Consumerism and Waste Products & Why it is Necessary? | Notes

Consumerism and Waste Products – Energy & Environmental Engineering: In this article, we will be discussing Consumerism, Consumerism focuse­s on always wanting, getting, and using products and services. It e­ncourages putting importance on things owned and social positions, motivating pe­ople to collect more and more­, sometimes going past what they re­ally need.

“The things you used to own, now they own you.” – Chuck Palahniuk

Consumerism

Consumerism is a process, in which an individual acquires goods & materialistic needs beyond their need. Consumerism is an effect of capitalism, in which the country’s trade and industry is controlled by private companies & owners for profit.

Problems Related to Consumerism

This endless cycle of consumption has a significant impact on the environment as it leads to large volumes of waste products in different ways:

• Built-in obsolescence: Producers design their products with shorter lifespans so that people have to replace them more frequently. This results in e-waste because old digital appliances are discarded prematurely before reaching their full potential.Otherwise, software updates may make older products incompatible necessitating customers to purchase newer ones even when their current ones can still work fairly well.
• Overproduction and excess; Sometimes driven by competition and profit motives, companies often produce more goods than they can sell hoping for high demand that may not materialize. As a result, such goods end up discounted, thrown away or donated despite being new.Consumers are always falling for advertising gimmicks which create artificial needs for unnecessary items leading to impulsive buying habits and excessive consumption.
• Packaging and disposable materials: Excessive packaging made mostly from non-biodegradable materials like plastic creates lots of wastes either ending up in landfills or pol

Variations in Consumerism

Variation in consumerism refers to the differences between the needs of any consumer, for example someone from a country with lower economic value might have different needs when compared to someone from a much bigger country with a larger economical scale

Mainly variations in consumerism can be broadly classified into two types:

1. Cross culture: These refer to the variation of consumer patterns in different cultures.

2. Cross country: These refer to the consumeric needs that may change from country to country.

Waste Products (Why does consumerism lead to waste?)

Waste management can be defined as all of the processes related to handling waste from generation to disposal. The major aim of waste management is to reduce the quantities that end up in landfills and instead see garbage as a valuable resource. Some popular ways or solutions for waste management are recycling, incineration, and landfill that people generally use.

Waste product is one of the things that can be converted and reprocessed into new products, and recycling is an example of such a process that helps in the conservation of natural resources as well as the reduction of energy consumption. Waste management is a term used to refer to the systematic and effective way in which waste is handled, minimizing its impact on the environment while also supporting sustainable development. There are several strategies that come together during waste management; they include incineration, recycling, and landfill to ensure that the amount of waste taken into landfills reduces, and that rubbish becomes a resource.

E-Waste

E-Waste refers to “Electronic Waste”. All waste that consists of electronics shall be considered E-Waste

For example: Batteries, Mobile Phones, Laptops, Electronic Parts such as RAM, Hard Disk or simply any damaged parts such as phone screens or damaged input devices come under E-Waste

E-waste is harmful because electronic devices often contain hazardous materials like lead, mercury, and cadmium. When improperly disposed of, these substances can leach into the soil and water, posing serious environmental and health risks.

Effects of Waste

• Waste has many effects that have detrimental impacts on our environment. First is environmental pollution, where unregulated dumping of waste materials such as plastic and hazardous materials leads to pollution. This kind of pollution affects air, water, and soil quality, disrupting natural ecosystems and wildlife, apart from posing health risks to human beings.
• Resource depletion is the next significant negative impact that follows the production and disposal of waste, as wastefulness leads to the depletion of natural resources. Over-extraction of raw materials in the production process and mismanagement of waste resources result in the overconsumption of finite resources and eventually deplete them, which affects ecosystems and biodiversity as well.
• Waste and health risk: Poor waste management can cause health problems in communities. Exposure to hazardous materials in improperly disposed waste can result in respiratory issues, waterborne diseases, and other related conditions.

Factors affecting Consumerism and Generation of Waste

One of the major reasons why consumerism creates waste is advertising. Advertising promotes products and compels individuals to buy new products instead of those that are still useful, hence leading to the disposal of the old ones.

• Packaging Products: The increased usage of non-recyclable materials in packaging will result in more waste being produced. Businesses resort to this practice aiming to attract a larger audience with the help of attractive wrappings.
• Another measure to decrease waste generation is the use of single-use packaging items, which include plastic utensils and cause more trash.
• Advanced Technologies: The world we are living in is moving too fast, and everything that you currently have grows old quickly. This leads to a continuous need to replace commodities, resulting in increased waste production.
• One area where overconsumption is evident is fashion and clothing. The majority of the fashion industry resorts to manipulative strategies and passing fads in order to keep attracting new customers by incessantly introducing “new and trendy” clothes, resulting in an increase in discarded products.

Waste Product Management – Why it is necessary?

Waste product management is necessary to prevent the generation of waste. Waste management refers to the processes involved in managing waste from its generation to its final disposal. The main purpose of waste management is to reduce the amount of waste that goes into landfills and to see rubbish as a valuable resource. Common waste management methods and solutions include recycling, incineration, and landfill. Recycling, for example, enables waste products to be converted and reprocessed into new products, thus saving natural resources and reducing energy consumption.Waste management is the process of efficiently handling and disposing of waste to minimize its environmental impact and support sustainable development. It involves various strategies such as recycling, incineration, and landfill to reduce the amount of waste that goes into landfills and to see rubbish as a valuable resource.

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle (3Rs)

Reuse, Reduce, Recycle or commonly referred as the 3Rs are used to promote Waste Management Techniques.

Reuse: The term “Reuse” refers to using any particular resource multiple times till the end of its lifespan to reduce consumption of constant purchase of new things.

Reduce: It means to the reduce the use of resources that aren’t needed in other words, not using any particular thing till it is not absolutely needed which reduces consuermism

Recycle: It means to use materials such as paper, glass and plastic which can be recycled or converted into new materials to reduce the consumption of non-renewable raw materials which cannot be replenished

Conclusion

To break free from the cycle of consumerism, we must shift from a “take, make, waste” mentality to a conscious cycle of “reduce, reuse, rethink.” This means buying less, choosing quality over quantity, and embracing alternative models like repairing, borrowing, and upcycling.

FAQs on Consumerism and Waste Products – Energy & Environmental Engineering

What will happen if we don’t stop consumerism?

Consumerism may lead to depletion of natural resources and Excess waste pollution, Hence it is necessary to stop consumerism.

What is Consumerism?

Consumerism refers to the consumption of goods and services in large quantities. It is an economic system which promotes the constant replacement of goods and products for new ones.

How can we stop Consumerism?

Living a minimalistic life and not buying unecessary things can lead to a decrease in consumeristic behavioral patterns.

Is Consumerism good or bad?

Economists & Capitalists view consumerism as a positive for consumer spending and GDP growth however, the negative effects of consumerism range from creating anxiety in individuals and generating waste.

How does Consumerism affect Waste Production?

Consumerism promotes Waste Production by making someone constantly replace goods and throwing away older possessions. When people consume more than they need, it can result in excess waste and pollution.