“Waste Not, Want Not” and the “Forget Shorter Showers” Essay

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The problem of pollution of the environment that has arisen due to human civilization development has attracted more and more public attention. The current ecological situation is a consequence of society’s industrialization and capitalization, in which Bill McKibben and Derrick Jensen agree. However, the two authors have different views on who is responsible for the current situation and who should take action to change it.

McKibben’s article “Waste Not, Want Not,” and Jensen’s “Forget Shorter Showers,” are devoted to the problem of waste reduction and resource use caused by the consumer society. However, McKibben (2009) focuses mainly on the significance of each individual’s personal consumption habits, arguing that “wasteful habits wouldn’t matter much if there were just a few of us.” He provides examples of waste generated by individuals daily, which ultimately sum to huge numbers. On the contrary, Jensen (2009) says that the individual consumption of an ordinary citizen is negligible compared to industrial waste, which needs to be regulated. He argues that all measures are aimed at personal consumption, but “had nothing to do with shifting power away from corporations, or stopping the growth economy that is destroying the planet” (Jensen, 2009). He provides examples of how small a share of resources are consumed by ordinary people compared to economic structures, and how little waste they generate.

The problem of global warming is undoubtedly the result of the general neglect of waste control. Thus, the two authors agree that the current economic trends impose excessive consumption on people. However, McKibben encourages everyone to be conscious of ecology and to reduce individual consumption and waste, while Jensen focuses on corporations, which divert attention from the problem, shifting the blame onto ordinary citizens.

Works Cited

Jensen, Derrick. Forget Shorter Showers. Orion Magazine, 2009, Web.

McKibben, Bill. Waste Not, Want Not. Mother Jones, 2009, Web.

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IvyPanda. (2022) '"Waste Not, Want Not" and the "Forget Shorter Showers"'. 22 February.

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IvyPanda. 2022. "Waste Not, Want Not" and the "Forget Shorter Showers." February 22, 2022. https://ivypanda.com/essays/waste-not-want-not-and-the-forget-shorter-showers/.

1. IvyPanda. "Waste Not, Want Not" and the "Forget Shorter Showers." February 22, 2022. https://ivypanda.com/essays/waste-not-want-not-and-the-forget-shorter-showers/.


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IvyPanda. "Waste Not, Want Not" and the "Forget Shorter Showers." February 22, 2022. https://ivypanda.com/essays/waste-not-want-not-and-the-forget-shorter-showers/.

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