The Precautionary Principle
The precautionary Principle is a very simple method. It states that “When human activities may lead to morally unacceptable harm that is scientifically plausible but uncertain, actions shall be taken to avoid or diminish that harm” (UNESCO, 2005). Basically, it is stating that if all of the things humans do every day are scientifically possible of coming back and hurting us in the long run, this principle takes action to ensure the safety of the public and this earth.
I absolutely believe this is an important principle. If there is any possibility that one day, what we’re doing can really affect our lives in a negative way, then we should take action right away. An example of when this principle wasn’t and still isn’t used is present day global warming. Scientists have been warning us for years about the detriments of global warming. They show us that our oceans are rising, our ice caps are melting, and our weather is getting more life threatening (NASA, 2018). We choose to ignore it, but one day, it will affect ourselves and everyone around us. We choose to be ignorant for the time being, until one day everything we do leisurely and daily will become scarce and dangerous. That was just an example of the biggest issue that poses against everyone on this earth. There are plenty of less extreme cases that this principle will help fight against, but it is only effective if the leaders of America and ourselves impose this principle on our lives.
References
The Precautionary Principle. (2005). Retrieved October 25, 2018, from HYPERLINK ;http://www.precautionaryprinciple.eu/;http://www.precautionaryprinciple.eu/
Climate change evidence: How do we know? (2018, September 21). Retrieved October 25, 2018, from HYPERLINK ;https://climate.nasa.gov/evidence/;https://climate.nasa.gov/evidence/
GDP
In the book “The Story of Stuff”, Leonard talks about the problem with Gross Domestic Product, in other words known as GDP. GDP is a measuring tool for a regions size of economy. It tells whether or not the ECONOMY of a region is healthy. But the main point Leonard has, is that a healthy economy doesn’t necessarily mean a healthy population. She explains that GDP doesn’t show a difference between the things we spend money on that are positive and negative in our lives. It’s all just added into one measurement. Just because we’re spending money, doesn’t mean its for the better of our lives. Like a hospital bill for example.
GDP doesn’t make sense to use for the overall progress of a region, since it isn’t showing the progress. It just shows the amount of products and services that could be positively OR NEGATIVELY affecting people. This doesn’t help tell us about the things that are keeping us thriving on the long run. So Leonard talks about GPI(Genuine progress indicator). Basically the GPI takes in the same information, but it divides it into positive and negative parts. This way, we can actually tell if we are benefiting from it or not, rather than just assuming so with the HDP. Another metric is called the Human Development Index. ; HYPERLINK ;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_Development_Index;Human Development Index combines statistics on life expectancy, education, and income per capita to rank countries into tiers of development. Often framed in terms of whether people are able to “be” and “do” desirable things in life”(Hartstone, 2016). These are 2 different alternatives that are more beneficial to the world than GDP.References
Hartstone, A. R. (2016, March 10). GDP Sucks. Here Are Some Better Alternatives – How We Get To Next. Retrieved from HYPERLINK "https://howwegettonext.com/gdp-sucks-here-are-some-better-alternatives-88cf2bfec017"https://howwegettonext.com/gdp-sucks-here-are-some-better-alternatives-88cf2bfec017
Frank, A. C. (2018, October 07). GDP vs. GPI: How to Measure Human Welfare. Retrieved October 25, 2018, from HYPERLINK "https://populationeducation.org/gdp-vs-gpi-how-measure-human-welfare/"https://populationeducation.org/gdp-vs-gpi-how-measure-human-welfare/
GMO’s
GMO is short for Genetically Modified Organisms. It is very popular in the farming industry, and has been a hot topic over the past years when it has been used a lot more. Basically, it is when farmers inject chemicals into foods to yield a larger product size. As one can assume, this leads to less money being spent on the crops, and more being made out of them. A few benefits from these are: Lower food prices, more profit, and even more nutritional value.
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Now, on a different stand point, some people are more focused on the disadvantages. Some big problems can come out of the use of GMO’s. Crop diversity is being targeted as a big impact from these. If GMO spread into organic crops, it can lead to a decrease in crop diversity, which directly impacts other organisms in the population. Another big negative is the impact on the environment. Some people also believe that is harmful and toxic to use, so they are completely against it. This will continue to be a hot topic and a controversy until sufficient evidence is found, or until something bad happens and makes everyone aware, just like with most things in America.
References
Editor, C. L. (2015, June 10). 13 Main Advantages and Disadvantages of GMOs. Retrieved October 25, 2018, from HYPERLINK "https://greengarageblog.org/13-main-advantages-and-disadvantages-of-gmos"https://greengarageblog.org/13-main-advantages-and-disadvantages-of-gmos
How Do GMOs Impact People and the Environment – and Do They Produce More Food? (2017, April 16). Retrieved October 25, 2018, from http://www.onegreenplanet.org/environment/how-do-gmos-impact-people-and-the-environment/
Externalized cost of Plastic
“Externalized costs are costs generated by producers but carried by society as a whole.For example, a factory may pollute water by dumping waste in the river without paying for it”(EOSTA, 2018). Now that we have the definition, we can talk about the externalized cost of plastic. Plastic, as we all know, stays on earth for years and years and years, never to be degradable. But the production of plastic, is something far more harmful. Plastic are made from toxic chemicals, such as benzene. These chemicals release in the air during production, and is one example of an externalized cost. Another example, is when plastic production byproducts get into the ocean, and effects the marine life, which in turn also effects consumers of marine life. The biggest marine life we have to worry about also, is water. Instead of thinking just fish and other water animals getting contaminated, it’s also important to think about the water that we use for absolutely everything.
These are all some examples of externalized costs that come with plastic production, and all should be thought of in depth when thinking about the real problems with plastic.
References
Plastic Materials and Environmental Externalities: Structural Causes and Corrective Policy. (n.d.). Retrieved from HYPERLINK "https://lurj.org/issues/volume-3-number-2/plastic"https://lurj.org/issues/volume-3-number-2/plastic
