G -> 3.5-3.7 Flashcards
localism supports:
local production and consumption of goods, local government control, and promotion of local culture and history
Totnes Pound
aim: to keep money circulating in the community and get people thinking about how they spend their money
- encourage more local trade
- reduce food and trade miles
- encourage tourists to use local businesses
Totnes Street
- community gardens and tree plantings
- match the waste of one industry with another that uses hat waste material, sometimes known as industrial symbiosis
- repair old items rather than throwing them away is encouraged
Totnes Transition
- aspire to be somewhere much better to live in than places built on consumerism
- rebuild relationships within the community and with the natural world
- remove reliance on global finance - build local currency and economy
problems with local sustainability
- locally produced vegetables may be more environmentally damaging (heated greenhouses other than importing from Spain)
- local produce is extensively farmed - higher cost per item, so not always affordable some
- buying locally in UK reduces earnings for suppliers in developing world, cutting their earnings
peak oil definition
- describes the moment at which extraction of petroleum reaches a rate greater than at any time in the past or future
fair trade idea in theory
- you can help the environment - organic food
- you can help poorer farmers
- you can show disdain for multinational companies and buy locally
fair trade idea in reality
- less intensive organic food requires much more land to grow equivalent amount of food
- 50% of food transport is cars, so is inefficient to local farmers compared to a big packed lorry
ethical concerns from globalisation
- industrial companies, so are polluting
- some workers are being exploited
- sub contracting brings weal governance, eg sweatshops
- factors based in developing world so therefore less stringent laws on health and safety
environmental problems of globalisation:
part 1
- environmental concerns EU environmental regulations, so negative externalities of production have shifted to developing countries
- increased exploitation of natural resources in developing countries, eg palm oil production in Indonesia, so loss of orangutan habitats
- less strict regulations so higher levels of pollution, eg Taipei in Taiwan has one of worlds highest pollution levels
environmental problems of globalisation:
part 2:
- increased length of production chain, so each stage can cause air/water/ land pollution
- pollution and damage to ecosystems may cause long term problems to ecosystems and to people’s health, eg, over 7k factories in Mexico City = dangerous levels of air pollution 2/3 days
state two reasons why waste disposal can create concerns
- environmental issues such as ocean pollution
- health issues, waste disposal can spread/ create disease
state two reasons why some people are concerned about transition towns:
- fair trade farmers overseas willl get less income, so less for families
- local goods can be more expensive
- not inclusive beyond the town
state two reasons why globalisation creates ethical concerns
- cultural dilution
- work conditions for low wage worker within factories
ecological footprint
- impact on the environment is measured by our ecological footprint
- an ecological footprint is the amount of land needed to provide a person with everything they consume
- different societies using more resources mean bigger footprint which means bigger impact on the environment
circular economy definition
shifting the cost of production/ waste onto manufacturers, so they have ti find ways to maximise profits by reusing components
how does a circular economy reduce ecological FP?
usually, goods are produced sold and then disposed of. however in a circular economy, goods are produced, old the repaired/ recycled when something goes wrong or resold if all is fine. The materials that would have been disposed of are therefore conserved, all while less waste is produced - which reduced FP
why sustainable development may work
- reduces need for landfill sites
- reduced need for new respurces
- goods are sorted so reduced processing time and cost
- helps meet EU/ gov targets
- reduces methane from landfill
why sustainable development may not work
- lack of education over green
- negative press coverage
- too complicated/ can’t be bothered
- more collections increase pollution
- still uses energy to reprocess
- waste gets sent abroad and poor are exploited to sort it
3.5 overall
Maintain culture Perhaps by establishing transition towns to protect local economy
3.6 overall
Manipulating trade to limit the social and environmental damage, e.g. coffee
Some concerns about transition towns
• Missing out on globalisation; e.g. national markets have greater buying power / economies of scale
• Not very inclusive beyond the town they are operating in
• Disincentives for local businesses to operate sustainably (economically)
• Products might not be produced in the most environmentally / resource efficient location
• Costs of transport might increased because of increased localism
Some ethical concerns
• Industrial / transport companies, so polluting/high CO2 emissions
• Some workers could be exploited
• Corruption endemic/ ‘way of life’ in some countries
• Sub-contracting brings weak governance e.g. sweatshops.
• May have factories / offices based in developing world so less stringent health & safety / environmental laws
Local ways to be ethical when buying local
• High price paid to growers
• High prices paid to roasters
• Workers own the co-operative
• High overall cost to consumer
• Groups /players working together positively
• Fair trade
• Organic
• Uses recycled packaging
Problems for consumers when buying local
• Local food isn’t always available, and can be more expensive,
• Might have high environmental costs e.g. heated greenhouses,
so consumers’ ethical standards are not met might have to buy
GM crops instead.
• Consumers lose access to all-year supplies of seasonal food.
• Food routed via depots so long journeys are still made.
• Unrealistic for local area to support large population of a city
Benefits of buying locally
• Lower carbon footprint/lower food miles (or similar)
means reduced emissions / greener / more sustainable
• Local food is often organic, not using pesticides, so its good for biodiversity
• Local farmers receive a raised income
• Consumers know where the food has come from
Problems for producers of buying locally in U.K.
• Poor farmers in LDCs lose trade
• Less sales creates surplus, price fluctuates
• Even harder for poor farmers to access HIC markets (e.g. EU
tariffs)
3.7 overall
Ethical and environmental concerns about unsustainability have led to increased localism and awareness of the impacts of a consumer society
