4) Plastics, Water, Waste

how much garbage does one person take with them

11,000 graves

what are some details on mindmap of plastic pollution.

sources of plastics?

polyester, textiles

hard to estimate how much plastic we see vs not see

50% of all plastic pollution is ___

transportation

food packaging, clothing
within production chain, no heading to end user

we don’t see a lot of the plastic pollution there actually is 

estimates on how long until it’s gone? examples

400-500 yrs for diaper, plastic bottle, plastic can holder

styrofoam cup, tin can estimated same time, but tin can can be recycled
plastic doesn’t decompose, stick around indefinitely

microplastics turn into nanoplastics which can get through biological membranes
both have inflammation and cancer risks

information on bottled water

water is common resource

water become privatized, turned into commodity (sold for profit)
bottled associated with elite, advertised to create perceptions

less regulated than tap
people actually chose tap water in taste tests

how is bottled water manufactured demand

scare people about tap water
seduce about new pristine water
mislead about the reason tap is impure (polluted by them!)

want us to think tap is polluted dirty water
bottled is actually from tap, but advertised as pristine natural water when they are actually using oil to make them, 80% of bottles go to landfills

what is downcycling

taking pieces of bottles and turning it into lower quality products

who drinks bottled water
what is IPAT equation

IPAT: impact = population x affluence x technology

higher affluence and technology = more consumption

what are 3 types of water scarcity

hydrological scarcity

techno-economic scarcity

perceptual scarcity

what is hydrological scarcity

lack of water due to climatological and hydrological factors
often mitigated with affluence and technology, purchase bottled water or use desalination (expensive)

what is techno-economic scarcity

due to infrastructure, treatment, pollution, or industrial overuse

occurs in rapidly urbanizing, underdeveloped or overused area

what is perceptual scarcity

water is perceived to be scarce or hazardous even with widespread potable water

need trust of govt that the monitoring is legitimate and water is actually safe

what are common tactics for marketing bottled water

bottled water is healthy

“you need to drink 8 glasses of Nestle pure life water”

rainforests, waterfalls, buy the product to achieve that level of pristine water

athletes, sports cap, competitiveness of water, become more capable, fitness

“nature created it, we bottled it”

overproduction definition

industry produces too much bottled water, companies must increase market share through advertising and packaging

less than __ of bottles are collected for recycling and

less than __ are turned into new bottles

5%

7%

what is a political economy critique

envr problems are integral part of capitalist economy

definitions of political ideology and examples of each

capitalism: private ownership, market rule everything
USA

social capitalism: private ownership, state partially redistributes wealth, controls and regulates envr standards 
(most EU countries)

socialism: private ownership, state redistributes wealth and controls direction (can be democratic)
Norway, Sweden

communism: state ownership, state rules everything
North Korea

details on karl marx

communist manifesto, critique of political economy

capitalist mechanisms inevitable oppress and exploit working class

social unrest of working class calls for redistribution of power and wealth

push towards communism

explains how capitalist profit mechanisms inevitably exploit and degrade the well-being and nature

what are the means and conditions of production

means: assests required to make commodities
equipment, factories, machinery

conditions: raw materials needed to produce commodities
ingredients, woods, oil, iron

details on labour and commodities

nature + labour = commodity

commodity = something that can be bought or sold

what is primitive accumulation

nature is appropriated, turned from a common resource into commodity, then sold for profit

common pool resource is commoditized
privatization of land and resource

what is example of primitive accumulation

enclosure laws in england (1780-1820)
privatized communal lands

pushed independent smallholder off the land
grouped together larger land owners out, then small land owners were forced to become labourers instead of owners

allowed capitalist land ownership of a small elite and took away people’s ability to feed themselves

people lost access to conditions of production (growing/gathering food)
all they had was labour power, had to start selling labour to capitalists to survive

what are relations of productions

capitalists are those who control both the man and conditions of production

workers are those who supply the labour to produce commodities

capitalists must underpay workers and the environment for their contribution to the commodities in order to produce a surplus value
leads to growing income gaps, degradation and crisis

what are the contradictions of capitalism

workers are the means of production
overaccumulation: wealth is concentrated in the hands of few, mass poverty limits market consumption and growth.
wealth is inherited
overproduction: goods are not purchased as quickly as produced

environment are the conditions of production
in search of profit, it harms its own resource foundation
produces scarcity that limits growth
capitalism still needs these resources to stay profitable

what are two contradictory arguments that support capitalist rationales of environmental exploitation

1). nature is external to society, so humans can use, commodify, and exploit nature

2). humans are a part of nature and subject to natural laws, so human society and economic processes are natural and inevitable

nature is always altered by human activities

must be critical of using markets to solve environmental problems

what are problems with marx perspective

anthropocentric

focuses on capitalism and economy at the expense of other social and ecological impacts

defers environmental activism until after economic problems are solved

what is the spatial fix and how does it work

moving the process of production of consumption to a new location
moving process of resource extraction when the resrouce has been depleted
moving a facotry to a location with cheaper labour or less strict environmental standards
moving products to sell in new markets

allows capitalism to continue functioning, but contributes to increasing inequality between places and people

capitalism relocates problems, doesn’t fix them.

what are things to think about when sending waste overseas?

environmental impacts of plastic pollution

health impacts of plastic material

its a spatial fix
too much garbage in landfills, not enough facility for recycling
not fixing problems, only fixing symptoms

info on the Nestle example

10$ price for truck carrying 50,000 worth of bottled water

externalizing costs from: lower water table, stress on local wells, long term depletion risks
these costs are borne by ecosystem and local communities, not corporation

pushback and public resistance, pressure on local govt, evil corp stealing canadian water, tightened groundwater extraction rules because of this

what are the 3 environmental solutions

leave it to the people

leave it to the experts

leave it to the market

details on leave it to the people

people are informed on local problems and have true interests dealing with consequences

local implementation is only successful with local support
won’t support business just because it’s there, need trust

can’t use spatial fix because they live there

democratic pragmatism: assumes working democracy and knowledgable, interested, and engaged citizens

details on leave it to the experts

ecological imperative, no time left to make mistakes

masses are unable to identify best priorities (lack of expertise and info, selfish choices)

administrative rationalism: assumes admin made of experts, govt decisions based on science and not politics, admin chooses best priorities for people, not for corporations and govt

details on leave it to the market

vote with dollar, powerful mechanism in capitalism
system works with selfish choices of individual not against them

economic rationalism: assumes consumers have expertise and info on envr issues, transparent product info across all markets, no non monetary economies

which is best solution between people, experts, and market?

use all 3 together

boycott campaigns to mobilize people, no longer buy from a company known to be bad

govt keeps companies in check with regulations

people keep govt in check with strikes and voting

info on space debris

left 181,000 kg of forgotten trash
no regulations, no degradation or breakdown at all

space is global commons: no boundaries, open access, not rivalrous in consumption

changes happen fast, regulations aren’t keeping up

international law, crashes responsible from country