Societal Failure of Sustainably
Context
In the current state of society, we have been consumed by trends and capitalism. Everyone is quick to jump to the next new and fresh thing and throw out old or worn items. Wastefulness and planned obsolescence have become the norm rather than a culture that respects the planet and property by fixing, reusing, or effectively recycling our products. The current norm of sending much of our waste to dumps creates toxic chemicals that leach into the ground and pollute our atmosphere, starting garbage fires and ruining groundwater. Currently there are ways we can mitigate the harms of these biproducts. The leachate produced by decomposing waste can be collected and applied to the newer waste to speed up decomposition of garbage, and the methane gas produced can be collected and put into our natural gas systems (ACS Engineers 2016). While these methods do help mitigate current harms, they do little to stop the problem from beginning in the first place.
One might propose attempting to look towards recycling efforts to help with the landfill problem. Design more wasteful products to be recyclable and improve convenience of recycling systems. Exemplified in Asia, recycle practice can be beneficial not only to reuse materials, but is traded amongst high- and low-income countries It brings employment and easy access of resources to low-income countries that are unable to produce materials independently while reducing pollution and creating profits from waste in developed countries. Exporting waste can be beneficial when its for reduced labour costs, yet often waste is exported to avoid environmental regulations in the originating country (Okubo et al. 2016). This is not only harmful to the overall environment when recycling is not processed in an environmentally friendly way, but sometimes recycling is exported just to be dumped into a landfill. CBC Marketplace found in 2019 Canadian consumer recycling in Malaysian landfills that was illegally shipped into the country. Malaysia has had to close almost 150 factories over dumping waste and only 62 companies are legally allowed to import plastics and their minister of energy has expressed the seriousness of the issue as thousands of tones of Canadian plastic were seized in their ports in June of 2019. Despite knowing the consequences of their actions, Canada has yet to ban the export of plastics. A spokesperson from the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change stated the government tends to heavily restrict plastic exports in 2021 in accordance with the Basel Convention, an international treaty from 1989 intended to restrict trade waste to combat environmental issues (Szeto et al. 2019). Recycling has been looked to as the main method to curb waste to appease capitalism and mass production, yet society overlooks the order of the three R’s, as recycling should be that last resort after reducing or reusing materials.
Our current systems of handling waste are simply a response to our economic development, capitalism and mass production have led to massive profits that corporations love and operate in a way to maximize it. As technology improves and markets grow governments and corporations have failed to have foresight in the sustainability of our development, so much so that in 1992 the World Commission on Environment and Development defined the need for development that satisfies the present without compromising the future. Their efforts including laying out principals to reduce emissions and negative impact on the environment. The first waste management principal being to reduce waste by lessening consumption. It did not call for an end to consumption but for being more aware of purchasing habits and being more frugal and conscious about consumption habits and growth would emerge in necessary markets. While it purposed concepts for new international institutions to help manage and regulate states consumption habits, it failed to provide groundwork for planning and managing these conceptual institutions. The second principal is to reuse materials or products in their original form. Rather than having more intentional consumption, shifting institutions towards reusing products is an easier goal to obtain. States could incorporate oversight and regulation into existing institutions or establish new ones while striking deals and providing financial incentives and demonstrating the benefits of the model. The third principal was recycled, which companies loved because it shifted the responsibility away from their business practices and onto consumers. Rather than altering business models to operate sustainably, new institutions could be created to manage the waste of existing ones. Nothing about recycling helps restrict unsustainable growth but rather act reactively to the problem (Papa 2015).
Design Challenge
With the current state of society, it is blatantly obvious we have a problem with overconsumption and wastefulness. Rarely do people take it upon themselves to have property repaired and maintained (with exception to large purchases such as homes, cars, appliances, etc). Objects are made with planned obsolescence to increase profits. The system is set up in a way in which people struggle or are not incentivized to keep objects long term, everything is now disposable. It’s to easy to throw things away rather than prolong their lifespan. Plastic and cardboard packaging is thrown into the recycle after its intended use rather than being reused or repurposed. Recycle systems are ineffective and fail to fulfill their purpose. Regulations and global agreements fail to capture and address the issues in their entirety and enforce change. Proposals to make meaningful change never become actionable. Our institutions are failing to do their job of supporting their people by ensuring their future. Capitalism has beat out sustainable development in guiding our economy. A gap exists in simplifying the process of sustainable development and instilling sustainable habits in individuals.
Society needs effective systems to develop and operate in a sustainable manner, the current state of the planet is deteriorating due to our failure to effectively plan and regulate our economic activity. An opportunity is presented to create frameworks to enable sustainable economic activity.
Research Questions
How might systems operate in a way in which it is simple for consumers to act sustainably?
What can be done to incentivize corporations to act in public interest and operate sustainably?
What are governments able to do in order sustain themselves, their people, and the planet?
Sources
Szeto, Eric, Katie Pedersen, David Common, and Luke Denne. “'Canadians Would Be Highly Shocked': Marketplace Poses as Fake Company to Expose Illegal Overseas Recyclers | CBC News.” CBCnews. CBC/Radio Canada, September 27, 2019. https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/plastics-recycling-waste-overseas-marketplace-1.5292512.
ACS Engineers. “The Effects of Being a Wasteful Society.” ACS Engineers, October 17, 2016. https://www.acsengineers.com.au/2016/10/17/effects-wasteful-society/.
Okubo, Toshihiro, Yuta Watabe, and Kaori Furuyama. “Export of Recyclable Materials: Evidence from Japan.” Asian Economic Papers. MIT Press, January 1, 2016. https://doi.org/10.1162/ASEP_a_00414.
Papa, Mihaela. “Sustainable Global Governance? Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle Institutions.” Global Environmental Politics. MIT Press, November 1, 2015. https://doi.org/10.1162/GLEP_a_00324.