Why Is Consumption an Environmental Issue - Essay Example

? Why is consumption an environmental issue? Critically evaluate the role of key stakeholders in the UK in the policy debate around consumption: Instructor: Course: Date of submission: Introduction. Consumption is the use of already manufactured resources. Everyone in the world is a consumer; this varies very widely from goods to services. In one way or another we have to consume different things in order to survive for example we have to consume food and water, use electricity and fuel (Botsman and Rogers, 2011). . It is then surprising when we begin to think of consumption as an environmental issue but in reality it has become a big issue with concerns for the environment. Consumption can now be easily referred to as overconsumption because what used to be the normal levels needed for an individual to survive have been surpassed now it has turned into a kind of selfish consumption whereby you take more than you need or larger quantities than required. The population of the earth is drastically increasing; it would not be such a major problem to the environment if the current consumption rate was not so high. With the increase of the world’s population the globe seems to shrink in size and therefore the resources decrease too because of the high consumption rate which is very hazardous towards the environment (Daunton, and Hilton, 2001).  Consumption has now become an environmental issue because the more that is consumed the more that there needs to be production of these goods and this creates pollution and this in turn brings about global warming. There are different kinds of pollution all caused by the consistent consumption that happens all around the world. Air pollution is one kind of pollution that really is a concern to the environment, many different modes of consumption usually warrant to air pollution sometimes it can be as simple as driving an unroadworthy car to the production of goods in a factory that lacks a proper air filtration system, this small simple act can bring a lot of damage to the environment (Llop , 2011). . There is also water pollution, as much as the cases of dumping of toxic materials in large water bodies has decreased there are still instances where proper recycling of used and dirty water is not carried out well and may leak over to the main water sources (Sharma and Kaur, 1994). . It is estimated that an average household in the United Kingdom uses up to 1000 gallons of water in a day. Some areas in the UK consume so much water to the point that other places in the UK experience water shortages, the higher the consumption in one area the less it may be for the others because they may have limited access to water. Greenhouse gas emission is a serious concern in regards to the environment. The increase of the production of greenhouse gases leads to the rise of global warming. The ozone layer is meant to protect the earth from the ultraviolet rays of the sun which are harmful, the emission of these greenhouse gases leads to the depletion of the ozone layer therefore this exposes the earth to dangerous ultraviolet rays (Tremblay, 2005). . The use of aerosol propellants and a certain gas that was used for refrigeration were banned and phased out in the UK due to the fact that these gases are considered as greenhouse gases. The repeated consumption of these gases led to a certain extent of pollution that harms the environment. The emission of greenhouse gases has increased drastically in the UK from around the year 1990 because of the manufacture of short term consumer items but a policy has been enforced to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases by 80% in the year 2050. UK is one of the countries with the highest carbon emission in the world and most of this is carbon emission is man-made. Since 1990 to the year 2002 there has been a drastic reduction in the carbon emission produced in the United Kingdom, this means that the goal set for the year 2050 is actually achievable. The depletion of the ozone layer has also led to the drastic climate changes. During the different seasons in the United Kingdom extremes that have never been reached during the winter and summer keep getting worse, the winters are getting colder while the summers are getting unbearably hotter. Climate change could also bring out other severe problems like tornados and floods. Consumption slowly creates changes to the climate and affects it negatively ( Grossbritannien, 2006).  Food consumption is also unfortunately listed in the factors that cause consumption to be noted as an environmental issue. 25% of food bought in the United Kingdom is usually thrown out or wasted. This shows that even when there is a need to over consume at the end most of the food is wasted and thrown away. This means that more food is produced and is available than is necessary because a high percentage goes to waste and is thrown. It is both uneconomical and bad for the environment for individuals to purchase more food than they actually need and throw out most of what they bought Soil degradation is when the soil of certain land begins to lose its soil quality due to improper use of the soil. This happens when the soil is over worked and misused during agriculture. Soil degradation is a serious environmental problem and can have adverse effects on the environment and also on food production, meaning that the food production will decrease (Johnson and Lewis, 2007). There are different examples of soil degradation that can take place, for example there is the decline of soil fertility and there is soil erosion and also the pollution of soil by the use of many chemicals on the soil. Fertilizers and different chemicals may be used in the production of food so as to produce healthier plants and also so that the plants may ripen quicker than normal while in turn the soil suffers and eventually this will lead to soil degradation. Fertilizers and the chemicals of the plants are constantly being modified so as to be less harmful to the soil and the environment as a whole. Very fertile land in the United Kingdom can sometimes go to waste. This is because land that is good for farming may end up getting constructed on and therefore in the end there will be less land around to use for farming. There is a lot of land in the UK that goes to waste, because in some areas there are large tracts of land that are not being utilized by anyone and they lay wasting while other places in the UK are highly populated and congested. These congested areas have their own kind of negative effects on the environment. For example a congested area is more likely to be plagued with so many problems like scarcity of water, poor sanitation and even soil degradation to some extent. As it is known there are no natural forests in the United Kingdom but there are semi-natural woodlands, these are used as wildlife conservation places because a large number of rare and threatened species inhabit the forests. These forests are fenced and highly protected. Within these forests there are many different species of both plants and animals that need to be protected because some are rare and nearing extinction. With the increasing rate of consumption of land these forests could easily be brought down if they are not well protected. With the decrease of trees and plants this heightens the emission of carbon dioxide in the environment which is a greenhouse gas and in turn there will be negative effects on the environment. There are different consumption trends that are emerging in the United Kingdom; some are positive trends while others are negative trends. One upcoming consumer trend is the use of bicycles instead of using vehicles to move around. This will largely decrease the use of oil which is a fossil fuel and to some extent has a negative effect on the environment. Another consumption trend that is emerging is the increased use in renewable energy different companies compete to launch products that can use renewable energy for example solar energy and wind. Due to the economic inflation in the UK, food costs more than it did before, this means that more money is used to buy a little food because it is expensive therefore this discourages wastage of food because less food is bought. Since consumption can actually bring about negative effects in the environment there are different policies that are formulated so as to limit the effects of consumption on the environment. Different stakeholders have to make the decisions that will impact the society currently and for years to come, the policies may change as time goes by but they are all meant to have a positive impact on the environment and the society. The government is the first stakeholder in the UK to implement the policies and encourage others to do the same too. The government should research on ways to make consumption less harmful to the environment and after carrying out this research policies should be set in place to ensure that these methods are used. The government does not have to necessarily be responsible towards doing this research different organizations can take part in the formulation of policies. Policies can always be made and people educated on the benefits of these policies but if they do not take part in honouring and enforcing these policies in the end the policy are worthless. Every citizen in the United Kingdom is a stakeholder when it comes to consumption policies because every citizen is a consumer. Conclusion: In order for human beings to survive they must consume products, no one can survive without the consumption of products. As much as we need different goods and products to survive we actually cause environmental problems. This is because the land can only produce a certain amount of anything that is needed be it food, water or the material to make clothes or cars; this means that production can only go on to a certain level but unfortunately more is being consumed so in the end more of every product is needed. When more resources are used from the environment it stresses the environment causing an imbalance, in that the environment has to produce more than it normally does. Strict policies that may help save the environment should be put in place. Once a country puts down a policy every citizen should strive to live by these policies so as to ensure a better environment. References: BOTSMAN, R., & ROGERS, R. (2011). What's mine is yours: how collaborative consumption is changing the way we live. London, Collins. DAUNTON, M. J., & HILTON, M. (2001). The politics of consumption: material culture and citizenship in Europe and America. Oxford, Berg. GROSSBRITANNIEN. (2006). Climate change: the UK programme 2006. Norwich, Stationery Off. JOHNSON, D. L., & LEWIS, L. A. (2007). Land degradation: creation and destruction. Lanham, Rowman & Littlefield. LLOP, M. (2011). Air pollution economic modelling and control policies. [Saif Zone, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates], Bentham Science Publishers. http://public.eblib.com/EBLPublic/PublicView.do?ptiID=864299. SHARMA, B. K., & KAUR, H. (1994). Water pollution. Meerut, Krishna Prakashan Mandir. TREMBLAY, A. (2005). Greenhouse gas emissions-- fluxes and processes hydroelectric reservoirs and natural environments. Berlin, Springer. http://public.eblib.com/EBLPublic/PublicView.do?ptiID=304099 Read More