Throughout our days on planet Earth we routinely use hundreds of items. However, we pay very little attention to what we use and how it may affect our environment. I have split up my daily use of items into separate categories in order to see just a glimpse of what items are necessary for my normal life to continue:
Food and Drink:
-Waffles
-Whey Protein
-Milk
-Water
-Rice
-Quakers Chewy Bars
-Curry
-Almond Crunch pretzels
-Boba Tea
-Gum
-Breath mints
-Napkins
-Plastic fork and spoon
Housing and Other Buildings:
-Water filter
-Sink
-Bed
-Blanket
-Pillow
-Door
-Lamp
-Air Conditioner
-Windows
-Cement
-Keys
-Laundry basket
Transportation and Roads:
-Car
-Freeway
-Roads
-Sidewalks
-remote key for car
Clothing:
-Shorts
-Cotton shirt
-Belt
-Underwear
-Socks
-Shoes
School Supplies:
-Backpack
-Laptop and accessories
-Paper
-Ink pen
-lead pencil
-USB
-Printer
-Notepad
Personal Care Products:
-Toilet Paper
-Tooth paste
-Tooth brush
-Body Wash
-Liquid soap
-Dental Floss
-Cologne
-Face wash
-Lotion
-Towel
-Eye glasses
Leisure Activities:
-iPhone
-Auxiliary cable
Other:
-Money including paper bills and coins
-Water bottle
While this list probably represents a fraction of the items I use, we can quickly see that the list of items that most of us can get quite exhaustive. As a part of our quest to see how we impact the world with our choice in items I decided to take up the challenge and go in depth of the materials of one of my items. Instead of doing something easy and readily available such as a personal care product or food I did a product in which I would have to go in depth, the iPhone. The iPhone contains traces of chromium, lead, bromine, and phthalate. In addition, some metals which are used to construct the iPhone are cassiterite, wolfarmite, coltan, and gold. As a basis, according to Apple itself the materials used are glass, stainless steel, and plastic.
This item is used in many different ways. As many of us are familiar we use iPhones for communication. homework, entertainment, and other leisure and everyday activities. It has become such an integral part of our lives that it accompanies us everywhere we go. This materials used in this product were extracted from all over the world ranging from California to China to Africa. After going through dozens of assembly plants around the world for the hundreds of parts, we finally receive it assembled from China. When it is no longer useful to me it will either sold to another consumer or recycled for its parts. The effect of this product is tremendous. In some countries such as Africa it causes conflict because the minerals are so rare and valuable that groups fight for control of them. In other places it causes radiation and other types of poisoning due to the improper extraction of resources. It has a tremendous destructive impact on the environment such as the loss of biodiversity due to having to tear down biomes in order to extract resources. This product was not available a hundred years ago. The people back then did not have an alternative to this item because some of its uses were not available back them such as using apps for modern day purposes. For the uses that were needed such as communication they used telephones. For homework purposes that we use now, they had paper and their own writing utensils. Some alternatives that may do less harm are basic phones instead of smartphones.
After making this list I have learned that a lot more goes into me using basic products than I originally knew. For example, I did not know that iPhones had gold in them, approximately over a dollar's worth! While I may not be able to conserve resources in some areas I can replace my phone less often. In addition, I can see to it that I use less resources such as gas for my car and try to rework my schedule so I would not have to do as much driving. Other areas are using less packaged food because as I noticed my trash can there were many packaging items in it. Changes such as these can make me more responsible to my environment.
Sites used for iPhone information:
http://venturebeat.com/2013/04/03/mining-your-iphone-recycling-iphones-yields-gold-silver-platinum-and-more-infographic/
http://financesonline.com/how-iphone-is-made/
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/digging-for-rare-earths-the-mines-w-2012-09/
Food and Drink:
-Waffles
-Whey Protein
-Milk
-Water
-Rice
-Quakers Chewy Bars
-Curry
-Almond Crunch pretzels
-Boba Tea
-Gum
-Breath mints
-Napkins
-Plastic fork and spoon
Housing and Other Buildings:
-Water filter
-Sink
-Bed
-Blanket
-Pillow
-Door
-Lamp
-Air Conditioner
-Windows
-Cement
-Keys
-Laundry basket
Transportation and Roads:
-Car
-Freeway
-Roads
-Sidewalks
-remote key for car
Clothing:
-Shorts
-Cotton shirt
-Belt
-Underwear
-Socks
-Shoes
School Supplies:
-Backpack
-Laptop and accessories
-Paper
-Ink pen
-lead pencil
-USB
-Printer
-Notepad
Personal Care Products:
-Toilet Paper
-Tooth paste
-Tooth brush
-Body Wash
-Liquid soap
-Dental Floss
-Cologne
-Face wash
-Lotion
-Towel
-Eye glasses
Leisure Activities:
-iPhone
-Auxiliary cable
Other:
-Money including paper bills and coins
-Water bottle
While this list probably represents a fraction of the items I use, we can quickly see that the list of items that most of us can get quite exhaustive. As a part of our quest to see how we impact the world with our choice in items I decided to take up the challenge and go in depth of the materials of one of my items. Instead of doing something easy and readily available such as a personal care product or food I did a product in which I would have to go in depth, the iPhone. The iPhone contains traces of chromium, lead, bromine, and phthalate. In addition, some metals which are used to construct the iPhone are cassiterite, wolfarmite, coltan, and gold. As a basis, according to Apple itself the materials used are glass, stainless steel, and plastic.
This item is used in many different ways. As many of us are familiar we use iPhones for communication. homework, entertainment, and other leisure and everyday activities. It has become such an integral part of our lives that it accompanies us everywhere we go. This materials used in this product were extracted from all over the world ranging from California to China to Africa. After going through dozens of assembly plants around the world for the hundreds of parts, we finally receive it assembled from China. When it is no longer useful to me it will either sold to another consumer or recycled for its parts. The effect of this product is tremendous. In some countries such as Africa it causes conflict because the minerals are so rare and valuable that groups fight for control of them. In other places it causes radiation and other types of poisoning due to the improper extraction of resources. It has a tremendous destructive impact on the environment such as the loss of biodiversity due to having to tear down biomes in order to extract resources. This product was not available a hundred years ago. The people back then did not have an alternative to this item because some of its uses were not available back them such as using apps for modern day purposes. For the uses that were needed such as communication they used telephones. For homework purposes that we use now, they had paper and their own writing utensils. Some alternatives that may do less harm are basic phones instead of smartphones.
After making this list I have learned that a lot more goes into me using basic products than I originally knew. For example, I did not know that iPhones had gold in them, approximately over a dollar's worth! While I may not be able to conserve resources in some areas I can replace my phone less often. In addition, I can see to it that I use less resources such as gas for my car and try to rework my schedule so I would not have to do as much driving. Other areas are using less packaged food because as I noticed my trash can there were many packaging items in it. Changes such as these can make me more responsible to my environment.
Sites used for iPhone information:
http://venturebeat.com/2013/04/03/mining-your-iphone-recycling-iphones-yields-gold-silver-platinum-and-more-infographic/
http://financesonline.com/how-iphone-is-made/
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/digging-for-rare-earths-the-mines-w-2012-09/
