portfolio # 2 essay 2
Materials
economy
Introduction
“Have you ever wondered where all the stuff we buy comes from?”(Story
of stuff, 2007). Stuff moves through a system from extraction which is when
they get raw materials from nature. After getting the raw materials they send
them to a production site. After production the raw materials are distributed
to shops where consumers buy them. Consumers are people who buy stuff and get
bored from them and they would like to change them and buy new other stuff. Did
you ever know where old stuff is going?!It is disposed of which is throwing stuff
away and It will be burned or dumped or recovered for recycling. Recycling
can’t solve this issue because some materials are made by toxic chemicals which
can affect our world. All together it’s called materials economy. In this essay
I will speak about materials economy, and its parts, problems and solutions.
Extraction
General speaking,
there are many steps of the material economy.
First step is extraction. Extraction is taking the resources of the earth and
using it for materials Economy. Extraction causes many problems in our
environment which causes to health problems.
Environment problems are caused by trashing the planet and wasting more
resources more each year that can be renewed .In addition the change in climate
and throwing waste and toxics to the water causes pollution which leads to air
and water pollution which can affect our health. In the other hand, there are many
ways which will make it less harmful to the planet. We can extract fewer
resources and improve the extractive practices. ‘We can more equitably share the drastically
reduced harms and the benefits of extraction” (Story of stuff, 2007).
Production:
As a second stage, production is the use of
Materials and adds toxic chemicals to the raw materials to make a product. Many
of products which contain toxic chemicals can be harmful to human health and to
environment. As long as we use toxins in our products, we will get toxics in
our air, water and stuff, which will affect our health. There are many ways to
avoid this pollution. Firstly is to make the product which will cost us more
money but it will be harmless to our planet. Another way to solve our problem in
production is to use renewable energy.
Distribution
Thirdly, distribution
includes transportation & selling stuff to shops in a cheap price. Their
aim is to sell products cheap and keeping people to buy new stuff. This causes
many problems in our environment and on our health. Distribution the stuff
creates environmental effect. Transportation of stuff around the world needs
energy and the energy cause pollution from the traffic and the energy used to
open the mall lights. There are many approaches
to improve the distribution of transportation of goods. A successful strategy
to solve this issue is to embrace and include the fair trade certification to
ensure that new business will benefit in the community. In addition, it will
also benefit the green buildings, suitable land use, and local living economics
which will build communities with a better and developed environment.
Consumption:
Fourthly, consumption
is the purchasing and use goods and services by consumers. We can’t stop people
from buying things and it not enough; we have to buy the least damage and
affordable price, because it can affect our environment because of using more
energy which causes more waste and more greenhouse gases. Having so many stuff
doesn`t make you happy , sitting with family and spending time with them and
going out with friends can replace your free time instead of going to buy stuff
which will reduce the waste in the planet.
Disposal:
Fifthly, disposal,
practically all the resources that flow through the economy of materials like waste at the end of the matter we should get rid of them in some place in our planet, And
getting rid of them is by dumping them or burning them or use them for
recycling. The capacity of waste is growing which recycling alone can’t solve
this problem because disposal affects our environment and health. Dumping and
burning the waste is causes pollution to our air and land. There are many ways
to have a better and less pollution to our environment, “Combining Clean
Production at the front end with Zero Waste approaches throughout the materials
economy transforms wasteful” (Story of stuff, 2007). Another solution “better
product design, composting, recycling and using less stuff overall” (Story of
stuff, 2007).
Consumerism in the UAE:
Residents in the
UAE are the highest consumers of water in the world, “consuming an average of
550 liters per day” (Gulf News, 2008).
The problem is that people is trying to find ways to save energy while
the water is their least worry. UAE government is planning to reduce the usage
of water to 350 liters per day over the next years, and a best solution for it
is Water Masdar Plan which is trying to use resources without pollution, it’s
managed by Abu Dhabi government.
Conclusion:
In conclusion, I
think that we should save our environment from having air pollution and water
which can lead to have a bad health and
destroy our wildlife, because the more the cheap products are sold , the more
waste to our environment which recycling alone can’t solve this problem.so we
have to produce products which are made with less toxics.
Words: 902
Name: Abdulla Mohammed Al Bakri CIQ
ID: H00207649
References
Consumption-The Story of Stuff Project.
(2007, December 4). The Story of
Stuff Project. Retrieved May 17, 2012, from
http://storyofstuff.com/movies-all/story-of-stuff/learn/consumption/
Disposal - Wikipedia, the free
encyclopedia. (2007, December 4). Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Retrieved May 17, 2012, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disposal
Extraction -The Story of Stuff Project.
(2007, December 4). The Story of
Stuff Project. Retrieved May 17, 2012, from
http://storyofstuff.com/movies-all/story-of-stuff/learn/extraction/
Production -The Story of Stuff Project.
(2007, December 4). The Story of
Stuff Project. Retrieved May 17, 2012, from
http://storyofstuff.com/movies-all/story-of-stuff/learn/production/
UAE per capita water consumption 550
liters per day: surveyUAE - The Official Web Site - News. (2008, June 14). UAE
News and information - United Arab Emirates. Retrieved May 17, 2012, from
http://www.uaeinteract.com/docs/UAE_per_capita_water_consumption_550_litres_per_day_survey/30613.htm
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