I found a great article while looking online on how we are affecting our environment. The article is called Wasting Away: Natural Resources and the Environment. It describes the process in which products are manufactured and then sold to the public, us. “Our use of natural resources has impacts that go far beyond simply using materials that are in limited supply. The environment is affected at every stage of the chain of extraction-processing-manufacturing-marketing-consumption-disposal.” Creating a product not only uses up our plummeting source of resources, it also impacts the environment in other ways. First we must extract the resources from the Earth through mining, construction, cutting timber and more. This devastates the Earth, tearing it apart from the inside out. After we have committed these heinous acts to satisfy our greed there is still more.
Gathering the materials is only the beginning of a long string of processes which makes our planet Earth sicker and sicker every day. Next we must change the raw materials collected into usable form, resulting in air and water pollution. After we do this the materials are used to create specific products such as clothing or cameras. This uses energy and thus generates more pollution. Once the product is created you’d think that this harmful procedure is over, but you’d be wrong.
Items need to packaged and publicized using cardboard boxes, billboards, magazine advertisements and more. The packaging is generally thrown away once the product has been purchased. In the U.S. packaging accounts for 35% of all household trash! (Wasting Away: Natural Resources and the Environment) Although we do not consider this, discarded packaging will be dumped into a landfill not only polluting our environment but polluting the place some are forced to live in.
Even once sold the damage is not complete. Most products we buy require energy after purchase, for example a camera needs batteries so it continue to run. This extra but necessary energy creates more pollution. Once we have used these batteries they are disposed of and after some time the product we acquired stops running in perfect working condition. “At some point, whatever the item - be it a few ounces of packaging that holds a fast-food meal for two minutes, or a two-ton automobile that lasts for years - we throw it away. But really, there is no "away." Something must be done with the stuff we no longer want.” (Wasting Away: Natural Resources and the Environment)
This is a problem on its own. How do we get rid of the things we no longer need? Some is incinerated and some is buried in landfills. Both of which cause undeniable pollution and impact the planet negatively. The article asks “How much is enough?” Do you ever ask yourself, do I really need this extra laptop, or another car? Do you ever stop and think how buying this product will affect the environment and generations to come? No, because if everyone thought like that we wouldn’t be in this predicament.
Those who have good quality lives continue to consume and buy products they do not need. Those who are struggling to survive are not allowed these luxuries; they are not even allowed the basic necessities which one needs to live. A shower, a stove, even a bed, some go without, while most of us fill our houses and continue to consume. We purchase what we really do not need.
“The developed countries of the world hold 25% of the world's population, but consume 75% of all energy, 85% of all wood products, and 72% of all steel produced.” Although the developed countries are the least in number they consume the greatest amount of resources which the Earth provides. Americans have the highest consumption rate in the world. The U.S. consumes even more than people in other developed countries, although those countries have been around longer and developing for a greater amount of time. “From 1940 to 1976 Americans consumed more minerals than all of humanity up to then.”
We are not reaching a crisis. We are in the middle of it. If we do not stop consuming the way we’ve been going, there will be nothing left to consume. If there is nothing to consume we, as consumers, will no longer survive.
Friday, May 7, 2010
Thursday, May 6, 2010
The World: A Ticking Clock
How do our selfish needs affect the enviornment? Do we care more about our economy or about our environment? We want more resources than the Earth can provide. We keep digging for more, wringing the Earth dry. Soon there will be nothing left. And when there is nothing left we will be lost. Everything we have, what we wear, where we live, how we travel and even how we cook, use up these resources. We are completely dependant on the Earth and what it provides for us but when it stops providing we will die out. We as human beings do not know how to survive without all the things the Earth gives us. If we continue abusing the Earth and the gift it has given we will suffer. Karma has already begun to take its course with climate change and has affected millions. The natural disasters like hurricanes, tsunamis and more could be results of climate change.
Hurricanes have increased by 70% in the last 50 years. Heat waves have struck and rain fall has intensified. As we continue to pollute the planet, the planet strikes back. It has been telling us it is sick. These disasters, all these people dying are signs to tell us our environment is dying too. Once this climate change, a result of human abuse, has gone past a point of no return we will be living on a ticking clock. That last hand just needs to turn and human life will cease to exist. To save ourselves we must save our home too.
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
Impact of Progress
The progress of the world causes the suffering of others. My everyday life affects the people around me. The people who aren’t as fortunate. The way I contribute to carbon emission and global warming creates problems for our environment and thus the people living in it. I have the means to stay out of harm’s way. Earthquakes. Hurricanes. Tsunamis. All these natural disasters. They never personally affected me because I was within the safety of my home. They destroyed people’s lives and many never had the resources to bring themselves out of the poverty these disasters brought with them. Even if I’d have been it the middle of one of these tragedies my parents would have been able to support us and get us back on track.
This means that we will not really suffer the consequences of global warming, a shocking reality which in truth is a result of the more well off parts of society. We have the means to support ourselves and consume more due to this fact. We take in more than is needed just because we have access to more than is needed. Why should the poor suffer the consequences of our sins? It doesn’t seem just that the people who are the smallest contributors to global warming must go through the worst effects of it. There is a saying, ‘You reap what you sow.’ this saying does not apply here. The rich are the ones who consume, consume, consume, yet never feel the consequences. We watch the horrible things that occur from a distance, never suffering or knowing the pain. If we are the ones reaping then why do the poor sow?
This means that we will not really suffer the consequences of global warming, a shocking reality which in truth is a result of the more well off parts of society. We have the means to support ourselves and consume more due to this fact. We take in more than is needed just because we have access to more than is needed. Why should the poor suffer the consequences of our sins? It doesn’t seem just that the people who are the smallest contributors to global warming must go through the worst effects of it. There is a saying, ‘You reap what you sow.’ this saying does not apply here. The rich are the ones who consume, consume, consume, yet never feel the consequences. We watch the horrible things that occur from a distance, never suffering or knowing the pain. If we are the ones reaping then why do the poor sow?
Monday, May 3, 2010
Looking At the Websites
Why is the world in ecological overdraft?
Ecological overdraft is the point at which human consumption exceeds the ability of the earth to sustain it in any year, the New Economics Foundation think-tank said. We are in ecological overdraft because of how we use up our resources. We continue to use more than is needed to satisfy our selfish needs and furthermore we waste much of what we have. For example “…why on earth, say, would the UK export 20 tonnes of mineral water to Australia and then re-import 21 tonnes," said NEF director Andrew Simms.” We use resources for trade to occur like oil, machinery, and cartons. All these resources are wasted when one follows the example above.
What do you think ‘Carbon Footprint’ means?
I think that carbon footprint means the way our activities affect the environment. Each individual uses up a part of Earth’s resources to sustain themselves and each person uses up more or less than another. For example my carbon footprint would most likely be greater than the carbon footprint of a person living on the streets. I take showers everyday, I ride in cars, I use up paper, I use the stove, the microwave, the TV, computer and more, all of which require energy and consume some part of the Earth in the process. Through my life I’ll waste much of the Earth’s resources and ultimately leave a ‘carbon footprint.’
Which of the articles interested you most? Why?
I was most interested by the article, Climate Change and Energy. It captured my attention because in the very first paragraph it talks about not only how our maltreatment of the environment affects the world but also how it affects humanity. “But it is the poorest people in the world - those who have done least to cause it - who are already suffering from the effects of global warming.” It tells us straight off about how although it is generally the better off people (including us) who contribute more to the global warming but the poor suffer the consequences. It continues on the suffering of the poor when you click the article, Breaking Our Carbon Chains. It says that ‘heat waves, rises in sea level, flooding, drought and the spread of unfamiliar diseases’ are affecting the poorest already. This really builds up the guilt for what I’ve helped to do. I am part of the group of people which consume and leave the poor behind to suffer the problems we caused. Not only does the article stir up feelings of guilt it also informs me as t o what is happening in the world to prevent or stall climate change. It describes the organization, NEF, helps to save our environment which helps people look on the positive side of things.
Websites:
http://www.footprintnetwork.org/de/index.php/GFN/press/september_25_is_earth_overshoot_day/
Explains what Ecological Overdraft day is. It describes it really well and exactly how it works and why its there. It also says how the day is calculated and how we can take action to make the day later.
http://www.carbonfootprint.com/
Explains what a carbon footprint is and how to calculate your own. It also talks about climate change and how it’s affecting the planet, it then tells you what will happen if we do nothing and what we can do. It then gives you ways to reduce your carbon footprint
Ecological overdraft is the point at which human consumption exceeds the ability of the earth to sustain it in any year, the New Economics Foundation think-tank said. We are in ecological overdraft because of how we use up our resources. We continue to use more than is needed to satisfy our selfish needs and furthermore we waste much of what we have. For example “…why on earth, say, would the UK export 20 tonnes of mineral water to Australia and then re-import 21 tonnes," said NEF director Andrew Simms.” We use resources for trade to occur like oil, machinery, and cartons. All these resources are wasted when one follows the example above.
What do you think ‘Carbon Footprint’ means?
I think that carbon footprint means the way our activities affect the environment. Each individual uses up a part of Earth’s resources to sustain themselves and each person uses up more or less than another. For example my carbon footprint would most likely be greater than the carbon footprint of a person living on the streets. I take showers everyday, I ride in cars, I use up paper, I use the stove, the microwave, the TV, computer and more, all of which require energy and consume some part of the Earth in the process. Through my life I’ll waste much of the Earth’s resources and ultimately leave a ‘carbon footprint.’
Which of the articles interested you most? Why?
I was most interested by the article, Climate Change and Energy. It captured my attention because in the very first paragraph it talks about not only how our maltreatment of the environment affects the world but also how it affects humanity. “But it is the poorest people in the world - those who have done least to cause it - who are already suffering from the effects of global warming.” It tells us straight off about how although it is generally the better off people (including us) who contribute more to the global warming but the poor suffer the consequences. It continues on the suffering of the poor when you click the article, Breaking Our Carbon Chains. It says that ‘heat waves, rises in sea level, flooding, drought and the spread of unfamiliar diseases’ are affecting the poorest already. This really builds up the guilt for what I’ve helped to do. I am part of the group of people which consume and leave the poor behind to suffer the problems we caused. Not only does the article stir up feelings of guilt it also informs me as t o what is happening in the world to prevent or stall climate change. It describes the organization, NEF, helps to save our environment which helps people look on the positive side of things.
Websites:
http://www.footprintnetwork.org/de/index.php/GFN/press/september_25_is_earth_overshoot_day/
Explains what Ecological Overdraft day is. It describes it really well and exactly how it works and why its there. It also says how the day is calculated and how we can take action to make the day later.
http://www.carbonfootprint.com/
Explains what a carbon footprint is and how to calculate your own. It also talks about climate change and how it’s affecting the planet, it then tells you what will happen if we do nothing and what we can do. It then gives you ways to reduce your carbon footprint
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