Introduction
There are a few things you want to remember from this module. First, it's the the richest countries like the U.S., not overpopulated third world countries that are the main cause of resource depletion and pollution. Second, A lot of this pollution is caused by American overconsumption, meaning we buy things, more things than we can ever use, under the guise it will make us happy--even though sociology and psychology shows buying and maintaining the stuff we own makes us feel worse. We will take a look at how American consumerism will be a huge drag on the natural resources available to future generations. It would be a different story if our consumption patterns improved our lives, but unfortunately it does not.
The last few modules in this course covered two ideas 1) Resources, or the material we mine to make objects or to power our objects and 2) Waste, the disposal of the objects we no longer want.
70% of the American economy involves selling goods to consumers--so politicians and business are entrenched to keep American's consuming to avoid a recession or depression. However, a robust economy based more on services and fewer-higher quality goods could also support the country.
The key problem is at the same time world population has exploded, the richest countries have exploded in terms of the amount of goods they consume then throw away. Both these problems combine because 1) larger population means fewer resources must be spread out per capita; 2) larger populations intensifies the impact of pollution on our more densely populated livable space.
While wars over resources are part of human history, the unfortunate reaction of humans when resources become scarce is to declare war over who owns the rights to the resources. The business world has documented on how the massive consumption of American culture has spread to India and China spreads to other emerging economies—and unfortunately the Earth doesn't retain the resources or the capacity for pollution to allow everyone to live to the U.S. standard.
Will a war be fought over Antarctica—a country full of resources but currently held by a treaty to stave off numerous claims countries have made for the territory. Will we go back to our landfills and start to mine them in 50 years—to recover the desperately needed resources you’re throwing out today.
Consumerism is the process of humans consuming natural resources for their personal needs or lifestyle. Every human on Earth is a consumer—it’s a matter of how much each person consumes that separates the United States from everyone else. We’ve already taken a look at how we get natural resources out of the ground and where they are used.
Have you ever determined how much you buy every year? How often have you bought something you didn’t use, or used once and placed in closet? You’re probably in your house or apartment right now. Find 5 items that you bought and rarely used. The closet, garage, porch, and basement are the usually suspects for storing these items.
We will take a look at how American consumerism will be a huge drag on the natural resources available to future generations.