Life-Cycle

Where does all that waste go?

Do you ever wonder where your soda cup came from? How about where it goes after you're done with it? It's OK. Most people don't. But we have arranged our society around an idea of disposable consumption that is affecting the environment, not just "out there," but in our communities as well. Its time we think about where our stuff comes from and where it goes.

Product Life-cycle

Every product has a life sort of like people. Products are born when they are built out of raw materials extracted from the environment (wood, fossil fuels, metal, etc.). They then are shipped to us where they do their job when we use them. As we're done with products they die when we dispose of them.

Disposable consumption

When we end the life of products we use by sending them to landfills or to incinerators we call this disposable consumption because we lose the use of those materials. This results in the need for more raw materials from the environment to make more products and the build up of pollution from our garbage.

Closed-cycle consumption

We don't have to do it that way. By following the three R's the demand on the environment is less and we save money and energy.

• Reduce: By simply buying fewer products we lessen the impacts on the environment through less manufacturing, less energy needed for transportation, and less garbage.
• Reuse: Whenever possible, reuse a container after to product is used rather than throwing it away. We used to do this with milk bottles (remember the milk man?). For every container or product that can be reused another doesn't have to be manufactured. Glass and plastic containers are very durable and can be reused many times. We should encourage manufacturers and policy makers to build a system of reusable containers for all products.
• Recycle: When a product isn't usable anymore it should be recycled so that the materials can be used again instead of coming from the environment. Manufacturers of goods comprised of many parts should design their products such that they can be easily disassembled and recycled.

When we reduce, reuse, and recycle products never really die. The material that they are made up of is used over and over again.

National Institute of Environmental Health Science

http://www.sdearthtimes.com/et1202/et1202s16.htm What happens to rubber that wears off tires? Here's another reason to leave your car in the driveway.