‘Rubbish Has No Value’. Identify the Arguments for and Against This View.

‘Rubbish has no value’. Identify the arguments for and against this view.

Essay Plan:

Introduction: I will explain the concept of ‘value’. I will also briefly explain how this links with peoples ideas/impressions of rubbish and waste.

Main part: I will identify the points – that rubbish has value and also rubbish no value and try to include some stats/figures to show this.

|Rubbish has value: |Rubbish has no value: |
|Rubbish is not considered to be rubbish to everyone |It has zero price – not worth selling |
| | |
|It can be seen as art (junk art) |It has no use and is worthless |
| | |
|Thompson’s rubbish theory – how items can change over time|It has a negative value when being disposed. |
| | |
|It can be recycled to help the environment |It might be offensive |
| | |
| |Its not usually visually appealing |
| | |
| |Its not considered once ‘disposed of’ |

Conclusion: I will consider whether we value the world we live in, and what can happen if we don’t deal with rubbish in the correct ways – planning for the future generations to come.

Nowadays, society may consider the term ‘rubbish’ as items that they consider having no place or value.
This essay will explain how in fact rubbish does have value to lots of different people, businesses and outlets. The consumer may have their own personal reasons for items to be discarded as rubbish, these can include it being seen as broken, old, not needed or simply not wanted anymore. Though there may be some truth behind certain items being rubbish for example something broken, it may have value to another user. Value can be deemed as worthy, sometimes ‘value’ can be seen as a principle of what is right or wrong.

Rubbish has no value:
When someone looks upon an item to be rubbish they could create this assumption because the item is now not worth anything in money terms – they wouldn’t be able to make any money by selling it. This could be no use to them as it may be broken or old and could have been replaced. Goods are made increasingly cheaply and in quantity to allow for low selling prices and are not necessarily built to last. The cost of repair can be more than replacing the item itself with very few specialist repair services being offered on the high street nowadays.
Through consumption we produce more rubbish than we did in the past, an example of this is in the Making Social Lives textbook – ‘in 2006/07 the amount of household rubbish for each person in England was 508kg. This compares with 397kg in 1983/84 (Defra, 2007). This amounts to an increase of 28 per cent between 1983/84 and 2006/07’.
(Brown, (2009) pg. 107)
When rubbish is disposed of it can cause a great expense, if waste is buried in the ground and this leaks and contaminates the water, this would then cause big problems where the water companies would have to cleanse and purify the water.
If waste is incinerated and is toxic this would then pollute the air causing harmful side effects to humans, animals and plant life. This can also create destructive damage to the ozone layer.

Rubbish that is no longer needed by its owner can be seen as offensive if left unattended for days on end outside of houses or businesses. It can have a negative impact on the surrounding areas as it is not visually appealing. It can also attract unwanted stray animals such as rats or foxes, which can be dangerous to the public.
Once peoples rubbish has been disposed of, people who do not generally work with local councils or refuse disposal do not tend to think about their rubbish once it has been taken away – most rubbish gets taken to landfill sites.

A landfill site is a place where rubbish is dumped, flattened, covered with sand, and left to decompose or break down and rot away. A landfill site can be a large hole in the ground or it can be where rubbish is piled up above the ground.

Rubbish has value:
To one person an item may be rubbish and no longer needed or wanted, but to another person this can be valued as useful. Many people now can take items they no longer need but are in a satisfactory condition to a charity shop, where other people can buy the goods at a lower price. This not only helps the individuals donating or buying the goods but also helps charities out which in turn shows the value of principles to some people.

There are artists that today make and design sculptures that are only made out of waste materials. They encourage showing people, from something seen as ‘bad’ that something visually attractive can be made. Which also in-turn encourages people to recycle any items they can – it helps to promote awareness to all ages.
Many ‘junk art’ artists like to think they are helping reuse discarded items in an environmentally sound way.
Today nearly two-thirds of all household rubbish can be recycled, saving energy and avoiding waste going to landfill. It also reduces the use of new materials and saves energy, helping to tackle climate change. Recycling just one aluminum can saves enough energy to run a television set for three hours. The amount of household waste recycled or composted has increased to around 40 per cent which shows that more people are becoming aware of the value of recycling rubbish to help the world we live in.

Thompsons rubbish theory highlights the fact that much of value occurs beyond purchasing an item for the first time. It focuses attention away from the moment of purchase and towards the ways in which objects are a part of our lives through the re-use of items. It also shows the creativity of social factors in creating the conditions for value to emerge. Thompson argues that the processes and contradictions involved in recognizing rubbish are crucial to social life. He has a particular view on rubbish - rather than seeing it as waste he views it as necessary to the wider term valuation. For Thompson rubbish can only really be understood in relation to the categories of transient and durable. The transient represents the usual state of merchandise as items which are declining in value and which have finite life spans. Whereas the durable increase in value over time and have infinite life spans.
Thompson suggests that value, rather than being an inbuilt property of an item, emerges through our ways of seeing and placing items.

Like most developed countries, the UK uses more than its fair share of natural resources like fuel, raw materials and water. The things people buy in the UK are often made elsewhere, so British lifestyles can damage the environment in other parts of the world.
Developed countries need to use only their fair share of the world’s resources. Even though people now do more to recycle I think people today do not truly value our planet and the world we live in, they seem to ignore the implications of rubbish therefore this makes us as a society (and worldwide) more environmentally unsustainable. The lifestyles we currently lead are not sustainable and we are using up the earths resources faster than they can be replenished. I also think companies could do a lot more to provide packaging that is more environmentally friendly so the majority does not end up at landfill sites. I think from an environmental point of view rubbish – if recycled and disposed of correctly can have a lot of value to the world as we do need to consider our future generations.
Items considered as rubbish for example that are given away to a charity shop can also be revalued by changes in tastes or fashion, which can find new uses for in items that may be previously considered as worthless. This also I believe contributes to cutting down on waste that would otherwise be thrown away.
The value of rubbish can be considered differently by many different opinions, the most noticed value of ‘rubbish’ is an items practical use, but I also think there are others too such as economic value and aesthetic value. Value can mean different things to different people at different time and at different places.

Word count: 1208

References: o Stephanie Taylor, Steve Hinchliffe, John Clarke and Simon Bromley, (2009), Introducing Social Sciences, Making Social Lives. o www.direct.gov.uk/en/Environmentandgreenerliving/ o Matt Staples, Jenny Meegan, Eluned Jefferies and Simon Bromley (2009), Learning Companion 2, Milton Keynes, The Open University

Self reflection:
I think this was an interesting subject to study, I didn’t realise how many aspects to rubbish there could be! I found some of the terminology hard to get my head around at first. I have also enjoyed the tutorials.

Word count: 40

References: o Stephanie Taylor, Steve Hinchliffe, John Clarke and Simon Bromley, (2009), Introducing Social Sciences, Making Social Lives. o www.direct.gov.uk/en/Environmentandgreenerliving/ o Matt Staples, Jenny Meegan, Eluned Jefferies and Simon Bromley (2009), Learning Companion 2, Milton Keynes, The Open University Self reflection: I think this was an interesting subject to study, I didn’t realise how many aspects to rubbish there could be! I found some of the terminology hard to get my head around at first. I have also enjoyed the tutorials. Word count: 40