Mass consumption and its impact on ecology

Муниципальное бюджетное общеобразовательное

учреждение города Новосибирска

"Экономический лицей"

Тема: Mass consumption and its impact on ecology

Новосибирск 2019

Contents

I Introduction 3

II The ecological and ethical problems created by the consumerism culture 6

How can we change the environment in our country …………………………11

Environmental problems of the Novosibirsk region………………………….13

III. The Survey…………………………………………………………………….16

IV. Conclusion 18

V. Questionnaire…………………………………………………………………..19

VI. The List of Literature 20

Introduction

Ecology is a relatively young science, but its principles have been developing throughout history. People early realized that the use of natural resources must be reasonable, without disturbing the physical and biological mechanisms of nature and thus maintaining the basis of their existence. The idea of nature protection and, in particular, the beauty of nature was close to the citizens of Ancient Greece. So, the ancient Greek poet Horace in a letter to the patrician Fusku Avidius said: “There are magnificent colonnades in your gardens. Aren’t they built to lock up groves and forests? The nature that you chase away with the blows of the axe, that you chase through the doors of your houses, fortunately, comes back through the window.” Many people since Renaissance to the 19th century devoted their lives to the study of natural processes, animal life. And yet, at the dawn of its development, ecology was engaged in a descriptive study of nature.

The key point in the development of ecological knowledge was the emergence of the term «ecology». In September 14, 1866 the German biologist E. Haeckel (1834-1919) finished writing the fundamental work “General morphology of organisms.” Classifying sections of biology in one of the footnotes, Haeckel first used the word “ecology” (from Greek. Oikos-home, dwelling, homeland, residence, abode and logos-word, teaching) in relation to scientific knowledge.

The concept of ecology is now becoming global. From about the middle of the 20th century people started to pay more attention to environmental problems which appeared with the industrialization, but, unfortunately, attention is not enough. The islands of trash are swimming in the ocean, water animals are dying because of it as they take plastic for food. There are a lot more problems that come from human intervention in natural processes, but little amount of people takes it seriously. Many choose to ignore the problem as they do not see the consequences of people’s doings.

Our life has become faster and fuller, we receive new information every day and every day we have new problems to solve, new matters to think about. The production in the developed countries has also become much faster – the shelves in the shops are always full, the types of goods are enormous. People can find whatever they want and buy it. As a consequence, the value of the product becomes muffled. Here comes the term consumer – a person who buys goods or services for their own use. People have been consumers since their appearance on Earth, but the impact of their doings was not so noticeable as all the goods were organic. Now that we have many nonorganic products, the nature begins to suffer from all this trash that we leave after us. We, average citizens, often help to

multiply it – we throw away plastic pockets or the covers of goods, paper, glass without separating them so they could be recycled. The trash disappears, and its forthcoming destiny is of no interest to us. But what we do not realize is that plastic can easily outlive us. For example, plastic bottles decompose over 100 years.

Fast food and fast fashion are the phenomena that could only happen in our time. They perfectly support our lifestyle, they are convenient and cheap and, of course, they are also non-ecological. The fast food industry is the main source of garbage and waste around the world, and McDonald’s is one of the largest among fast food chains. While they are taking steps to promote recycling and reduce waste, they still have a lot of work to do.

A contemporary term «fast fashion» is used to describe clothing which imitates the latest trends and is sold for cheap prices. Journalist Elizabeth L. Cline notes in her article “Where Does Discarded Clothing Go?” that Americans are purchasing five times the amount of clothing than they did in 1980. Due to this rise in consumption, developed countries are producing more and more garments each season. This continuous purchasing of new merchandise is resulting in more and more textiles being discarded yearly which leads to big environmental problems.

I am very interested in the topic of ecology. I try to minimize waste I make in my everyday life. For example, I do not usually buy coffee take-away, I do not go to Mc Donald’s, KFC and others, I try to buy clothes which I am sure I am going to wear for a long time. Unfortunately, it is very hard to live in Novosibirsk and divide rubbish because we have few special bins and the recycling centers are very far away from my place of living. That is why it is important to make people pay attention to this problem and talk about the importance of preserving the environment. Maybe we can change the situation for the better.

Such ecological situation on our planet raises the following questions: How can we reduce the waste? How can we replace the products we use to more ecologically right ones? How can we make the population of our planet more aware of the problem? How can we help the ecological situation in our country in our everyday life?

The ecological and ethical problems created by the consumerism1 culture

The environmental problem arose because of human society’s intervention in the environment (nature). Recently, the conflict between society and nature has intensified, creating a real threat of irreversible changes in natural systems, undermining the natural conditions and the existence of present and future generations of the inhabitants of the planet Earth.

The causes of the environmental problems:

Long-term uncontrolled and not always justified consumption of natural resources (mining, industrial deforestation, etc.);

Industrialization of the economy (the emergence of a large number of industries that emit harmful substances into the environment);

Increase in the number of people and their needs, etc.

Nowadays, the epicenter of environmental problems is transferred from developed to developing countries as a number of harmful industries are transferred there.

Environmental problems can be divided into three groups:

Environmental degradation as a result of irrational use of natural resources (deforestation, soil erosion, arid desertification, etc.);

Pollution of lithosphere, hydrosphere and atmosphere by solid, liquid and gaseous wastes of anthropogenic activity (“photochemical fog” (“smog”) over large industrial agglomerations, “acid rain”, garbage dumps, oil pollution of the world ocean, radioactive pollution of the world ocean as a result of radioactive waste disposal, etc.);

Poisoning of the environment with chemicals created in the production process (chemicals, pesticides, freons-ozone layer destroyers)

In addition, many environmental problems arise as a result of environmental disasters at industrial enterprises (Chernobyl disaster in 1986) and in certain areas (forest fires).

Let us take a closer look at how mass consumption affects the environment. First of all, I would like to give a proper explanation as to how both Fast food2 and Fast fashion affect the environment.

Not only does the regular consumption of fast foods diminish health, but most fast food contains plenty of harmful chemical additives, such as preservatives, flavoring agents, and pesticides. Many of these additives are very harmful to the environment, but it is not just the chemicals in fast food that affect it, it is the whole chain of production.

 

First, fast food restaurants sell a lot of meat. Most, if not all, of this meat is produced at factory farms, which contribute more to global warming than all of our cars all together. How did scientists reach this conclusion? They took a more inclusive look at the scientific data on greenhouse gases, consisting of not only carbon dioxide, but also methane and nitrous oxide. Next, they did a full accounting of the fossil fuel consumption and emissions of the entire industrial food and farming cycle, including inputs, equipment, production, processing, distribution, heating, cooling and waste. And finally, by factoring in the indirect impacts of contemporary agriculture, which include deforestation and wetlands destruction.

But it is not all. The animals on factory farms are literally imprisoned and tortured in unhealthy, unsanitary and unconscionably cruel conditions. Sickness is the norm for animals who are confined rather than pastured, and who eat GMO corn and soybeans, rather than grass and forage as nature intended. To prevent the inevitable spread of disease from stress, overcrowding and lack of vitamin D, animals are fed a steady diet of antibiotics. Those antibiotics pose a direct threat to the environment when they run off into our lakes, rivers, aquifers and drinking water.

Second, many of their products are transported long distances, before they reach their destination, further increasing their impact on air quality.

They also have a negative effect on water quality, as pathogens, hormones, drugs, and the fertilizers they use tend to seep into surrounding groundwater, potentially causing outbreaks of waterborne illness, fish kills, and other hazards.

Fast food restaurants also tend to use a lot of packaging. This overuse of wrappers, straws, bags, boxes, and plastic ware is the biggest source of urban litter in the U.S.

So, if you are a fan of fast food, maybe, you should reconsider your tastes? All the food that is sold there can be prepared at home and, probably, come out more delicious. One meal at McDonald’s is not worth such sacrifices for nature. And even if you are always on the run, it is a more reasonable decision to take food from home.

F ast fashion is a contemporary term used by fashion retailers to express that designs move from catwalk quickly to capture current fashion trends. Fast fashion clothing collections are based on the most recent fashion trends presented at Fashion Week in both the spring and the autumn of every year. Emphasis is on optimizing certain aspects of the supply chain for these trends to be designed and manufactured quickly and inexpensively to allow the mainstream consumer to buy current clothing styles at a lower price. This philosophy of quick manufacturing at an affordable price is used in large retailers such as H&M, Zara, Peacocks, Primark, Xcel Brands, and Topshop. It particularly came to the fore during the vogue for “boho chic” in the mid-2000s.

The business model of fast fashion is based on consumers’ desire for new clothing to wear. In order to fulfill consumer’s demand, fast fashion brands provide affordable prices and a wide range of clothing that reflects the latest trends. This ends up persuading consumers to buy more items which leads to the issue of overconsumption.

The more you buy, the more often you get rid of things and buy them again: only in 2015, every American threw away an average of thirty kilograms of textiles. When you compare that number to the entire country, there is roughly 10.5 million tons of textile waste being thrown away. While Americans donate or recycle around 15% of their unwanted clothing, these numbers show that a large portion of textiles are ending up in landfills worldwide. Imagine at the same time that many of these things are made of synthetic materials that decompose for hundreds of years.

Throughout all stages of textile production, the aquatic, terrestrial, and atmospheric ecosystems experience lasting environmental harm. One of these harmful effects is the release of greenhouse gases into the air, thus polluting these various ecosystems. Also, pesticides and dyes are consistently being released into the aquatic environment in each community the fashion sector operates in.

To be affordable, clothing must not be expensive, so companies are trying to reduce the cost of the goods by any means. For example, choosing low-quality fabric. The cost of things is also reduced by cheap production. It is possible in countries where labor is generally paid little: Bangladesh, Cambodia, India, China. Factory workers in these countries receive between one and three dollars a day, thus providing for the whole family. Needless to say, that they have to work in difficult conditions: the working day can last up to fifteen hours, and even at night — factories are locked together with people so that they fulfill the order on time. Buildings are often in disrepair, causing collapses or burns. So, in April 2013 in the district of Dhaka collapsed eight-storey complex “Rana Plaza”, which housed five garment factories. 1135 people died, more than two thousand were wounded.

The film-director Andrew Morgan in his film «The Real Cost Of Fashion» says, that fashion brands hire people unofficially and are not the owners of factories. As a result, receiving huge profits for the hard work of employees, companies do not bear any responsibility for them. After the tragedy though, many fashion brands decided to improve the working conditions of the employees, but, nevertheless, it is a long way to go.

People take all the goods for grunted because they do not know how they are created. I think that education of population on the matter will help the situation as people will become more aware. Right now, many live in ignorance meanwhile other people and animals continue to suffer. Some prefer the tactics of hiding from the problems, but if you do not see this problem, it does not become less real.

How can we help the environment in our country?

How can we help reduce the waste? Not only average citizens, but also the massive brands started thinking about it. For example, Starbucks, one of the biggest coffee shops in the world, decided to say «no» to plastic straws: amid ongoing company conversations about reducing waste and safeguarding the environment, Starbucks is announcing that it will phase out plastic straws from its more than 28,000 stores worldwide by 2020, a decision that will eliminate more than 1 billion straws a year. Instead of them, there will be new lids for cold drinks which do not need a straw as before.

As to fast fashion brands, many people know, that H&M opened the reception points of worn clothing. They say that clothes are recycled or are given to charity. By handing the clothes, you get a discount, so you have a stimulus to go to the shop again. Recycling unnatural clothing is almost as harmful as its production — due to chemicals and synthetic fibers that fall into the water. Charity also hides many pitfalls: too spoiled or dirty clothes are simply thrown away. The US, for example, sends donated items to Africa or Haiti, where they are sold in markets and thus undermine local production. Or the clothes are thrown away because they do not fit the local climate. That being said, H&M and other brands are merely following the trend for ecology, thus making themselves look more appealing to the consumer.

Many started to think about conscious consumerism. It includes:

buying clothes in vintage shops, second-hands or small shops with handmade garments;

buying a Keep Cup once instead of buying the unrecyclable take-away coffee cups each time you go to the coffeeshop. Besides, many coffeeshops give discounts if you have your own cup;

taking your own bag if you go to the supermarket;

buying a wooden toothbrush instead of a plastic one;

sorting the rubbish;

putting plastic, paper, glass and others it in the correct bin;

reducing food packaging.

This lifestyle helps to reduce waste and help the environment. Some people say that one person cannot change it, but it is not true. According to “Greenpeace”, for 2016 every Russian threw about 400-500 kg of garbage. In general, it is about 70 million tons of garbage per year. If the culture of Zero-waste becomes more popular, our ecological situation can become better. So, there is a question: How can we make the population of our planet more aware of the problem?

As I have already said, many massive brands started to promote the idea of protecting the environment. It helps to make the population more aware, but what can make it be more interested in the topic and thus be more involved? Social media nowadays has not only the role of the platform that makes communication easier. It is also a platform where many people can share their views and experience with the audience. For example, if a blogger on Instagram promotes Zero-Waste lifestyle and has a big number of subscribers, then there is a high probability that he\she will encourage these subscribers to lead such a lifestyle too. Being a part of something important is always very pleasant.

Government also plays a big role. 2017 was a year of ecology in Russia but, unfortunately, the situation did not really change or changed, but not so noticeably. To change the situation, there should be a support from the government, because, improving the environment in any country needs a big amount of money. There are many ways how the government can improve the ecological situation:

normalize the garbage separation and make it more available (separated rubbish bins);

make the recycling centers more available;

make a campaign about ecology to get people involved;

People themselves can change the situation. In schools, students sometimes arrange the days to pick up rubbish on the school territory. People can do the same – gather the group and go to pick up trash in the park, or river banks. It is a small thing, but if it gets enough attention, it can become popular. The changes we make may seem small initially but they are extremely important in reducing our impact on the environment as humans. If a large amount of people practice small "ways" to decrease the environmental impact, then we have accomplished a great deed.

Environmental problems of the Novosibirsk region

In Novosibirsk region the ecological situation is the same as it is in the whole Russia. Food packaging makes up almost two thirds of total packaging waste in Novosibirsk. (All those cheese stick wrappers and yogurt containers!). That means a whole lot of waste ending up in landfills, which means more methane released into the air. Not enough measures are done to ensure the better environment in our place of living. However, in June 2018, an environmental conference “Environmental problems of the Novosibirsk region: state and prospects for solutions” was held.

The conference brought together leaders of environmental organizations, experts, as well as environmental activists from various districts of the region.

The conference discussed the experience of the region in solving problems of waste and reproduction of aquatic biological resources. In addition, they discussed the prospects for the development of the system of environmental protection, reproduction and use of the region’s natural resources in 2018-2020.

Significant sources of air pollution in Novosibirsk are emissions from industrial plants and landfill sites. According to the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Protection 412 banned landfills were eliminated in the Novosibirsk region . The regional authorities had to spend 31.5 million rubles on this.

One of the worst things about landfills is that they're wasting a huge amount of potentially useful material. It takes a lot of energy and a lot of resources to make things and when we throw those things in a landfill, at the end of their lives, we're also saying goodbye to all the energy and resources they contain.

There are recycling bins for items made from metal, plastic, paper, cardboard and glass, but they are either not used properly, or not used at all. For example, that is the typical picture of how the rubbish bins are used - nohow. No one else is responsible for this but people. What we really should do, is to increase awareness of environmental protection.

The Survey

I have carried out a survey of different students from my school. The respondents were supposed either to choose the answer that suits them better or to show their own ideas in some questions:

if they eat at fast-food restaurants

We see that on average 63% of students eat at fast-food restaurants: KFC, McDonald’s, Burger King, Shaurma.

- if students are aware of the conditions in which clothes of massive brands are made

53% of students do not know anything about the conditions in which clothes of massive brands are made.

- if students are concerned about the environment

- if they make an effort to improve the ecological situation

But while 72% of students are concerned about the environment, far fewer say they make an effort to live in a conscious way all the time. Only 1 out of 5 students say they make an effort all the time.

I also asked my classmate to give suggestions on how to solve ecological problems I our city.

They gave their views and suggestions:

We have to find alternative ways to make energy.

We should walk, cycle or use public transport whenever possible.

When shopping, use a reusable bag instead of buying a plastic one in each shop.

Don't keep your water running when you are not using it.

Use energy saving light bulbs.

We must avoid using non-biodegradable material3.

Use a Reusable Beverage Containers

Plant trees.

Of course, there is nothing new. It is a common situation when people talk about doing something, but eventually they just leave everything as it is. Also, the ways of solving the ecological situation are all known to us, so nobody suggested a new idea. However, we can see, that students think about this problem, and it is, of course, a really good thing. Nevertheless, the first step toward change is awareness. The second step is acceptance.

Conclusion

The consumption of goods and services is a major driver of global resource use and environmental impacts. Food and drink, housing, mobility and tourism are responsible for a large part of the impacts caused by consumption in the modern world. There is huge potential for reducing environmental impacts in Russia and other regions of the world through changing private and public consumption patterns. Such changes could be instigated through policy packages that include legislation, taxes on environmentally harmful consumption, voluntary instruments with business and citizens, information-based instruments, including awareness-raising campaigns and labels. Together they would provide a necessary and effective supplement to the efforts to improve technologies and regulate environmental impacts from production.

Today environmental issues are much spoken and written about on TV, radio and in the newspapers. Fortunately, it is not too late to solve these problems. If we take actions now, there might be some hope for the future. Together we can save the planet and all of us with it. If we want to survive, we must do our best to solve these problems. We are responsible for preserving our environment because the life of future generations depends on our attitude towards environment and the way each of us treats nature. It is important to join our efforts.

Questionnaire

The List of Literature

www.grandars.ru, «История развития экологии как науки»

https://geographyofrussia.com «Экологическая проблема»

https://dictionary.cambridge.org

planetmattersandmore.com Fast Food and the Environment

https://www.ecowatch.com «How Factory Farming Contributes to Global Warming»

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov "Waste Couture: Environmental Impact of the Clothing Industry"

https://www.wonderzine.com Всемирный заговор: Что стоит за быстрой модой

https://news.starbucks.com Straws are out, lids are in: Starbucks announces environmental milestone

https://www.vegan-nutritionista.com What's One of the Biggest Causes of Global Warming?