Environmental Study: the Stuff Project Essay

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Updated: Feb 17th, 2024

The Stuff Project

Human beings make use of natural resources to sustain their lives. Even though there are diverse cultures all over the country, all people need shelter, clothing, and food. However, other resources tend to improve the quality of life that a given individual leads. Such resources are not common to all people and thus tend to bring out differences in social class. As the urge to satisfy certain human needs increases, so does the need to use more natural resources which may end up straining the natural environment.

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The difference in culture puts people in diverse social class brackets, whereby certain cultures tend to use natural resources more than others. For this reason, it is believed that the difference in culture influences ecological balance. However, if the natural resources are used in the wrong way, they may be depleted, and the world might in the end crush. This paper looks at a series of activities to assess the individual consumption patterns as well as values. Besides, the analysis will also look at the values and consumption patterns of other close people. The project is divided into four parts; Part A, B, C, and D, with Part B being divided into sections 1 and section 2.

Part A

Inventory of the “stuff” in one of my rooms:

My room has the following items: a bed, chairs, a television set, stools, utensils, a wall unit, a wardrobe, a laptop, a desktop computer, mobile phones, a gas cylinder, a stove, and clothing. Before arriving in this room, there was a bed, a wall unit, and a wardrobe. I brought in chairs, a television set, stools, utensils, a laptop, a desktop computer, mobile phones, a gas cylinder, a stove, and clothing.

Considering all the “stuff” mentioned above, the estimated value of my inventory is $10, 000. An investigation of the “stuff” that I currently have shows that I lead a moderate life. In an event that all my inanimate possessions were about to be destroyed by a natural disaster and that I had only a chance to save three things, I would save my clothing, gas cylinder, and my utensils. The gas cylinder and utensils are important to me in that they are necessary for food preparation. My clothing satisfies the human need for clothing.

Part B

Section 1

Recently, I purchased a 100-liter water jerry can, food supplies, bedsheets, a mosquito net, and a pair of shoes. I bought the water jerry can and food supplies three weeks ago, while I bought the pair of shoes, a mosquito net, and a bedsheet two weeks ago. I bought all these items from Amazon online store. Food, water, and my health are important, and that explains why I bought food supplies, a water jerry can for water storage, a mosquito net to guard me against mosquitoes, and bedsheets to prevent me from cold weather.

Section 2

A week ago, two of my friends went to the shop and bought some clothes, food, a water pump, a study table, and a laptop. From the set of purchases that my friends and I made, it is evident that different people have different consumption patterns. Our purchasing power seemed to be influenced by the urge to satisfy the basic needs of food and clothing.

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Part C

The scepter is a manufacturer and distributor of water jerry cans in the whole of North America. The water jerry cans are made from plastic. Plastic is an example of renewable resources. Many people, including the workers who produce water jerry cans, also use them. Following the importance of water jerry cans, almost all homeowners buy them provided they are willing to buy on credit. The fact that jerry cans are made from plastic makes them last for long.

Also, plastic material is easy to repair whenever this needs to be done. However, whenever they are completely out of use, jerry cans tend to decompose. It is attributable to the fact that the material used to make jerry cans, plastic, is biodegradable. Besides, most of the available plastics nowadays serve as significant agents in most medical applications. As such, the use and decomposition of jerry cans have no negative effects on the environment.

Part D

From the analysis, it is evident that the purchasing patterns that any given individual adopts have a significant effect on the ecological balance. As for my case, I am making a mixed “ecological footprint” on the environment. The purchasing patterns and the life that individuals lead tends to affect the ecology in several ways. Some of the technological devices that we buy affect the environment in different ways. This can be attributed to the fact that consumption is dictated by several complex and interrelated factors.

In the current state, psychological, cultural, and social factors are responsible for environmental effects. Nevertheless, public and private tastes and preferences dictate the difference in individuals’ consumption patterns. As pointed out by Quinn in the book Ishmael: An Adventure of the Mind and Spirit, human beings are divided into different groups based on their cultural affiliations. Individuals in such categories have different consumption patterns based on their capacity. Some are so much into the use of technology that they do not realize the impact that such consumption has on the environment.

As pointed out by Quinn, the use of certain commodities has the potential of depleting the natural resources available for human use. However, to change the consumption patterns that different people have, as a method to avoid depletion of natural resources, it is recommendable to establish better approaches to dealing with the issue of environmental degradation and resource depletion. Quinn stresses this in the book Ishmael: An Adventure of the Mind and Spirit and points out that the freefall life that the dominating culture leads is likely to crash after people deplete the environmental and biological resources through their consumption patterns.

According to Quinn, the advancement in technology and the change in consumption behaviors have brought about different devices and items that have adverse effects on the environment. Only after many years of existence, human beings became destructive because of modern civilization and applications of science. Ishmael does not believe that the solution to the environmental depletion is depending on the past. This fact is further emphasized when Quinn points out that the dominating culture does little to offer solutions, to global environmental problems.

It is evident that even though technological advancement plays a great role in the depletion of both biological and environmental resources, according to Ishmael technology is not to blame because it does not serve as a suitable aspect of restoring the environment. As such, the world and the people in it should adopt strategies that are aimed at building the earth as opposed to its destruction.

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One of the primary approaches for human beings would be to carry themselves not in the lens of technological advancement and civilization. The right approach in this case would be to equip the entire world with suitable consumption patterns through the development and implementation of sophisticated strategy packages. Such strategies can include setting up voluntary and regulatory policies, suitable infrastructure, green public procurement, information awareness, and technological support.

From the foregoing, it is evident that different people have different consumption patterns. Some of these patterns hurt the ecology, while others do not have any effect at all, considering that to satisfy their needs, people make use of different natural resources. However, natural resources are not common to all people and thus, tend to bring out differences in social class. To fulfill their needs for whatever social class they have, individuals use more natural resources, which may end up straining them.

However, the depletion of natural resources can be avoided if the right strategies are adopted regarding the management of the natural environment. As such, for all consumption-environment issues to be addressed amicably for the benefit of all individuals, for the UMSL community, and more broadly, for American society as a whole, all people should change the perception that they have about the environment and the resources in it.

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IvyPanda. (2024) 'Environmental Study: the Stuff Project'. 17 February.

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IvyPanda. 2024. "Environmental Study: the Stuff Project." February 17, 2024. https://ivypanda.com/essays/environmental-study-the-stuff-project/.

1. IvyPanda. "Environmental Study: the Stuff Project." February 17, 2024. https://ivypanda.com/essays/environmental-study-the-stuff-project/.


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IvyPanda. "Environmental Study: the Stuff Project." February 17, 2024. https://ivypanda.com/essays/environmental-study-the-stuff-project/.

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