The story of stuff
Introduction:
In these days our
lifestyle demands increased consumption
and increased production
and all this affects negatively on the environment because it is material that
we take from the
environment. In recent years the proportion of
environmental pollution increased because of factory waste and air pollution
the five steps are: extraction, production, distribution, consumption, and
disposal.
Extraction:
The
first step is extraction which means taking out something from its place. This
process takes a lot of efforts because we need workers and machines to extract
these raw materials and so it causes pollution as we are using machines that
work for hours or even days. It produces a lot of waste as well as destroying
the nature and natural habitat of animals like when cutting trees from forests.
Moreover, this process is not cheap as companies need to pay the laborers and
take land that costs a lot so they can use it for their benefit. A lot of work
must be put in it to acquire profits from the process.
Production:
Production is defined as “In the production
stage, we use energy to add toxic chemicals to the natural resources to make
toxic products” (Story of stuff, 2007). Humans look to extract a lot of
productions through the environment and this has negative t and positive effects.
But they add chemicals to production materials
and this is causing health problems for the
environment. For example:
waste, water depletion and toxic pollution result in the destruction of
some of the things like the environment and the livelihoods of
other people. Moreover, workers in the factories must be paid and so the
company must regulate this issue so they can achieve the necessary profits from
the process of the whole business. Necessary
Distribution:
The third step at this process is called distribution “Distribution involved
transporting and selling al the stuff quickly and cheaply”(Story of stuff,2007).Distribution needs to be a lot of things, for example, labor, transport and
money so any producing company must have to deal with the distributor of products. Distribution is known that consists of three types first: the exclusive
distribution. For example, the distribution of international brands (Armani, Burberry, and Dior) and the sale is in the same shop's. Secondly:
non-exclusive distribution like foods and normal things. The
last type, consumption chosen: this
distribution is by choosing of the particular places allow them to sell these
products
Consumption:
The other step at this process is called consumption “Current consumption patterns are
unsustainable and inequitable and must be changed”(Story of stuff,2007).Furthermore, consumption is very
important factor because it is what makes the economy work, people buy products
to use them in their daily life and make their lives easier and more enjoyable.
Shops sell their products with low prices so people are attracted to the item
and buy it but products break in a short time and this forces people to buy new
products again or sometimes companies create advertisements to brainwash the
consumers so they throw their old products and buy the new version of the old
product.
Disposal:
Almost all of the resources that are used through consumption eventually end as waste material and must be disposed of for example, burned waste produces poisonous products. The best way is recycling products but this method will not solve the whole problem. This requires a lot
of effort and the most importantly we must reduce consumption and this matter
of the almost difficulty, and if they do not get rid of the waste this will
cause problems for the environment, health and workers. For example, firstly the environment:
waste caus environmental pollution because it goes to waste incinerators and
this causes air, water and land pollution. Secondly health: emissions that come
out of incinerators cause a range of health effects that cause health problems
to the workers who work in incinerating factories and also for animals and
plants.
Consumerisms in the UAE:
In UAE we
like big cars with big engines that are not fuel efficient. The people here
have high income and so they buy a lot of things and they don’t care about the
negative outcome. Also, people here buy things just to show people that they
could buy, to look good, to stay with fashion trends. For example, buying the
newer version of the same phone every time a new phone is introduced to the
market.
Conclusion:
In summary
if we continue consuming like we do now there will be no safe life due it is
environment pollution which will lead to health problem. We could solve it by
educating people about what will happen if continue that way and by trying to
find ways to limit pollution, but never the less we need factories because it
create job.
Words: 797
Abdullah ali almarzooqi
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APA formatting
by BibMe.org.
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