THE STORY OF STUFF

Figure 1 SYSTEM IN CRISIS

We have only one planet.There’s no replacement for it.What poses a threat to this earth is the fact
that our economies follows a linear system:extraction to production to distribution to consumption
to disposal. All together, it’s called the materials economy. Now the reason why this system is in
crisis is because it is a linear system and we live in a finite planet and you can not run a linear system
on a finite planet indefinitely. Another important fact is that it’s interacting with societies, cultures,
economies, the environment.

1.Extraction
Extraction basically refers to extracting natural resources which further lead to its exploitation.This
in future can lead us running out of resources. In the past three decades alone, one-third of the
planet’s natural resources base have been consumed(2009).The speaker further emphasizes this fact
by giving the example of united states which has 5% of the world’s population but consumes 30% of
the world’s resources and creating 30% of the world’s waste. If everybody consumed at U.S. rates,
we would need 3 to 5 planets.So extraction undermines planet’s very ability for people to live here.

In short, raw material extraction and processing always impact on the environment, resulting as

they do in soil degradation, water shortages, biodiversity loss, damage to ecosystem functions and
global warming exacerbation. And that's not all.

2.PRODUCTION
Next,the materials move to “production“ and energy is used to mix toxic chemicals in with the
natural resources to make toxic contaminated products. A good place to start in understanding the
challenge facing earth is to get a sense of just how many chemicals are produced and used in our
societies.The author gives reference to US society in 2009 with 100,000 synthetic chemicals saying
Only a handful of these have even been tested for human health impacts and NONE of them have
been tested for synergistic health impacts, that means when they interact with all the other
chemicals. There is no question that we are living in an extremely toxic world - heavy metals,
pesticides, herbicides, insecticides, plasticizers, solvents, PVC, gasoline additives, flame retardants,
petroleum byproducts, etc. make their way into our food, water, air supply and countless products
in our environment often without us even being aware of it. It's unfortunate that we must think so
deeply about chemicals and toxins that have become ubiquitous in our environment.These have
profound and deep impact on human lives as well as our environment.
For example: BFRs, brominated flame retardants. They are a chemical that make things more
fireproof but they are super toxic.They’re a neurotoxin—that means toxic to the brain. Yet we put
them in our computers, our appliances, couches, mattresses, even some pillows.

These toxics build up in the food chain and concentrate in our bodies.

Also the speaker addresses that the people who bear the biggest brunt of these toxic chemicals are
the factory workers. 9 They’re working with reproductive toxics, carcinogens and more. Around the
world, a worker dies from toxic exposure in their workplace every 30 seconds, according to a 2018
UN report published in September by Baskut Tuncak, the United Nations special rapporteur on
toxics. Every 15 seconds, a worker dies from dangerous working conditions in general.

3.DISTRIBUTION
Distribution means “selling all this toxic contaminated junk as quickly as possible.” The speaker
addresses the goal here is to keep the prices down, keep the people buying and keep the inventory
moving. For keeping the prices down externalizing of cost is done. Cost externalizing is a
socioeconomic term describing how a business maximizes its profits by off-loading indirect costs and
forcing negative effects to a third party. An externalized cost is known to economists as a negative
externality. For example, a factory may pollute water by dumping waste in the river without paying
for it. Fifty kilometers downstream, the local government has to clean the water to use it as drinking
water. Those costs are caused by the factory, but the factory does not pay them; the local
government does. That's what we call externalized costs. Externalizing costs means companies show
higher profits, but society is paying for them. Underpaying employees, leading to poverty and
associated problems, is another example. The current shareholder and finance models reward
companies for externalizing costs.

4.CONSUMPTION
Now the golden arrow of consumption. This is the heart of the system, the engine that drives it. It is
so important that protecting this arrow is a top priority for both the government as well as the
businessmen.Most of the nations are consumer oriented where the primary identity has become
that of consumer, not mothers, teachers, farmers, but consumers. This keeps the flow going.During
2009 when this is addressed percentage of total material flow through this system 99 percent of the
stuff that is harvested, mined, processed, transported—99 percent of the stuff that ran through this
system is trashed within 6 months.The actual reason behind this system is very practical and
explained with the help of the US economy. Shortly after the World War 2, the government was
figuring out how to ramp up the [U.S.] economy. Retailing analyst Victor Lebow articulated the
solution that has become the norm for the whole system. He said: “Our enormously productive
economy . . . demands that we make consumption our way of life, that we convert the buying and
use of goods into rituals, that we seek our spiritual satisfaction, our ego satisfaction, in
consumption . . . we need things consumed, burned up, replaced and discarded at an ever-
accelerating rate.” And President Eisenhower’s Council of Economic Advisors Chairman said that
“The American economy’s ultimate purpose is to produce more consumer goods.” Well, two of their
most effective strategies were planned obsolescence and perceived obsolescence.Planned
obsolescence is another word for “designed for the dump.”Example:Computers, the technology is
changes so fast that within a couple years versions become obsolete. A stark example of this
attitude can be seen in the Minister for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship in India which is
supposed to drive consumerism and point towards planned obsolence. Now perceived obsolescence
convinces us to throw away stuff that is still perfectly useful by changing the way the stuff looks.For
example Sneakers are a popular fashion industry where this is prevalent – Nike's Air Max line of
running shoes is a prime example where a single model of shoe is often produced for years, but the
color and material combination ("colorway") is changed every few months, or different colorways
are offered in different markets. This has the upshot of ensuring constant demand for the product,
even though it remains fundamentally the same. Advertisements, and media in general, plays a big
role in this. We identify ourselves with the products we buy. Consumerism goes beyond the idea
that our brands (whether we wear Nike shoes or TOMS shoes, whether we drive a Dodge Charger or
a Toyota Prius) are symbols of who we are. Consumerism means our products aren’t just things we
wear to make statements. They are us; they incarnate the way we think and act. If we are what we
buy, then we need to buy in order to be. Purchasing consumer items, in other words, isn’t something
we do to dispatch with necessities so that we can get on with the real concerns of our lives—things
like falling in love; starting a family; and finding a satisfying job, good friends, and fulfilling pastimes.
Instead, buying becomes the way we do all those things. The consumption of goods doesn’t just
dominate our lives; it’s what we do to live.

5.DISPOSAL
Now the concluding question: what happens to all the stuff we buy anyway?It all goes out in the
garbage. And that brings us to disposal.

In India,about 43 million tonnes (70%) are collected, 11.9 million tonnes (20%) are treated and 31
million tonnes (50%) are dumped in landfill sites. With changing consumption patterns and rapid
economic growth it is estimated that urban municipal solid waste generation will increase to 165
million tonnes in 2030. Incineration is really bad. Burning the garbage releases the toxics up into the
air. Even worse, it actually makes new super toxins. Like dioxin,which is the most toxic man made
substance known to science. And incinerators are the number one source of dioxin. That means that
we could stop the number one source of the most toxic man-made substance known just by
stopping burning the trash. Now some companies don’t want to deal with building landfills and
incinerators here, so they just export the disposal too.

Does RECYCLING help? Recycling reduces the garbage at this end and it reduces the pressure to mine
and harvest new stuff at this end.  However, many players within the material recovery sector are
finding that this labor-intensive and costly process involving some of the cheapest materials in the
market is simply not economically profitable. Also much of the garbage can’t be recycled, either
because it contains too many toxics or it is actually designed NOT to be recyclable in the first place.

6.WHAT’S THE WAY AHEAD

 Green Chemistry: Green chemistry is the design of chemical products and processes that
reduce or eliminate the use or generation of hazardous substances. Green chemistry applies
across the life cycle of a chemical product, including its design, manufacture, use, and
ultimate disposal.
 Zero Waste: Zero Waste is a goal that is both pragmatic and visionary, to guide people to
emulate sustainable natural cycles, where all discarded materials are resources for others to
use. Zero Waste means designing and managing products and processes to reduce the
volume and toxicity of waste and materials, conserve and recover all resources, and not
burn or bury them. Implementing Zero Waste will eliminate all discharges to land, water or
air that may be a threat to planetary, human, animal or plant health.
 Closed Loop Production: Closed loop production aims to transform the current linear system
into a closed loop through tools such as Extended Producer Responsibility, Industrial Ecology
and Zero Waste. A systemic approach to Closed Loop Production also seeks to eliminate
toxic inputs, protect workers, communities and the environment along entire supply chains,
use renewable energy, and elite superfluous consumption and more.
 Renewable Energy: Renewable energy is useful energy that is collected from renewable
resources, which are naturally replenished on a human timescale, including carbon
neutral sources like sunlight, wind, rain, tides, waves, and geothermal heat. 
 Local living Economies: A Local Living Economy ensures economic power resides locally,
sustaining healthy community life and natural life, as well as long-term economic viability.

THANK YOU.