Materials Economy
Transforming the Materials Economy
Written by Alex Nicoll (http://www.newgreeneconomy.com)
The Materials Economy
The Materials Economy has been the driving force behind U.S. economics since the Second World War. The name refers to the raw materials from which its products are made. The marketing and sale of these products is what keeps the Materials Economy in motion, while exhausting natural resources and generating incalculable amounts of waste.
Consumer products manufactured and sold in the Materials Economy follow linear life cycles—cycles, which like natural resources themselves, are finite. Throwaway products are a key component to the success of the Materials Economy, as they provide an unending cycle of supply and demand. Planned obsolescence is the other key component, which ensures that yesterday’s hot buy quickly becomes tomorrow’s flop, aggressively prompting consumers to keep up with all the latest fashions and trends.
Just like the carrot leading the donkey, the manufacturer is always one step ahead, and the consumer can never get enough. Since its start some sixty-plus years ago, the Materials Economy has proven to be both unsustainable and unacceptable. Excess and overindulgence run deep in the Materials Economy, where more is better, and the idea of happiness and peace of mind are sold in the promise of tomorrow's purchase.
To better understand the impact of the Materials Economy on societies, cultures, and the environment, it can be helpful to examine the life cycle of any one of its products. The linear evolution of a product reveals the flaws of the Materials Economy itself, for the product is merely a microcosm of the system as a whole.
Product Life Cycles
Products in the Materials Economy follow a life cycle, just as living things in the natural world fulfill a life cycle by which they are born, grow older, and eventually die. The life cycle of any given product observes the following pattern:
[pic]
Take, for example, the cell
Written by Alex Nicoll (http://www.newgreeneconomy.com)
The Materials Economy
The Materials Economy has been the driving force behind U.S. economics since the Second World War. The name refers to the raw materials from which its products are made. The marketing and sale of these products is what keeps the Materials Economy in motion, while exhausting natural resources and generating incalculable amounts of waste.
Consumer products manufactured and sold in the Materials Economy follow linear life cycles—cycles, which like natural resources themselves, are finite. Throwaway products are a key component to the success of the Materials Economy, as they provide an unending cycle of supply and demand. Planned obsolescence is the other key component, which ensures that yesterday’s hot buy quickly becomes tomorrow’s flop, aggressively prompting consumers to keep up with all the latest fashions and trends.
Just like the carrot leading the donkey, the manufacturer is always one step ahead, and the consumer can never get enough. Since its start some sixty-plus years ago, the Materials Economy has proven to be both unsustainable and unacceptable. Excess and overindulgence run deep in the Materials Economy, where more is better, and the idea of happiness and peace of mind are sold in the promise of tomorrow's purchase.
To better understand the impact of the Materials Economy on societies, cultures, and the environment, it can be helpful to examine the life cycle of any one of its products. The linear evolution of a product reveals the flaws of the Materials Economy itself, for the product is merely a microcosm of the system as a whole.
Product Life Cycles
Products in the Materials Economy follow a life cycle, just as living things in the natural world fulfill a life cycle by which they are born, grow older, and eventually die. The life cycle of any given product observes the following pattern:
[pic]
Take, for example, the cell