Consumption and the Environment

996 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Effects of population growth on the environment

Consumption of products and services can affect the environment in a number of different ways. It’s important to realize that every product at some point in its life cycle, whether directly or indirectly, contributes to environmental issues such as climate change, pollution, and resource depletion. Not only does the production, processing, and consumption of products require extracting and using natural resources; factories need to be built and run using more of these resources. These factories in turn emit greenhouse gases and create pollution and waste which all contribute to climate change (Shah). Consumption in and of itself is not necessarily a bad thing; after all, economic growth is measured by gross national product (GNP) – the total goods and services produced by a country in a given year. The problems with consumption lie in how and what resources are being consumed in the process, overconsumption, and waste. Take bottled water for instance. It requires the energy equivalent of over 17 million barrels of oil to produce the plastic bottles for 31.2 billion liters of water, the amount purchased by Americans in 2006 (Pacific Institute). Even more energy is consumed in transporting the bottled water to the consumer, cooling it in stores or at home, and in the recycling process. It takes twice the water than what is contained in each bottle to manufacture it, so one full liter of water essentially requires 3 liters of water to produce. Manufacturing one ton of plastic bottles produces around 3 tons of carbon dioxide (CO2). The process for creating the plastic bottles for water is clearly inefficient. Furthermore, it can be argued that purchasing bottled water is wasteful when you consider that you can get th... ... middle of paper ... ...tal impacts of beef: habitat conversion. (n.d.). WWF. Retrieved December 10, 2013, from http://wwf.panda.org/what_we_do/footprint/agriculture/beef/environmental_impacts/habitat_conversion/ greenercars.org | automobiles & the environment. (n.d.). greenercars.org | automobiles & the environment. Retrieved December 10, 2013, from http://www.greenercars.org/guide_environment.htm Pacific Institute: Research for People and the Planet. (n.d.). Pacific Institute. Retrieved December 9, 2013, from http://www.pacinst.org/publication/bottled-water-and-energy-a-fact-sheet/ Shah, A. (n.d.). Effects of Consumerism. - Global Issues. Retrieved December 7, 2013, from http://www.globalissues.org/article/238/effects-of-consumerism World Population Awareness. (n.d.). WOA!! World Ovepopulation Awareness. Retrieved December 10, 2013, from http://www.overpopulation.org/solutions.html

Show More
Related

  • Cynthia Barnett And Selling Bottled Water

    742 Words  | 2 Pages

    Together, the passages “Business in a Bottle”, by Cynthia Barnett and “Selling Bottled Water: The Modern Medicine Show”, by Peter Gleick, portray how bottled water has taken a superficial and deceptive image due to false advertising and pseudoscientific claims by greedy bottling companies, whose purpose is to take advantage of a free resource in order to make millions in profit; destroying the environment as they go. Both passages expose the bottling companies’ manipulative tricks, in order to bring awareness and open the populations’ eyes to the lies they have been fed for many years, however the authors utilize distinct styles to achieve their goal. Barnett focuses on specific bottling companies’ data and incorporates analysts for support,

    Read More

  • Civil War Consumerism Analysis

    1673 Words  | 4 Pages

    America’s current standard of living is going to cause our demise. Consumerism is a problem throughout Americans culture since mass production began in the late nineteenth century. The obsession with consumerism has led to mindless wastes of resources, a diseased society and economic instability. Rick Wolff, a professor of economics at University of Massachusetts, states “economics of capitalism spread consumerism—now uncontrolled, ecologically harmful, and fiscally disastrous—throughout the United States”. Wolff’s viewpoint on consumerism aligns with mine. Believing that an economy based on promoting endless consumption is volatile and unsustainable. Consumerism can be analyzed and seen to be embedded by corporations and politicians.

    Read More

  • Bottled Water, the Reality

    1455 Words  | 3 Pages

    Zhang, J. (2009, July 13). More Scrutiny Urged for Bottled Water . Retrieved April 19, 2014, from http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052970203577304574276473594279310?mg=reno64-wsj&url=http%3A%2F%2Fonline.wsj.com%2Farticle%2FSB10001424052970203577304574276473594279310.html

    Read More

  • Comparing Carbon Footprint of Reusable Nalgene Water Bottles to Single Use Bottled Water

    1157 Words  | 3 Pages

    Pacific Institute (2008). Bottled Water and Energy: A Fact Sheet. Retrieved July 31, 2008, Web site: http://www.pacinst.org/topics/water_and_sustainability/bottled_water/bottled_water_and_energy.html

    Read More

  • The Usage of Water Bottles Should Be Banned

    526 Words  | 2 Pages

    For ever water bottle made, non-renewable resources are wasted to produce an unnecessary luxury. For the bottled water Americans enjoy, seventeen million barrels of oil are used (excluding transportation), which could fuel more than 1.3 million cars for a year. Most water is imported and exported from places that are thousands of miles away, like Fiji. Although oil is controversial in nature, for every one liter of water produced, three liters are used; the excess water wasted can supply clean water to the world’s poorest countries. Moreover, the energy used in bottle production can supply energy to over 190,000 homes. The resources that can be replaced by ceasing the production of water bottles can solve many global problems faced by a growing population.

    Read More

  • Relationship Between Consumption and Identity

    1583 Words  | 4 Pages

    Many people become victims of consumerism, often aspiring to unrealistic heights or being unable to sustain the financial implications of passive consumerism. The difference between essential consumerism and euphoric consumerism is a very fine line that can be easily crossed over if control is not maintained.

    Read More

  • Difference Between Bottled Water Vs Tap Water

    2641 Words  | 6 Pages

    In today’s society it is uncommon to see people walking around without water. Those who carry water with them either have their water in a reusable bottle or have bought bottled water. Bottled water is the more commonly found type of water carried around, reason being that it is easy to just buy a huge pack so that a person can just grab a bottle a go. The problem with bottled water is that more often than not, the bottle does not get recycled, but instead gets thrown into the garbage. The problem with this is that the bottles end up in a landfill. However, in this past year alone American’s used “about 50 billion plastic water bottles” (Ban The Bottle, n.d., Para. 4). Most people do not see the big difference between bottled water and tap

    Read More

  • Consumption Overpopulation and Its Effects on the Environment

    1088 Words  | 3 Pages

    Think about a sign that says EARTH Max Capacity 10 billion. Based on what they have the human population plans out parties. They have a lack of space and resources. Anyone who would plan these parties would have to take in account for the amount of people that would have to scrunch in with each other, and how many people would not have enough food to last the party. Which basically makes it so the guests are down to a certain number. Our planet is a close similarity to the already mentioned party. Just like how a large room can only offer a certain amount of resources. Despite this idea, the concepts of overpopulation, and resource degradation still are at large and are a risk.

    Read More

  • Consumerism In The Story Of Bottled Water

    960 Words  | 2 Pages

    While watching “The Story of Bottled Water,” I thought to myself, “Is this all true, or is this really being blown out of proportion?” I simply couldn’t grasp the idea that we as consumers are that wasteful. So, I decided to watch the film again to really grasp the narrator’s message. Then it hit me: in high school AP History, we discussed how bottled water started and how it has become a multi billion-dollar company. From a business point of view, it seems so ignorantly deceptive, yet it was absolutely genius. With a little marketing, bottled water became a huge success. However, it is killing the environment and the water is usually comparable to tap water regardless. The “The Story of Bottled Water” is a very well-made short

    Read More

  • Essay On Hedonism

    947 Words  | 2 Pages

    At the present, it seems like that the technology, the medicine, the economic stability has been improved and consequently we have better life standards than our predecessors – we are able to have more, to wish for more and consequently to consume even more. But how far away are we from the Brave New World? – Unfortunately with every passing decade, we are getting closer and closer to the reality described by Aldous Huxley. As if Rene Descartes’ “I think, therefore I am” is transferring to “I consume, therefore I am.” I cannot say whether being consumers is good or bad but I do believe that our individualism and human values are somehow distorted by our pleasure seeking from consumerism. And although, our society may be able to survive at the expense of individual freedom, it is not worth the price.

    Read More

  • Advertising of Hybrid Cars

    1617 Words  | 4 Pages

    In response to the gas shortage of the 1970s, the first hybrid car was developed. Plans to mass produce these cars were the talk of the automobile industry but as soon as the crisis was over, these notions were quickly dropped. The popularity of hybrid cars and environmental awareness in our culture seems to fluctuate depending on the times—recently making a comeback in 2000 around the time that gas prices started to rise again; when unhappy...

    Read More

  • Persuasive Essay On Bottled Water

    634 Words  | 2 Pages

    According to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which oversees the bottled-water industry, Americans drink more than eight billiongallons of bottled water each year. Most of that water is packaged in plastic bottles.The EPA estimates that plastics such as those used to make water bottles make up nearly 13 percent of our trash. An industry watchdog group reports that it takes nearly eighteen million barrels of oil to make the amount of plastic needed to meet Americans'thirst for bottled water. That's about the same amount of oil that a million vehicles use in one year. Oil is a nonrenewable resource—once it's gone, it's gone. Worse yet, the vehicles used to move bottled water from place to place release harmful greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. Perhaps more alarming is that people recycle fewer than 20 percent of their empty bottles. Most emptybottles are tossed in the trash. From there, they end up in a landfill, where they cause further environmental damage.

    Read More

  • Over-consumption = More Waste

    520 Words  | 2 Pages

    The single most important environmental issue today is over-consumerism, which leads to excess waste. We buy too much. We think we always need new and better stuff. Will we ever be satisfied? There will always be something better or cooler on the market. Because we live in a capitalistic consumer culture, we have absorbed things like: “Get it while the getting’s good,” “Offer ends soon, buy while it lasts,” “For great deals, come on down…Sunday Sunday Sunday!” We, kids from 1 to 92, have become saturated with commercials like: Obey your thirst. How much of our consumption is compulsive buying, merely obeying our momentary thirst? Do we actually need all that we buy? Could we survive efficiently, even happily, without making so many shopping center runs? Once after I made a Target run with mom, I noticed that most of the bulkiness within my plastic bags with red targets symbols on them was made up of the products’ packaging. I then thought about all the bags that were piled on the floor near us…all of the bags piled on the floors of many homes throughout America daily.

    Read More

  • Consumerism In The Environment Essay

    765 Words  | 2 Pages

    Today the consumerism plays an extremely important role in contemporary societies; consumerism has carried a part of the planet to the edge of Ecological, social and economic abyss, and every day becomes more evident. But naturally, it goes against a process that has become common in the daily life of people, The consumers need to advise about nature of the products, the value and the consequences of the consumption of certain products in the environment. One of the most creative ways to solve this problem is to minimize consumption of newly manufactured products, either by buying items with a longer shelf life or buying used items, new resources are not used in the manufacturing and industrial pollution and carbon dioxide will be lower. We can Recycling and reusing, also make reasonable use of natural resources, energy, and water, this contribute to the mitigation of climate impacts, will require manufacturers to use more sustainable technologies.

    Read More

  • Tap Water Essay

    1450 Words  | 3 Pages

    Water is one of the most essential non-renewable natural resources on the Earth. Technically, an un-hydrated human being can live no more than three days. In the United States, people consume water mainly from tap water and bottle water. However, the consumption between these two sources is not even but lean to one side heavily. According to the Natural Resources Defense Council, people consume from 240 to over 10000 times more per gallon for bottled water than they usually do for tap water. (NRDC) In addition, according to a survey from US National Library of Medicines, only 17% of the participants prefer to drink tap water exclusively.(US National Library) Compared to the bottled water which is shining like a superstar, tap water is like a diligent worker in the shade, unpopular but useful. The extremely unbalance of bottled water consumption implies that a commonly hold conception exists: bottle water is superior to tap water. In fact, scientific evidence proves that tap water is nothing different than bottle water. More importantly, the excessive consumption of bottled water is an irrational use of resources and creates severe environmental issues.

    Read More

More about Consumption and the Environment

Open Document