The Effect of Waste/Trash on the Health - Essay Example

The Effect of Waste/Trash on the Health Introduction Main topic The effect of waste/trash on the health and survivability of our planet 1. The economic relationship between level of development and total output of refuse 2. The psychological implications between consumerism and waste production 3. The societal relationship between the developed and under-developed world with regards to where certain trash ultimately accumulates and/or is processed. Thesis The wholesale destruction of both settled and unsettled portions of our planet as a result of human waste only continues to expand as human populations continue to grow and output a greater and greater level of refuse in all of its various forms. Body Part I: The Economic Relationship between the Level of Development and Total Output of Refuse 1. A clear and direct link exists between the level of development that a nation experiences and its total output of waste. Smaller amount of economic development means less industry Fewer number of population centers means less consumerism Less qualified and/or educated populace leads to a lower degree of production 2. Synergy of development, output, industry, and waste Discussion of how these 4 factors feed into one another and only serve to increase the rate of pollution and waste generation Discussion of most developed economies, even though comprising a relatively small percentage of global population, are accountable for a lion’s share of waste generation. Part II: The Psychological Link Between Consumerism and Waste Generation 1. Wealth creation and generation causes a given state/region to consume a higher quantity of goods This spurs economic growth both within the global system as well as within the home system Leading to higher efficiency and meeting the needs of the populace but at the same time providing a disastrous effect on the total waste generation that the planet realizes. 2. The consumerism ultimately leads to a much higher percentage of waste than was previously realized before the economy began to develop at such a rate. Part III: The Sociological Question of Where the Waste Ultimately Goes 1. Domestic effects Filling landfills and natural areas that could otherwise be utilized for different purposes Health and safety affects of leakages spills and other ancillary contaminations 2. International effects Less developed and/or underprivileged nations seeking to take waste into their economy as a means of providing a boost to the unskilled labor and developing economies Environmental effects of such an action Moral and ethical understanding of the developed world dumping toxic waste into the under-developed world Conclusion 1. The increasing rate of waste generated by the current economic systems, especially the developed world, is unsustainable to the health of the planet 2. It is necessary to cease and desist from the exportation of harmful waste to less developed nations and systems. 3. More efficient means of economic production should be sought out and legislated as a means of affecting these determinants. Bibliography European Commission to Tighten Regulations On the Recycling of Plastic Packaging. (2001). Chemical Market Reporter, 260(23), 4. As the name implies, this particular article seeks to discuss the present issues facing the highly populated regions within the EU. It is of special interest due to the fact that the European Union represents one of the worlds most productive and highly integrated economic systems. As such, seeking to reduce the level of waste generation has become a primal need as far as efficiency and other matters are concerned. The authors of the piece therefore discuss and analyze the ways in which current and proposed future measures can effect such a goal. Hagelüken, C., & Corti, C. W. (2010). Recycling of gold from electronics: Cost-effective use through 'Design for Recycling'. Gold Bulletin, 43(3), 209-220. This article discusses the way in which under-developed nations take upon themselves a large amount of discarded electronic equipment as a means of reclaiming the nearly 300 tons of gold that are placed into such instruments each and every year. Although this is a lucrative way for developing nations to seek to enhance their own local economies, it has a very high health and safety cost and is only engaged by those least Martin, R., & Kemper, A. (2012). Saving The Planet: A Tale Of Two Strategies. Harvard Business Review, 90(4), 48-56. The two approaches that the authors put forward have to do with increasing efficiency of production and seeking to find alternative uses for the waste that is generated. As a means of integrating this idea into the essay, this student will seek not to take one approach over another but rather to seek to include both approaches as a means of reducing the seemingly ever increasing size and heft of waste that the current global system generates. Srebrenkoska, V. V., Fidancevska, E. E., Blazevska-Gilev, J. J., & Lisickov, K. K. (2012). ROLE OF TECHNOLOGY AS A BASIS OF CLEANER PRODUCTION. Technologica Acta, 5(2), 15-20. This particular article discusses the ways in which technology offers an ever increasing array of solutions for the levels and toxicity of the waste that the current system produces. Rather than finding ways to reduce the waste per se, the authors hold out something of a modernist approach that claims that the increases in technology that are taking place so rapidly in the world around us will be able to ameliorate many of the issues with waste as they exist within the current system. Clapp, J. (1994). The toxic waste trade with less-industrialised countries: economic linkages and political alliances. Third World Quarterly, 15(3), 505-518. This article engages the reader with an understanding of how unethical and ultimately unfair the toxic waste trade is. Rather than the industrialized nations seeking to deal with the toxic waste that they generate, it is oftentimes pawned off to poorer countries that are desperate for the influx of FDI that large multinational firms can provide. In this way, a type of econ-slavery is developed whereby the industrialized nations can dump their waste without fearing the moral or environmental repercussions due to the removed proximity of the dumping nations. Read More