Week+4

The Materials Economy

1. The The first stage in the economy is extraction; the harvesting of natural resources (wood, metal, water) from the planet. This poses a problem because the earth has a finite amount of resources, and we are consuming them at an alarming rate. In this system, if you do not own or buy a large amount of resources, you are considered insignificant. This stage provides the foundation for the rest of the stages.

2. The second stage is production; where energy and chemicals are mixed with the natural resources from stage one to create products. Many of the chemicals used in the production stage are not only dangerous, but also have not been properly tested. Moreover, many of the factory workers expose themselves to these chemicals every day.

3. The third stage of the economy is distribution; where the goal is to sell the goods from the production stage as quickly as possible. The central goals are to keep prices down, to keep consumers buying and to keep the inventory moving. Many of the distribution stores do not provide health insurance and offer small wages.

4. The fourth stage of the economy is consumption. The greatest importance is placed in this stage by both corporations and government to drive sales as well as the economy. Using a combination of planned obsolescence (products made to last a brief lifespan) and perceived obsolescence (continually producing newer models of products that don’t function all that differently, but that look slightly different), corporations encourage continual spending and wasting of their products. Furthermore, the media play a large role in convincing us that what we own is currently unacceptable, and so can only be remedied by more shopping.

5. The fifth stage is disposal. This includes any waste produced through the use of the goods produced and consumed in the previous cycles. The waste is generally dumped into a landfill, or incinerated. Either way, disposing of this waste continually pollutes the air, earth and water of our planet. This stage can be seen as the final stage of a linear system; however, recycling provides an alternative ending to this system.

6. The sixth stage is recycling. By recycling, we reduce the amount of materials that need to be disposed of, as well as reducing the strain on the other stages (mostly the first and second) because the resources have already been harvested.

References

The Story of Stuff Project (2009). The Story of Stuff. [Video file]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9GorqroigqM