Lecture 9 - A World of Resources Flashcards
What is Consumption?
-The buying, using and disposal of commodities
Geographies of consumption include:
-retail consumption (links to
industrial geography)
-experience consumption (leisure, recreation, tourism etc.)
What are Spatialities when referring to Consumption?
-Consumption produces particular arrangements of space which are expressed through multiple scales; from global, national and regional, to local and those of our very bodies
-Serial repetition of consumer spaces e.g. fast food restuarants, retail/ leisure chains, theme parks etc.
How has Consumption become Uneven across the Globe?
-Colonisation of landscapes by commercial advertisers and sponsors (e.g. sports grounds, urban environments, the internet) provides evidence of the significance of consumption in reproducing places in a globalising world
There are two types of consumption:
-Consumption as a need
-Consumption as a want
Describe Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
-Bottom = physiological needs (water, food, warmth and rest)
-Second = Safety needs (security and safety)
-Third = Belonginess and love needs (intimate relationships and friends)
-Fourth = Esteem needs (prestige and feeling of accomplishment)
-Fifth = Self-actualisation (achieving one’s full potential, including creative activities)
Describe how Resources became separate from Consumption in the 19th Century
-19th century movement of meat markets and slaughterhouses from urban areas to rural areas (e.g. London and Chicago)
Reasons for this were:
-Medical
-Hygienic
-Organisational
-moral
-This meant the production moved to the countryside whilst the majority of consumption continued being based in city
Give some Examples of what Cows are used for in Production
-Hair used for air filters brushes and insulation
-Fat used for waterproofing agents, candles and shaving cream
-Hooves and horns used for adhesives, photo film and plastics
How have Consumers contributed to the E-Waste problem?
-“-ordinary users would buy a new computer when it had a new, more powerful chip inside. Instead of eking out a laptop for 4-5 years, the home users were driven by curiosity and fashion” (Day,2014).
How are Western Nations fuelling the E-Waste problems?
-in 1998, the USA did not sign the Basel Convention which prohibited the export of hazardous waste from the wealthiest OECD countries to all non-OECD countries
-USA primarily exports its e-waste to China due to their lack of environmentally regulatory laws in comparison
-In Guangdong Province on China’s south coast, an estimated 100,000 people scavenge through piles of e-waste imported from the USA (Mansvelt, 2005: p.20).
