The story of....

The Story of Stuff Project has a series of animated informational videos about the environmental and social cost associated with various products, and consumer behaviour.

I recently watched the 'Story of Electronics', and the 'Story of Bottled Water'.

Life-cycle
Both videos draw attention to the entire product life-cycle of the products. People are often familiar with the energy and resources that go into a product, but they forget the stages after consumer use. In the case of electronics, they are typically loaded with toxins such as cadmium, chromium, etc. When these gadget are thrown out, they end up in landfill, where the toxins leach into the environment. As for water bottles, these are often shipped overseas for processing. This adds to even greater energy consumption.

Recycling
The videos each outline that recycling is not always as environmentally beneficial as we would like to think. First, much of the recycling that occurs, actually takes place overseas. Thus additional energy is used in transporting the items thousands of kilometres. When electronics are recycled, this often means extracting the valuable resources (gold, copper, etc) and sending the remainder to landfill, or even burning it. Local workers are exposed to dangerous toxins, often without protection. The water bottles are often 'down-cycled' into lesser goods. The problem with this is that it increases the likelihood that the plastic will find it's way into landfill, rather than a closed cycle of being remade into a bottle.

Cause
Each video places the blame for these issues squarely on corporations, while urging consumers to take umbrage and demand change. The underlying cause for the electronics issue is known as 'Design for Dump', while the video urges consumers to demand products that are 'Design to Last'.

The video suggests that the water bottle problem is a result of 'manufactured demand'. The video outlines that this has been created through scare-campaigns, and seduction in order to turn people off tap-water. The video is rather convincing, especially given that bottled water is around 2,000 more expensive than the tap alternative. It seems silly that anyone in a developed region would even consider bottled water!

As a consumer of electronics, and drinker of bottled water, I yet again have to re-assess my behaviour. I can readily address the bottled water issue, but becoming more responsible with electronics is difficult. It really comes down to supporting companies that use best practice.