. Web. 02 Nov. 2011.<http://www.allaboutwater.org/environment.html>.
III. Long Newspaper Article
"DoWe Consume Too Much?" The Atlantic — News and Analysis on
Politics,Business, Culture, Technology, National, International, and Life
–TheAtlantic.com. June 1997. Web. 27 Oct. 2011.<http://www.theatlantic.com/past/docs/issues/97jun/consume.htm>.
(1-4).
This article does not specify on plastic butdoes on the philosophy of
consumption. This is a twenty-three page article ifactually printed but I only
read four. It provided many theoretical beliefs andassumptions to what people
believed would happen if we were to continueconsuming the way we are. This is
something that caught my attention “Theappreciation of nature also deepens our
lives. As we consume more, however, weare more likely to transform the natural
world, so that less of it will remainfor us to appreciate.” This is so true
because when we make decision neverreally do we take into consideration about
our forest, animals that live there,mountains, beaches, and parks. The next
pages focused on raw materials and thefact that we may run out of them. In the
1970’s many believed prices were goingto rise and everything would be scarcely
but the actual opposite happened. Thisarticle states “In the early 1990s real
prices for food overall fell. Rawmaterials -- including energy resources -- are
generally more abundant and lessexpensive today than they were twenty years
ago.” This is an article I amdefinitely going to look back to, to get help with
my research paper.
"Do WeConsume Too Much?" The Atlantic — News and Analysis on
Politics,
Business, Culture, Technology, National, International, and Life
–
TheAtlantic.com. June 1997. Web.
27 Oct. 2011. <http://www.theatlantic.com/past/docs/issues/97jun/consume.htm>.
(1-4).
This article does not specify on plastic butdoes on the philosophy
of
consumption. This is a twenty-three page article if actually printed but I
only
read four. It provided many theoretical beliefs and assumptions to what
people
believed would happen if we were to continue consuming the way we are.
This is
something that caught my attention “The appreciation of nature also
deepens our
lives. As we consume more, however, we are more likely to
transform the natural
world, so that less of it will remain for us to
appreciate.” This is so true
because when we make decision never really do we
take into consideration about
our forest, animals that live there, mountains,
beaches, and parks. The next
pages focused on raw materials and the fact that
we may run out of them. In the
1970’s many believed prices were going to rise
and everything would be scarcely
but the actual opposite happened. This
article states “In the early 1990s real
prices for food overall fell. Raw
materials -- including energy resources --
are generally more abundant and
less expensive today than they were twenty
years ago.” This is an article I
am definitely going to look back to, to get
help with my research paper.
IV.Documentary:
"Addicted To Plastic | Watch Free DocumentaryOnline." Documentary Heaven |
Watch Free Documentaries Online. Web.29 Oct. 2011. <http://documentaryheaven.com/addicted-to-plastic/#>.
This
documentary fulfilled me withmany history to plastic, issues, introduced me to
many more sections to thisissue. I took notes while watching his video so I can
look back to and utilizefor my research paper. This documentary also gave me
broad solutions to wasteand plastic and demonstrated me different kind of
plastic including edibleplastic. This documentary is key to causes and solutions
to my research paper.
IV. Multi-mediavideos:
"Storyofstuffproject's Channel- YouTube." YouTube - Broadcast Yourself. 22
Apr. 2009. Web. 30Oct. 2011.<http://www.youtube.com/storyofstuffproject#p/u/22/9GorqroigqM>.
This video I triedfocusing on consumption which is the biggest part I
the video, so I canunderstand more things and obtain even more understanding,
Even though I hadalready watched this video before a lot of things were new to
me I believe themore you watch it the better understanding you obtain. Something
that I learnedwas that our consumption rates were designed, to raise our economy
after WorldWar 2, and President Is in Howards stated that our ultimate purpose
was toproduce more consumes good. Many people grew angry and ashamed towards
that. Iwas also blown away when they said that things always keep changing so it
canbe obvious you have the older one and pressure you to get the new one.
Fashiontakes a big part in this issue; a great example to use was the thin heel
thickheel one season is one the other the other one which drives you to purchase
theone that’s in. I accept and realized that advertisements always do make
youfeel bad or ashamed, like: “tiered of those ugly brittle nails?”. This video
isdefinitely going to help me with the introduction to my essay.
"The Story of Bottled Water (2010) - YouTube." YouTube- Broadcast Yourself.
Web. 25 Oct. 2011. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Se12y9hSOM0>.
This video opened my mind to many political views. It gavemany supportive
statistics to support their argument of how plastic consumptionis affecting
people across the globe. One problem I found interesting is thefact that they
make us believe that we have done our part and contribute to theplanet by
recycling our plastics, but what we really don’t know is that many ofthe times
companies are too lazy to go through the whole recycling process andjust send
their plastic to third world countries.
Allen, Natalie, and Matthew Knight. "Recycling theWorld's Trash into Cash -
CNN.com."CNN.com - Breaking News, U.S.,World, Weather, Entertainment & Video
News. 10 Oct. 2011. Web. 31 Oct.2011. <http://www.cnn.com/2011/10/10/world/americas/terracycle-recycling-waste-szaky/index.html?iref=allsearch>.
This video was very helpful and connected to me in manyways. I my after
school program we collect old Capri sun pouches and receivemoney for them. This
video collects chip bags, bottles, old Capri sun pouches,chewed gum, dirty
diapers, and flip flops. Out of all these collected materialsnew things are made
like bags, plastic pots, and more plastic items. Thisdefinitely gave me a boost
for my solutions.
I. Introduction
Overconsumptionhas been a trend in America. Society does not realize that
their consumptionhabits are not normal and not much is being done to inform them
about thesehabits. Overconsumption is a problem because it leads to an
unhealthyenvironment. Society’s obsession with possessions is indeed trashing
our planet(Leonard,book). Society consumes so much on a daily basis that it has
beenproved that each individual contributes four pounds of trash to our
landfills (Leonard,Story of Stuff video). Overconsumption is a conclusion of
corrupt politics andindustries. A system called, planned obsolescence was
developed from architectsof factories systems. A simple definition for planned
obsolescence is “designedfor the dump.” In the 1950’s Brooks Stevens, an
American industrial designerwho is widely credited with popularizing the term:
“instilling in the buyer thedesire to own something a little newer, a little
better, a little sooner thanits necessary.” Basically products are intended to
be replaced as soon aspossible (The Story of Stuff 161).
Theseconsumption habits are directing the planet to an environmental
crisis.According to Okrand Carey, eachyear, an estimated 500 billion to one
trillion plastic bags are consumedworldwide. That comes out to over one million
bags per minute. Billions end upin streets, parks, oceans or in landfills.
Plastic bags are non-biodegradable,and take thousands of years to decompose.
Many of the times decomposing doesnot occur at all in landfills. Landfills
receive trash every day and at the endof the day that trash is covered with dirt
preparing the landfill for the nextday. Oxygen is not able to reach the trash
because of the dirt covering it;consequently the trash does not decompose due to
this matter. Even thoughphotodegradation breaks the substance down into
molecules, the molecules willnever decompose (Ramos, Francisco).
Thiscase study is the focus of overconsumption in plastic. This is not only
relatedto overconsumption but can be called the heart of this issue. The reason
forthat is because plastic is one of the most common materials used to
makeoverall products. Plastic is non-biodegradable yet so much is consumed.
Almost threemillion tons of plastic are used to bottle water each year
worldwide, andeighty percent of water bottles are not recycled resulting them to
end up inlandfills (Okrand Carey). According to Addicted to Plastic, 100 billion
poundsof plastic are created yearly with only 5% being recycled. The other 95%
endsup in landfills, oceans, and streets. Now how did this get to this extent?
Inthe late 1800’s, plastic was developed with intentions to an alternative to
rawmaterials that became scarce overtime (Addicted to Plastic). Now industries
arecareless and prioritize in the cheapest, strongest material, leaving out
theconsequences to the consumers, employees interacting with this material,
andthe environment.
II. Political and
Social Connections
Aswell as environmental issues, overconsumption makes an impact in social
issues.Planned obsolescence and perceived obsolescence was a designed lifestyle
forAmerica. Perceived obsolescence is the motivation to throw away stuff that
isstill perfectly useful, by changing the design of things. Planned
obsolescencemeans designed for the dump (Leonard, Story of Stuff video).
Products aredesigned to be thrown out as quickly as possible and replaced.
Plastic waterbottles are a great victim of this plan. “Only in the United States
people consumemore than half a billion bottles of water every week, that is
enough to circlethe globe five times”(Leonard, video bottled water).
Overconsumption in waterbottles is ridiculous, “ each year making the plastic
water bottles consumed inthe United States takes enough oil to fuel a million
cars” (Leonard, videobottled water).According to The Effects of Bottled Water on
the Environment, roughly 1.5 million tons of plasticare expended in the bottling
of 89 billion liters of water each year. Thereason why water bottles are being
consumed at this pace is manufactureddemand. Manufactured demand is the business
ofattracting customers through brain wash advertisements; making the
individualfeel scared and insecure if they do not own or follow upon
advertised.This is what the water bottle industry did; their major objective was
tap water”(Leonard, video bottled water). Insecurity being applied about tap
water, adds to overconsumption inwater bottles.
Politicsand overconsumption are allies. The economy relies on
overconsumption. Politicsare influenced by the founders of overconsumption. They
spoil the bigindustries because they’re the ones bringing in the big amounts of
money, andlet them keep trashing our landfills with plastic bottles. Lobbyists
are incharge of making this happen; a lobbyist is a person who tries to
influencelegislation on behalf of a special interest (Political Glossary).
“The relationship between lobbyists andlawmakers is tenuous, lobbyist pursue
relationships with lawmakers in order toshape legislation so that it benefits
those who would be affected by the newlaw” (OpenSecrets). Manufactured demand is
an example to prove this correct. Awarenesshas been spread, to stop the reusing
of water bottles due to chemical leeks;making individuals feel afraid causing to
the consumption of plastic waterbottles.
Nobodyis limited to their plastic consumption, being the blame for
ouroverconsumption with this material. Egalitarianism seems the best direction
tohead when dealing with this issue. “Egalitarianismis a trend of thought in
political philosophy. An egalitarian favors equalityof some sort: People should
get the same, or be treated the same, or be treatedas equals, in some respect
(Stanford encyclopedia of Philosophy). Egalitarianismis the way to go because
everybody will be taxed equally on their plasticconsumption, yet have the option
to say no to plastic and avoid tax. Additionalcost to plastic materials could be
the real awareness of not only plastic but overallconsumption.
III.
Causes:
The work, watch, shop treadmill is a product of anation of over consumers.
“In the U.S we spend three to four times as manyhours shopping than our counter
parts in Europe do” (Leonard Story of Stuff,video). Being result of a cycle that
is made out by going to work, coming homeexhausted to watch TV full of
commercials informing you how bad you are for nothaving what promoting, then
working twice as much to pay for what you justbought, becoming more exhausted,
and being result of a nonstop controllingcycle.
An outcome for this cycle was overall reduction ofhappiness. The United
States national happiness peeked in the 1950’s “the sametime when this
consumption plan exploded” (Leonard Story of stuff, video). The cause for
this is because all of ourpossessions do not bring us happiness. Happiness is
delivered to us by qualitytime with our friends and family. Since time is a
problem due to hard workingto sustain our consumption habits. Even though we
have a scarce amount of timeto ourselves two things we do when we do have it is
watch TV and shopcontributing to the cycle.
Plastic overconsumption is the result of limitedtime, un-awareness, and
downcycling. Limited time is a result for much plasticconsumption. Parents
invest many more hours for work than to provide for theirfamily. Fast food
restaurants always are the easiest, fastest, and cheapestplan to follow. Single
use plastic packaging and tableware are accompanied mostof the time with these
reliable meals. Un-awareness of actions such asoverconsumption in water bottles
is a big branch of this issue. Manufactureddemand is the blame for this
particular issue, causing chemical exposures toour environment and bodies by the
production, transportation, and purchase ofthis product. This product being so
inexpensive to produce makes it physicallyand economically for industries to
make again instead of taking in andrecycling used water bottles they get send to
third world countries like India(Leonard, Story of Stuff video). Being
un-informed about plastic bags in ournation increases its threat day by day. We
live in a consumer’s nation,shopping is done every day marking high in demand in
plastic bags. More andmore bags are either stored or thrown out. 500 billion to
one trillion bags areconsumed per year, and only up to three percent get
recycled (Are Plastic Grocery Bags Sacking theEnvironment).
IV.
Solutions:
Overconsumption is ruining a way ofliving. Things like, plastic water
bottles, plastic tableware at fast foodrestaurants, and plastic bags are not
being cooperative towards solving thisissue. Careless or boughten politics are
statues to this problem thereforeawareness is not being spread. Overconsumption
can be solved with the ethicalperspective of egalitarianism.
Table ware in fast food restaurantsis a big issue. No extra cost is added to
the customer so he or she gladlyaccepts it and utilizes it. The correct solution
for this from anegalitarianism perspective would be limiting the supply and
choices to the fastfood restaurants and adding an extra cost for the customer.
The idea for thisis for both the people and the restaurant be treated the same.
Adding a cost totableware will limit the customer to ask for it or receive it,
minimizingoverall consumption. Limiting the supply of plastic table wares they
can offerwill lead to alternatives such as paper cups, plates, and bags being
taken inwith an extra charge. This will reduce much plastic consumption across
thenation.
Water bottles are the number oneover consumed product. Banning plastic water
bottles in schools accompaniedwith provided reusable bottles, adding more water
fountains in public areas,and charging a minimal fee for a refill at designed
stands. Everybody havingaccess to water at most places will definitely minimize
consumption rates forplastic water bottles. This change will also save us
barrels of petroleum.Equal water system for all and new water refilling centers
is a good choice.
Plastic bags are the most reusable plasticmaterial, but the most harmful to
the planet. A good way of controllingconsumption habits towards them would be
charging an extra fee as well foreveryone utilized in the stores or deduct an
amount for every bag not needed.This will not only be equal to the store but to
the customer as well. The storewill charge what their being charged for
providing plastic bags and thecustomer will obtain a discount for cooperating
with this issue. Like this manystores will start enforcing reusable bags to
eliminate both fees for theircustomers and themselves, reducing the consumption
of plastic bags.
Overall, a big harm to plasticconsumption is plastic bags, plastic tableware,
and plastic water bottles.Reducing the amount of these consumed product will
beneficial us economicallyand environmentally.
Annotated Bibliography
I.
Book
(Shorten)
Leonard, Annie, and Ariane Conrad. The Story of Stuff:How Our Obsession with
Stuff Is Trashing the Planet, Our Communities, and OurHealth--and a Vision for
Change. New York: Free, 2010. Print.
This book
explained to me differentconcept in a materials economy, provided evidence,
problems, and solutions tosupport their claims. This books topic is overall
overconsumption but explainsthe different affects from extraction from natural
resources to disposal. Thisbook provided me with Appendix 1&2, giving me
many tips to become a betterconsumer. This is going to guide me to the first
part of this research paper.
II.Short Newspapers Articles
"Are Plastic Grocery BagsSacking the Environment?" Daily Nature and Science
News and Headlines |National Geographic News. 2 Sept. 2003. Web. 25 Oct.
2011.<http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2003/09/0902_030902_plasticbags.html>.
Thisarticle gave me another perspective to the article I read before (the
oneabove). I believe because it reminded me that even though we consume so
manyplastic bags. Plastic bags is the most reused item around the house;
book,lunch, clothes, trash, and to go bags. But many don't get recycled which
leadsto a huge issue in the landfill.
"Egalitarianism(Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)." Stanford Encyclopedia
ofPhilosophy. Web. 04 Nov. 2011.<http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/egalitarianism/>.
Knoblauch, Jessica A. "Plastic Not-So-Fantastic: Howthe Versatile Material
Harms the Environment and Human Health: ScientificAmerican." Science News,
Articles and Information | Scientific American.Environmental Health News, 2 July
2009. Web. 29 Oct. 2011.<http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=plastic-not-so-fantastic>.
Thisarticle was a fantastic resource both scientific and political view.
Itexplains how the things plastic is made of harms humans’ health. If an
abundantof things we eat and drink from is made out of plastic we run a risk to
bebringing “phthalates” into our bodies. Phthalates is a material used
asplasticizers when manufacturing food packaging, medical device, vinyl
flooring,and wall coverings. According to Environment and Human Health, eight
out ofevery ten babies and nearly all adults have measurable levels of
phthalates intheir bodies. This article developed many questions in my head,
like what isthe government doing to protect out health? Why is this legal
material if itharms our health?
"Lobbyists | OpenSecrets." OpenSecrets.org:Money in Politics -- See Who's
Giving & Who's Getting. Web. 04 Nov.2011. <http://www.opensecrets.org/industries/indus.php?ind=K02>.
"Lobbyist| Politics Glossary | Washingtonpost.com." The Washington
Post:National, World & D.C. Area News and Headlines - The Washington
Post.Web. 04 Nov. 2011.<http://projects.washingtonpost.com/politicsglossary/general/lobbyist/>.
“New York Times - Lawmakers Consider Statewide Tax onDisposable Shopping
Bags.” NYT. Gregory B. Hladky., May 13, 2009. Web. 17Oct.
2011. <http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/17/nyregion/connecticut/17bagsct.html?ref=plasticbags>.
This article analyses one of the solutions to reduce plasticshopping bags. It
provides various opinions from certain different people andreally shows pros and
cons for taxing shoppers an extra five cents per plasticbags. This article is
really informative to know about what is going on to stopexcessive consumption
of plastic shopping bags and the outcome of it.
Okrand, Carey. "Cut Your Use of Plastic, Plastic,Plastic | EcoCenter |
Smithsonian Magazine." History, Travel, Arts,Science, People, Places |
Smithsonian Magazine. 14 Apr. 2008. Web. 29 Oct.2011.<http://www.smithsonianmag.com/specialsections/ecocenter/How_to_Tuesday_Cut_Your_Use_of_Plastic_Plastic_Plastic.html>.
This article focusedin solutions. Not overall, government wise but
changes as individuals thatcontributes to helping our planet. It says bottled
water is a big issue becausethey are not recycled and provided me with these
shocking statistics “eachyear, an estimated 500 billion to 1 trillion plastic
bags are consumedworldwide. That comes out to over one million per minute.
Billions end up aslitter each year or in landfills. If that’s not enough, almost
3 million tonsof plastic are used to bottle water each year worldwide. Nearly 80
percent ofall water bottles are not recycled and wind up in landfills.” This
articlehelped me with the process of solutions to my case study.
Ramos, Francisco."AIDemocracy.org | Our Culture of Consumption."
AIDemocracy.org |Educating, Cultivating, and Mobilizing Young People. 20 Feb.
2009. Web. 02Nov. 2011.<http://www.aidemocracy.org/students/our-culture-of-consumption/>.
"The Effects of Bottled Wateron the Environment." All About Water - Read,
Learn, and Know aboutWater. Web. 02 Nov. 2011.<http://www.allaboutwater.org/environment.html>.
III. Long Newspaper Article
"DoWe Consume Too Much?" The Atlantic — News and Analysis on
Politics,Business, Culture, Technology, National, International, and Life
–TheAtlantic.com. June 1997. Web. 27 Oct. 2011.<http://www.theatlantic.com/past/docs/issues/97jun/consume.htm>.
(1-4).
This article does not specify on plastic butdoes on the philosophy of
consumption. This is a twenty-three page article ifactually printed but I only
read four. It provided many theoretical beliefs andassumptions to what people
believed would happen if we were to continueconsuming the way we are. This is
something that caught my attention “Theappreciation of nature also deepens our
lives. As we consume more, however, weare more likely to transform the natural
world, so that less of it will remainfor us to appreciate.” This is so true
because when we make decision neverreally do we take into consideration about
our forest, animals that live there,mountains, beaches, and parks. The next
pages focused on raw materials and thefact that we may run out of them. In the
1970’s many believed prices were goingto rise and everything would be scarcely
but the actual opposite happened. Thisarticle states “In the early 1990s real
prices for food overall fell. Rawmaterials -- including energy resources -- are
generally more abundant and lessexpensive today than they were twenty years
ago.” This is an article I amdefinitely going to look back to, to get help with
my research paper.
"Do WeConsume Too Much?" The Atlantic — News and Analysis on
Politics,
Business, Culture, Technology, National, International, and Life
–
TheAtlantic.com. June 1997. Web.
27 Oct. 2011. <http://www.theatlantic.com/past/docs/issues/97jun/consume.htm>.
(1-4).
This article does not specify on plastic butdoes on the philosophy
of
consumption. This is a twenty-three page article if actually printed but I
only
read four. It provided many theoretical beliefs and assumptions to what
people
believed would happen if we were to continue consuming the way we are.
This is
something that caught my attention “The appreciation of nature also
deepens our
lives. As we consume more, however, we are more likely to
transform the natural
world, so that less of it will remain for us to
appreciate.” This is so true
because when we make decision never really do we
take into consideration about
our forest, animals that live there, mountains,
beaches, and parks. The next
pages focused on raw materials and the fact that
we may run out of them. In the
1970’s many believed prices were going to rise
and everything would be scarcely
but the actual opposite happened. This
article states “In the early 1990s real
prices for food overall fell. Raw
materials -- including energy resources --
are generally more abundant and
less expensive today than they were twenty
years ago.” This is an article I
am definitely going to look back to, to get
help with my research paper.
IV.Documentary:
"Addicted To Plastic | Watch Free DocumentaryOnline." Documentary Heaven |
Watch Free Documentaries Online. Web.29 Oct. 2011. <http://documentaryheaven.com/addicted-to-plastic/#>.
This
documentary fulfilled me withmany history to plastic, issues, introduced me to
many more sections to thisissue. I took notes while watching his video so I can
look back to and utilizefor my research paper. This documentary also gave me
broad solutions to wasteand plastic and demonstrated me different kind of
plastic including edibleplastic. This documentary is key to causes and solutions
to my research paper.
IV. Multi-mediavideos:
"Storyofstuffproject's Channel- YouTube." YouTube - Broadcast Yourself. 22
Apr. 2009. Web. 30Oct. 2011.<http://www.youtube.com/storyofstuffproject#p/u/22/9GorqroigqM>.
This video I triedfocusing on consumption which is the biggest part I
the video, so I canunderstand more things and obtain even more understanding,
Even though I hadalready watched this video before a lot of things were new to
me I believe themore you watch it the better understanding you obtain. Something
that I learnedwas that our consumption rates were designed, to raise our economy
after WorldWar 2, and President Is in Howards stated that our ultimate purpose
was toproduce more consumes good. Many people grew angry and ashamed towards
that. Iwas also blown away when they said that things always keep changing so it
canbe obvious you have the older one and pressure you to get the new one.
Fashiontakes a big part in this issue; a great example to use was the thin heel
thickheel one season is one the other the other one which drives you to purchase
theone that’s in. I accept and realized that advertisements always do make
youfeel bad or ashamed, like: “tiered of those ugly brittle nails?”. This video
isdefinitely going to help me with the introduction to my essay.
"The Story of Bottled Water (2010) - YouTube." YouTube- Broadcast Yourself.
Web. 25 Oct. 2011. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Se12y9hSOM0>.
This video opened my mind to many political views. It gavemany supportive
statistics to support their argument of how plastic consumptionis affecting
people across the globe. One problem I found interesting is thefact that they
make us believe that we have done our part and contribute to theplanet by
recycling our plastics, but what we really don’t know is that many ofthe times
companies are too lazy to go through the whole recycling process andjust send
their plastic to third world countries.
Allen, Natalie, and Matthew Knight. "Recycling theWorld's Trash into Cash -
CNN.com."CNN.com - Breaking News, U.S.,World, Weather, Entertainment & Video
News. 10 Oct. 2011. Web. 31 Oct.2011. <http://www.cnn.com/2011/10/10/world/americas/terracycle-recycling-waste-szaky/index.html?iref=allsearch>.
This video was very helpful and connected to me in manyways. I my after
school program we collect old Capri sun pouches and receivemoney for them. This
video collects chip bags, bottles, old Capri sun pouches,chewed gum, dirty
diapers, and flip flops. Out of all these collected materialsnew things are made
like bags, plastic pots, and more plastic items. Thisdefinitely gave me a boost
for my solutions.