Cradle to Grave
The first part to cradle to grave is extraction. To sum it up it means that we trash our planet. We are constantly creating and bettering products and to that requires resources. We use water, blow up mountains for metals, causing deforestation and the list goes on. One third of our planets resources are GONE. America has less than 4% of their original forest. only 40% of the water ways are undrinkable. The U.S. contains 5% of the worlds population but uses 30% of the worlds natural resources and 30% percent of the worlds waste. If every lived like the Americans did then we would need 4-5 planets to support us. This not to make Americans look bad, it's to open up their eyes o realize what they have created alone. Big corruptions are apart of the cause. They go to third world countries and claim their resources. 80% of our worlds forest are gone. 2,000 trees in the amazon are cut down a minute (a total of 7 football fields) and find that to be a rather disturbing fact.
Next is production. Most of us have no clue what goes into making the products we obsess over, to put it in a nut shell it's natural resources mixed in with energy and toxicants. This can best be explained by Anne Leonardo (look at video below this essay).
After production is distribution. I never stopped to think how I get so many things so cheap before I saw the story of stuff, but I know who's really paying to keep all my favorite things so cheap. First is our planet. We take and take from the earth without giving a second thought as to what we're really doing, let's be honest most people don't care as long as they are making money (the Once-ler is a great example those who have seen the Lorax). Let's not forget the people in third world countries who have to work in factories breathing in toxins. And lastly the workers who sell the products to us, now they don't have it as bad, but they don't even get all the health benefits they should have.
Now for my favorite consumption. We buy buy buy! In the 1950's Americans national happiness has gone down. We need a way to build our economy so we were told to consume to help our economy. In order to buy more items we need money and get money we need to work and when we work long hours we flop on the couch to watch TV because we are exhausted. This is why the nations happiness has gone down. We keep about 1% of our items 6 months after we buy them. Corporations design new ways to force customers to buy newer better items.
Last is disposal. There's 3 ways we can deal with trash. Reusing, burning, and burying it. The most common is burning and burying it. When you burn it you create super toxins that go into our air and the ashes still get buried.
Next is production. Most of us have no clue what goes into making the products we obsess over, to put it in a nut shell it's natural resources mixed in with energy and toxicants. This can best be explained by Anne Leonardo (look at video below this essay).
After production is distribution. I never stopped to think how I get so many things so cheap before I saw the story of stuff, but I know who's really paying to keep all my favorite things so cheap. First is our planet. We take and take from the earth without giving a second thought as to what we're really doing, let's be honest most people don't care as long as they are making money (the Once-ler is a great example those who have seen the Lorax). Let's not forget the people in third world countries who have to work in factories breathing in toxins. And lastly the workers who sell the products to us, now they don't have it as bad, but they don't even get all the health benefits they should have.
Now for my favorite consumption. We buy buy buy! In the 1950's Americans national happiness has gone down. We need a way to build our economy so we were told to consume to help our economy. In order to buy more items we need money and get money we need to work and when we work long hours we flop on the couch to watch TV because we are exhausted. This is why the nations happiness has gone down. We keep about 1% of our items 6 months after we buy them. Corporations design new ways to force customers to buy newer better items.
Last is disposal. There's 3 ways we can deal with trash. Reusing, burning, and burying it. The most common is burning and burying it. When you burn it you create super toxins that go into our air and the ashes still get buried.