Essay 2

Introduction:

In our time, consumption usually became a habit for all people, so companies compete with each other for increased business at the expense of the environment. In the last 50 years, the environment was significantly damaged with the increase development of industries and frequent consumption. In fact most of the factories are destroying the environment to meet their demands. So the Story of Stuff video (2007) was talking about the material process system, which contained 5 steps as Extraction, Production, Distribution, Consumption, and Disposal. And explained that this system has some negative impact to the health and the environment.

Extraction:

The first main step of the material process is extraction. Extraction is taking the natural resources out of the earth, such as wood, plants, water, animals, fuel, and many others. Nowadays many factories destroying forests and mountains, and using a drinkable resources as river and lake as a place to put their trash on it. And if they finished from their own places, they go to the 3^rd world to destroy more natural resources. So extraction has a side effects on environment, which pollutes the air with the toxin materials used in extraction process, also reduces the percentage of natural resources. On the other hand it’s not a problem that we’re extracting from the nature, but the problem is how to balance extraction. In the last 3 decades we used 1/3 of our natural resources, so we are using too much stuff (Story of Stuff, 2007).

Production:

The next stage is production. Production is using energy to mix the natural resources with toxic chemicals to make toxic products. This means that the products with chemical additions will have a negative impact on the health and environment. As for our health, it’s affected by the production activity which pollutes the air, food and water. On the other hand people who run this toxic operation are pregnant women who don’t have any choices, even though they know that they are more susceptible to the cancer and many other dangerous diseases. The duty of the government is to save the lives of these people and judge some factories. Otherwise we can make the production less poison and safer by reducing the toxic materials in the process.

Distribution:

Distribution is defined as “The movement of goods and services from the source through a distribution channel, right up to the final customer, consumer, or user” (Business Dictionary, 2012). The aim of this process is to reduce the price of products to make people consume more and more. As for the company workers, many work hard and then don’t get what they deserve. As long as the distribution process is going on, it increased people's consumption and exceeds the resulting waste. Elsewhere studies have demonstrated that in America that 99% of the products are turned into useless waste (Story of Stuff, 2007).

Consumption:

The fourth step is Consumption. “Current consumption patterns are unsustainable and inequitable and must be changed” (The Story of Stuff Project, 2007). With the increase of the consumption habit over around the world, more negative impacts arise on the planet, which means more lost natural resources. Relating to a research that show the 1% of the items will still be in use after 6 months in the US (Story of Stuff, 2007).

Disposal:

The last step of the material process system is Disposal. “Virtually all the resources flowing through the materials economy eventually end up as waste to be disposed somewhere” (The Story of Stuff Project, 2007). So usually they get rid of the waste by burn it or put it in big hole in the ground. In both cases the air, water, and ground will be polluted, that could change the climate of the weather because of the toxic materials used in the industry, which go in the air when we burn them. Otherwise, recycling is the one of the solutions of this problem because it’s safe and doesn’t have any bad effects the environment. As consumers the responsibilities we have are, we must moderate our shopping and take products that we can recycle.

Consumerism in UAE:

In the UAE, many people think that the one who buys luxury items he’s the unique one. And for example the person who buy 2 to 3 cars for only that the people will talk about him. In fact that in the last 10 years, the rate of consumption in the UAE increased rapidly. One example of this is “UAE people have emerged as the world’s largest water consumers, with the average per capita consumption standing at 500 liters per day” (Emirates247, 2011).

Conclusion:

To be concluded, now I know the importance of limiting my consumption, that if we continue consuming a lot we will enjoy it now but later on it will smack us in the face with its negative impacts on our health and on the environment. We could solve this problem by enlightening people to consume less by informing them about what will happen if we continue living the over consumer life.

Word Count: 841

References

Al Bawaba. (2007, September 25). Consumerism in Middle East. Retrieved May 26, 2013, from http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.hct.ac.ae/docview/194818602/13E3392CB387300ECAB/1?accountid=1215

Ligaya, A. (2009, June 30). Consumer thrift to hamper UAE retail rebound - The National. Latest and breaking news | thenational.ae - The National. Retrieved May 22, 2013, from http://www.thenational.ae/business/retail/consumer-thrift-to-hamper-uae-retail-rebound

Natural resource - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. (2013, May 22). Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Retrieved May 22, 2013, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_resource

Richardson, A., & Garson, J. (2008, October 4). 'Consumerism and foreigners' greatest identity threats - The National. Latest and breaking news | thenational.ae - The National. Retrieved May 22, 2013, from http://www.thenational.ae/news/uae-news/consumerism-and-foreigners-greatest-identity-threats

Story of Stuff (2007, OFFICIAL Version) - YouTube. (2009, March 22). YouTube. Retrieved May 22, 2013, from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9GorqroigqM

The Story of Stuff Project. (2007, January 1).  The Story of Stuff Project. Retrieved May 22, 2013, from http://www.storyofstuff.org/movies-all/story-of-stuff/learn/

The Story of Stuff - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. (2013, April 25). Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Retrieved May 23, 2013, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Story_of_Stuff

UAE is the world’s top water consumer - Emirates 24/7. (2011, December 18). Breaking News, UAE, GCC, Middle East, World News and Headlines - Emirates 24/7. Retrieved May 23, 2013, from http://www.emirates247.com/news/emirates/uae-is-the-world-s-top-water-consumer-2011-12-18-1.433289

What is distribution? Definition and meaning. (2013, January 1). BusinessDictionary.com - Online Business Dictionary. Retrieved May 22, 2013, from http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/distribution.html

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