Abstract
Contemporary environmental challenges concerning current state of the environment lack clear solutions or elucidation. Arguably, majority of the collective proposals or resolutions have some link to economically associated struggles between companies or are from personal perspectives thus lack any scientifically related basis. There is an urgent need to find proper alternatives of managing waste. Waste disposal is the main pollutant that causes radical and alarming environmental changes.
Introduction
According to Jandt, (2009) UN research indicates that one person for every six in the world lacks access to clean water (6). The UN prediction is that by the year 2025, two thirds of the worlds’ populace will not have access to adequate clean drinking water. The effect is already underway in some areas where people search relentlessly for the commodity they now commonly refer to as the “blue gold”.
The study indicates that only a ninth of the used plastic bottles are recycled. The rest face dumping into the woods, roadsides, seascapes, streams or rivers. These decay resistant materials clog the landfills thus causing intoxication through leaching. Poor dumping styles are therefore the biggest global environmental challenge.
This paper will form an overview analysis of the factors that cause chaotic and un-harmonized inferences regarding environmental protection. This paper will examine the real consequences of waste to environmental degradation. The analysis also focuses on the intellectual behaviour of people regarding the environmental effects of waste.
Sources of Contemporary Environmental Challenges
Most people have a mentality of engaging recycling as the best and most suitable way of managing waste. Scientifically landfills might be a more viable method of disposal compared to burning or recycling depending on the type of waste, situation at hand, cost/benefit exploration and risk valuation (Bruins and Heberling, 2005, p.76).
It is economically benefiting to consider recycling aluminium cans or foils, while the same option would not be economically viable for paper and glass. Recycling paper consumes more water compared to new production from wood pulp. During paper recycling procedure, there is worse depletion of water resources and scientific discoveries indicate that water is becoming a non-renewable commodity.
Paper recycling also creates more environmental pollution due to ink removal procedures among other factors. For this reasons, there is need to consider the environmental and economic expenses of recycling before engagement. Risk assessment involves analysing the amount and rate of intoxication. The problem lies on lacks of enough prove that secondary production/recycling of most products comprises more pollution than primary production.
The food industry also suffers from various overstretched landfills-related implications from the media. Scientific research ought to be the only viable means of providing information that can guide people on the choice of environmentally friendly procedures. The big debate about the plastic and paper cups in the food industry is very easy to settle.
Scientific research shows that more wood pulp is required to produce a cup compared to polystyrene for plastic cups. Production of paper cups would therefore require more steam, electric energy, cooling water and furthermore there is more waste production. More contaminants are present in the wastewater from wood pulp processing compared to polythene. This indicates that if people would follow the cost analysis and risk assessment of recycling against construction of landfills, then polythene usage would prevail.
The widely overstated allegations regarding landfills are obnoxious since very little space can and will only be required for properly managed disposals, over a long period. This is a clear indication of why the contemporary environmental challenges are termed “Wicked problems”. Leaders such as at the resent Copen Hagen meeting lack proper guidance to choose the appropriate methods for people to follow. Individuals are practicing what they think is right but environmental problems are persisting.
Global View of Waste Management
Leaders have been under pressure especially from non-governmental organizations to implement bills that enhance measures to control recycling. While the demand for recycling plastics remains very high, there is very low rate of recycling.
Engagement of global campaigns is a good indication of concern by many people especially environmentalists. Are we suggesting the right mechanism or making the situation worse? Leaders may be pushing waste management regulations and various states have seen the outcome of these ‘producer responsibility laws’ with at least one in every five plastic bottles being recycled.
The common methods for enhancing recycling today are through awareness campaigns over the impact of the plastics to the environment. Such methods are creating responsiveness among consumers with regard to home or business recycling initiative. However, there is lack of appropriate programs to provide consumers with the latest news over recycling methods or right procedures to deal with wastes (Keegan and Schlegelmilch, 2001, p.15).
With scientific analysis terming recycling as an expensive and an environment-threatening procedure, there is lack of vital guidance. Other than having a debate that supports recycling blindly, a reflection on the bright side of the outcome would lead to campaigns for litter-free environments and other environment-friendly measures. The depository laws that govern people’s reactivity to plastics would work better if the public were aware of the scientific results (Keegan and Schlegelmilch, 2001, p.15).
Today the society focuses on happiness, health and better lives, therefore other suggestions revolve around use of biodegradable materials. The issue of biodegradation comes about because of poor response over need for proper waste management styles or recycling. The questions depicted regarding production of biodegradable products focuses on risk evaluation, safety and health.
There is very low response towards educating the public on issues regarding environmental effects of recycling. Arguably, majority of the consumers are aware of the dangers, but prefer it due to exposed scenarios of poor damping. The awareness campaigns ought to focus on proper ways of getting rid of waste based on the cost/benefit analysis as well as evaluation of pollution risks. The choice must depend on effects and cost.
Human Ecology in Relation to Environmental Challenges
Various economists of ecology present very adverse imagery of the future by referencing the past and comparing it to the contemporary situation. Doom or more wicked problems have been the predictions all along. According to Burman (2007), the problem has a link to human adoptability to the environment. The population is rapidly increasing, but people fail to meet the hasty demands to adapt to the surroundings in accordance with the situations (27).
The past indicates that human species had little struggles adapting to the environment. Population was very little in comparison to availability of resources. Human kind alters the environment frequently to accommodate population growths. Demand for higher living standards of current lifestyles calls for changes. People have varying views and outrageously predicting Global catastrophes due to mismanagement of resources.
The predictions date back to the historical eras but it is easy to contain the situation by adoptability to nature. If people agree on the best way forwards and strictly adhere to the scientifically proved facts, then human adoptability is the only way to prosperous future regardless of the population growth. People should thus depend on Human ecology for basic explanations and guidance through human environmental facts.
Case Analysis of the Contemporary Environmental Challenges
Environmentally it would be very difficult to argue against the fact that waste management has become an eminent factor of consideration in the whole world. The development of land is occurring at an alarming rate while the rates of recycling, scarce usage and proper waste disposing mechanisms remain dismally very low. Considering the water industry, the amount of plastic bottles discarded by users exacerbates various environmental problems.
In line with McKinney et al, (2007) bottled water has escalated today with a worldwide production of billions of litres yearly (9). The transportation energy required to distribute this water is a great drain to the limited fossil fuels. The significant environmental strains are thus inclined to the unregulated use of limited variable resources, involved in manufacture of billions of synthetic containers as well as pollution due to improper discards.
Environmental Effects of Waste
Industries waste may be causing a lot of strain to the environment, but the proposed solutions seem to go against the standards of living, thus creating a tug of war between concerns of environmental damage and issues relating to compromised quality of life. Today the world is faced with problems related to global warming as a result if emissions or presence of high intoxicants in the atmosphere.
Most fuel emissions of green house gases such as carbon dioxide poses global challenges of finding ways of limiting such pollutions. To date, the global meetings still lack proper achievements, since the main cause of heated debate concerns quality of life, other than incentives of reducing environmental degradation.
Background Study of Environmental Waste
Oils and natural gases facilitate plastics manufactory. The classification of these sources of energy falls under the non-renewable sources of energy. Yearly manufactory of plastic containers or polythene bags indicates a figure of million tons. The problem does not concern manufacturing but the industrial procedures and depository methods.
The plastic bottles are made of substances that require less energy and thus industries release fewer emissions to the surroundings during the recycle process compared to metals or glass and this is the main reason why people should take the advantage of plastics. The process used to making plastics is however toxic and causes severe effluence to the atmosphere and human health, especially when the safety measures lack proper enhancements (Keegan and Schlegelmilch, 2001, p.17).
Today, the environment is facing serious challenges when plastics and polythene bags are not properly disposed or recycled and instead they face haphazard dumping. Plastics remain at the dumping sites for hundreds of years due to the slow rate of breakdown, thus the reason why we need a controlled mechanism.
Considering the scientific reveals mentioned in this analysis, it would be better to recycle other than keep producing and dump haphazardly. A major concern is that, issues of environmental degradation are not solvable through abandoning one pollutant for the other (Kutz, 2005, p.165).
Conclusion
There is lack of strong basis for scientific findings and current guidance is causing the environmental challenges to become “wicked problems”. The merits of contemporary claims require full assessment over sufficient timelines and viable data, in order to filter out the heavily popularized ambiguous claims from mare thoughtful concepts.
If people would consider the effects of recycling to the environment compared to fresh manufactory as revealed earlier in this paper, then the issue of campaigning for need to recycle would never rise. This means that people would never compromise on waste management techniques and therefore contemporary challenges would never exist.
References
Bruins, R. and Heberling, M. (2005). Economics and Ecological Risk Assessment. Florida, FL: CRC Press. Print.
Burman, S. (2007). “The State of the American Empire: How the USA shapes the World”. Berkley, CA: University of California Press.
Jandt, F. E. (2009). “An Introduction to Intercultural Communication: Identities in a Global Community” (sixth Ed.), New York NY: Sage
Keegan, W. and Schlegelmilch, B. (2001) “Global Marketing Management: A European Perspective.” New York, NY: Pearson Education Press. Print.
Kutz, M. (2005). Handbook of environmental degradation of materials, Volume 0, Issue 8155. Norwich, NY: William Andrew Publishers, Print.
McKinney, M., Schoch, R. and Yanavjak, L. (2007). “Environmental Science: System and Solutions” (fourth Ed). Sudbury, MA: Jones & Bartlett Publishers