Consumer Products: Bottled Water and Polyethylene Food Storage Bags, and Desktop Computer Monitors - Coursework Example

Consumer Products Introduction The manufacture of consumer products contributes in a significant manner to the depletion of natural resources, sincethe production of consumer products depend to a very large extent on the bounty of nature like water, forestry, mining, and agricultural produce. Hence, consumer products and their use or consumption leaves a very large environmental footprint on our planet Earth (Keane, 2010, p.25). Evaluation of the history of humankind demonstrates that development of humankind has been linked with increased consumption of products. Since the industrial revolution in Europe, mass production came in to place to satiate the demand for consumer products, which was passed on to the European colonies, with particular emphasis on the United States of America. Greater economic strength has led to the developed world becoming the focus of increased consumerism (Stearns, 2006, p.40). This paper evaluates some consumer products in terms of their environmental footprint, to provide awareness on the impact of consumer products on the environment. Bottled Water Tap water fit for human consumption is quite freely available, yet there is increasing use of bottled water, due to the lack of faith in tap water (Gelt 1996, np). For the production of bottled water consumed worldwide more than 1.5 million ton of plastic is needed for the plastic bottles in which the water is bottled. This plastic comes from the non-renewable resources of oil and natural gas. The manufacturing processes involved in the production of the plastic can be polluting to the environment and cause risk to human health. There are several ways in which Polyethylene terephthalate (PET), which is the plastic resin used most commonly to produce plastic bottles can be recycled, to reduce environmental degradation (Chong & Kim, 2007, np). Yet, recycling of plastic is not often done, and so plastic bottles are disposed off, causing serious landfill issues. Plastics are chosen for several applications because of their stability to degradation. This in turn causes plastics to have a very slow rate of degradation, thus constituting a long duration waste problem (Harper, 2002, p.14). In addition to the pollution issues with bottled water, there is concern on depletion of the water resources at the production sites of bottled water. Large quantities of water are required at the bottled water production sites, which is drawn from ground water aquifers and local streams, raising concerns on the sustainability of the water resources in the face of this large scale depletion of water resources. In the USA protests against the depletion of water resources for the production bottled water have occurred, like at Nestlé’s Perrier plant at Wisconsin, which led to its relocation to Michigan (Gleick, 2004, p.41). Dishwashing or Washing Machine Detergents In the production of dishwashing and washing machine detergents the factors that are important from an environmental perspective are the energy used in the impact of the raw material extraction, energy consumption, and release of waste products and effluent from manufacturing sites. Raw material extraction issues include the impact of mining for phosphates, silicates, and carbonates, used as builders in detergents, on the environment. Waste effluents from the production of detergents pertain to the ingredients in the detergents. There are more than 30 ingredients in modern detergent, with surfactants, builders, and solvents that can be toxic to the surrounding environment (Risk & Policy Analysts, 2006. p.i). However, it is the usage stage of dishwashing or washing machine detergents that is the most critical to environmental degradation. Life cycle assessments on detergents have shown that it is the usage stage that is responsible for approximately 95% of environmental degradation with detergents. This critical factor becomes even more significant, when the increasing number of different dishwashing and washing machine detergents entering the market and increasing consumption is taken into account. The use of dishwashers and washing machines require high levels of energy, adding to the strain on domestic energy consumption. Carbon dioxide emission into the air, chemical oxygen demand as discharge into the water, and waste products disposal are significant problems with the dishwashing and washing machine usage. All waste products from the washing machines and dishwashers usually are discharged via the drainage system, from where they flow into the environment polluting the environment. A further issue with disposal of dishwashing and washing machine detergents pertains to the packaging in which they are available. Invariably they are packed in plastic containers and the millions of tons of detergents packed in plastic containers is only adding to the problem of disposal of plastic packaging material and environmental degradation (Kluppel, 2003, p.57-58). Polyethylene Food Storage Bags Polyethylene bags have become the mainstay as storage bags for food from the perceived storage benefits that such bags are believed to provide. However, polyethylene food storage bags are causing significant environmental problems through their production, usage, and disposal. Polyethylene bags are manufactured from petroleum based raw materials. Therefore, in their manufacturing process, in addition to high quantities of energy consumption, harmful pollutants are released into the atmosphere, adding to air pollution. In the USA alone nearly 380 billion bags are used by consumers every year. Polyethylene food storage bags are discriminately used without any reuse and simply thrown away. This wasteful use of polyethylene bags is only enhancing the quantum of polyethylene bags used around the world, adding to the subsequent problem of disposal of used polyethylene food storage bags. Polyethylene bags can be recycled to give less polluting end products, yet of the billions of bags used worldwide less than 1% are properly disposed of in this manner. In the USA less than 5% of the billion polyethylene storage bags are recycled (Bradley, 2008, np). This means almost the whole quantum of polyethylene food storage bags are disposed off in a manner that pollutes the environment. Polythene bags take hundred of years to biodegrade (Maiti, 2005, p.175). Consequently they are turning out to be a major environmental pollutant problem. The lightness of the bags makes it possible for winds to carry them out of the landfills that they are currently disposed in, to the streams, waterways, forests, and across wide swathes of land. In these environments they can degradation of the environment posing a danger to the plants, fish and animals that inhabit these environments (Camann et al, 2006, p.5-6). Desktop Computer Monitors There are several components like micro-chips, semiconductors, printed wire boards, and cathode ray tubes that go into the manufacture of desktop computer monitor. While the actual production of a desktop computer monitors means assembly of these components with limited impact on the environment, except in terms of energy consumption and waste, the actual environmental impact comes from the manufacture of these components. For example, the manufacture of semiconductors leads to emissions into the air of acid fumes, volatile organic compounds, and doping gases, in addition to emission through water of wastes like silicon and solvents. Furthermore, the processes involved in some of the components of a desktop computer monitors are energy intensive, and large volumes of water are required in the cooling process. Waste of material is also a significant issue in these manufacturing processes. Desktop computer monitors consume a large quantity of energy. The energy consumption of a desktop computer monitor can go up to 150 W per hour (Lamb, 2009, p.27).. In the professional and office environment, computer desktop monitors may be on for 24 hrs a day. The use of ICT devices is only growing, which is leading to rise of energy consumption. Moore’s Law suggests exponential development in devices in the field of ICT (Null & Lobur, 2012, p.30-31), meaning there is a large amount of disposal of these devices, as more advanced devices become available. This is true in the case of desktop computer monitors. Yet, desktop modern devices like the desktop computer are not designed for disassembly and recycling (McKinney, Schoch & Yonavjak, 2007, p.526)The main worry in the disposal of these outdated desktop computer monitors is the presence of metal content in the form of copper, lead, and mercury. The design of the device does not allow easy separation and recycling of these materials, leading to a significant amount of environmental degradation through disposal of desktop computer monitors. Flame retardants and plastic softeners are also present in desktop computer monitors, which only add to the negative impact on the disposal of desktop computer monitors (Berkhout & Hertin, 2001, p.7-9). Conclusion The manufacture, use and disposal of consumer leave a significant negative environmental. Consumer products that are important contributors to this negative impact on the environment include bottled water, dishwasher and washing machine detergents, polyethylene food storage bags, and desktop computers. The environmental problem is exacerbated due to the large and growing consumption of these consumer products. (Word Count – 1445) Literary References Berkhout, F. & Hertin, J. (2001). ‘Impacts of Information and Communication Technologies on Environmental Sustainability: Speculations and Evidence – Report to the OECD.’ Retrieved May 1, 2012, from, OECD Web Site: http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/4/6/1897156.pdf. Bradley, A. (2008). ‘Bring Your Own Bag’. Retrieved May 1, 2012, from Web Site: http://www.awarenessmag.com/marapr08/ma08_bring_your_bag.htm. Camann, A., Dragsbaek, K., Krol, S., Sandgren, J. & Song, D. 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