Is waste generation the same over time?

  • Before the Industrial Revolution
    • People developed the skills to make and maintain the things they owned, e.g. women sewed and knitted while men built and repaired -> Stewardship of material goods
    • The production cycle of goods was also different from today, functioning as more of a closed loop, within which merchants and peddlers didn’t just sell goods, they reclaimed what the family couldn’t reuse and turn them into new goods
    • From 0 to 1750 world population grew from 160 million to 700 million, up to then no relevant sustained growth in per capita income or production was experienced with a world population remaining mostly rural 
      • The slow increase in technological advances was not reflected in an increase in the standard of living as it is for modern times, but instead it reflected in a slow population growth with a more or less stagnant division of wealth

  • The Industrial Revolution
    • The course of the industrial revolution birthed our term for the transition from stable to accelerating production growth and with it both an exponential population growth as well as polarizing standards of living

    • However, also this evolution did not happen equally around the world:
      • Group I - the English-speaking countries
      • Group II - Japan 
      • Group III - Northwest Europe
      • Group IV - the rest of Europe and European-dominated economies in Latin America
      • Group V - the rest of Asia and Africa
    • The rise of consumer culture and productivity meant that people began to view waste as something that could be discarded without much thought 
    • The development of new materials such as plastics also contributed to this shift in attitudes towards waste. Plastics were cheap and easy to produce, so they were used in a wide variety of products. However, they were also difficult to recycle or dispose of properly
    • Malthusianism is born in the 1700s as a theory representing the perception of the world at the time reflected as the following, "population growth is potentially exponential while the growth of the food supply or other resources is linear, which eventually reduces living standards to the point of triggering a population decline" 

  • Modern Times
    • With degrading standards of living and a new consciousness after the world wars, humanity in modern times has become more conscious of the health and environmental effects that rubbish and consequently pollution arise
    • Governments and organizations around the world are implementing policies and programs to reduce waste and promote recycling



References:


Alvin Powell, (2011), The return of recycling, The Harvard Gazette: Science & Technology, Available at: The return to recycling – Harvard Gazette

Robert E. Lucas, Jr., The Industrial Revolution: Past and Future, The Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis: 2003 Annual Report Essay, Available at: The Industrial Revolution: Past and Future | Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis (minneapolisfed.org)

Kara Anderson, (2023), What was the Industrial Revolution's Environmental Impact?, Greenly.Earth, Available at: What was the Industrial Revolution's Environmental Impact? (greenly.earth)

Robles, Ernesto (2009), The Malthusian Catastrophe, Loyal Dog Publishing


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