Over Consumption

Over the past few years we have witnessed constant major catastrophic natural disasters, from the destructive earthquakes in Mexico to the deadly hurricanes in North America as well as other big incidents all over the world. Scientists have argued that these incidents is the result of climate change caused by global warming, which is created by the uneducated and careless actions of most human beings. And one of our many ignorant actions that has created such an environmental mess, which has took millions of lives over such a short amount of time and displaced countless of people and animals from their homes, is none other than over consumption. Over consuming any or all of the modern day necessities has created big environmental problems, not just within America, but all around the globe.

For this topic, I define the term 'over consumption' as having or taking more resource than one may need, where the resource is unable to replenish fast enough for further consumption. Upon hearing the term “Over Consumption”, most people would associate it with overeating, Americans being overweight, health problems, etc... However, over consumption is more than just human beings consuming more food than they need, it also deals with other major global issues, such as water usage, energy consumption, fossil fuels, and natural resources. To begin, we’ll be looking into what the majority often start to associate with ‘over consumption’. When asked about the first thing on their mind, when seeing or hearing the word ‘over consumption’, many responded along the line of “having more food than you need”, “eating or having too much”, etc…Americans are very aware on out problem of over consumption on food as the United States is often ranked one of the highest on product consumption and obesity rate. It’s a common fact that consuming too much of anything is never a good thing, and with overeating, these people, who do not have other health plans to go with their eating habits, often face health problems like obesity and heart diseases, which can result in death. Another consumption topic concerning America, particularly California, is water consumption. With the recent drought emergency in California in the past years, most Californians are more conscious on their water consumption than compared to other states or countries outside the U.S. While Californians try their best to conserve their water usage by taking shorter showers and being more aware while washing their cars and doing dishes, most countries outside the U.S. continue to use up the Earth’s limited resource of fresh water. According to Carlo De Michele, Massimo Natalizio, and Guido D'Urso(2017), from their research of water irrigation within European countries, "The dominance of agricultural water usage is a critical issue especially condiering that, in Europe, about 75% of 16 million hectares of equipped agricultural fields is centered in Mediterranean countries, a region periodically exposed to periods of crisis in water availability." Our consumption of fresh water from our daily habits and agricultural production has made it difficult for many people as well as animals around the world in need of fresh water to receive such a precious resource that most people take for granted.

Addition to water consumption, the world’s consumption of energy and fossil fuels has been a big concern for many environmental activists. Our use of energy through our computers, televisions, laptops, phones, and other electronic gadgets really shows how far the world of electronics has come to compared to just 20 years ago. However, with the rise of technology, most of us tend to get caught up with the latest gadgets and begin to let it take over our lives by having multiple smartphones, updating our gadgets with every new release, keeping our electronics plugged in when they’re not in use, etc… These little habits of ours adds up to become a big problem when so many of us are still doing it. By over consuming the electronics we have either by using too much of it or having more than we need, we’re also over consuming the limited natural resources that are needed to produce the gadgets we have as well as over consuming the fuels used to produce the energy we consume. Which leads us to discuss one of the main causes of global warming... our consumption of fossil fuels, be it in forms of coal, oil, and natural gas, where all three resources are being depleted for our over growing consumption. According to Eleanor Weston Brown(2010), from an article on how to respond to climate change, "The relative cheap price of fossil fuels does not account for the costs to society as a whole,... where an individual's exploitation of a finite resource is borne by the society in common." Our use of these fuels are seen in most of our daily actions, such as driving in our cars, using or buying our electronics, and any activities that require the large amount of energy to be performed or function. Hamzah Shalabi, a CSULA student, believes that “while they(fossil fuels) are very harmful to the environment, they are the best evil we have right now… until we find a new replacement that’s more eco-friendly.” While it’s unfortunate that we need to consume these scarce resources on a daily basis to live our lives, many are finding ways to spend less energy and reduce their ecological footprint by using public transportations, carpooling, biking, as well as helping research on renewable energy.

As days go on by, we continue to consume more and more of our energy and natural resources as the population continues to grow bigger and bigger. However, it doesn’t mean the the problem is unsolvable. According to Dr. Steffen Lehmann(2010), from an article on resource recovery, "Today, it is increasingly understood that we need to discuss resource-efficiency and resource-recovery in the same way that we currently discuss energy-efficiency. This includes waste minimization strategies..." Each day, we are able to choose how we want to live our life, whether or not we want to protect the home we and many others are living in. Just being aware of the problem and spreading that knowledge can help us and the people around us watch the amount we consume. We can all try to find ways to consume less by being aware of our daily habits and correct them or try out an more ecological alternative that would make us stop over consuming. For more help on ways to consume less and reduce your ecological footprint, search the web for more tips and information on ‘Over Consumption’.

Abigail Delos Reyes 

"I try to conserve water by turning off the water while I brush my teeth or take shorter showers. I think we're not being careful of our natural resources. We're using it like it's unlimited, but it is very limited. Other parts of the world does not have clean water, fast food chains taking over forests, etc."

Freddy Quijada

"It's horrible, we need a lot of water and think about the future. We use it[energy & fossil fuels] on the daily basis, [however] without these resources, we would be really behind."

Luis Mendoza
"I notice we waste a lot of energy with unnecessary items. We leave our porch lights on all night, street lights, even our bedroom lights. We should try to stop using fossil fuels and convert to other forms of energy(e.g. solar). Especially her in LA. The U.S. does have an overall problem with over consumption. We need to convert to other forms of energy ASAP."

Alberto Cortes

"Energy consumption has constantly gone up with a more connected world. We are at a turning point where electronics are now normal & necessary yo live a normal successful life. Energy consumption is necessary, but as we also seeing for a push to reduce consumption, with efficient machines, and renewable energies to replace fossil fuels. Though fossil fuels will [persist] long, as it has its footholds in politics."

Sources:

• Brown, E. W. (2010). A Common Morality: Toward a Framework for Designing Fiscal Instruments to Respond to Global Climate Change. Widerner Law Review, 15(2), 391-408.
• De Michele, C., Natalizio, M., & D'Urso, G.(2017). Applying Earth bservation to Detect Non-Authourized Irrigation: The Case Study of Consorzi Sannio Alifano(Italy). Agriculture & Forestry / Poljoprivreda / Sumarstvo, 63(1), 7-16.
• Lehmann, S. (2010). Resource Recovery and Materials Flow in the City: Zero Waste and Sustainable Consumption as Paradigms in Urban Development. Sustainable Development Law & Policy, 11(1), 28-68.