The readings on “The Concept of Sustainability” focuses on the significance of sustainability in our ever-expanding world where resources are limited and finite. This shed light on how sustainability is only achievable through collaboration of many different stakeholders and the only way to move forward is through sustainable development.
The second reading “Accumulation: The Material Politics of Plastic” outlines the invention and popularisation of PET plastics, how it entered the mainstream market and the difficulty of recycling these plastics. I found this reading particularly interesting as the “disposable” aspect that was previously a positive in terms of business decisions, have now completely shifted into an environmental problem.
Both these readings had links to the Collective Responsibility talk we were able to listen to the previous Wednesday. It was extremely insightful how even a very big and modern city like Shanghai, still has a huge waste management problem — highlighting how hard it is to not only recycle waste but also finding the proper way for citizens to properly sort out their waste. Moreover, this act of recycling and managing waste is made even more difficult through having to sort out through many different types of trash that often times cannot even be recycled.
Through some quick Google searches on NatGeo and EcoWatch, the most shocking facts about plastic pollution I found was that half of all the plastics manufactured were only made in the last 15 years and that the average time a plastic bag is used for is 12 minutes! As a consumer who previously did not think much of what happens to plastic and waste once it gets thrown away, I now am more aware of the extreme difficulty in recycling and managing the billions of plastic wastage.
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