Modifying Consumer Behaviour Sustainable Development Environmental Sciences Essay

Modifying Consumer Behaviour Sustainable Development Environmental Sciences Essay The use of plastic bags warrants attention in the sustainable consumption debate, especially when packaging accounts for a significant amount of the resources consumed and waste generated by our consumer lifestyles. Governments, retailers and manufacturers are striving to improve sustainability performance by finding ways to reduce plastic bag use. The authors have done sufficient research in providing a global perspective through approaches adopted by different countries in reducing their plastic use. For example, India banned the use of plastic bags while voluntary action is on the part of consumers and the business community to reduce plastic bag use in the UK. References obtained by the authors are credible and reliable as information was based on recent data and reputable sources. The authors also present a balanced view of both advantages and disadvantages of plastics bags. They are energy efficient to produce, cost-effective, convenient to store and easy to use. However, they have adverse impacts in terms of waste disposal and one significant problem is that plastic bags are non-biodegradable and take at least hundred years to decompose. When they break down in size, they kill marine animals which mistake the plastic bags for food and ingest them (Aldred, 2007). Plastic bags clog drainage systems and create pollution where discarded plastic bags float in oceans. Large amounts of money also have to be spent on cleaning up the plastic bags and the damages caused by them (Russo, 2012). However, the claim that many countries spend a substantial amount on cleaning up the plastic bags and the damages caused by them is not justified. In many cases, these claims are merely guesses by advocates instead of data based on actual studies, and cost is often thrown in as a justification after bans are enacted for political reasons (†¦). Science also does not support the fact that plastic bags do any genuine harm. Plastic bags end up doing less damage than other alternatives and the benefits that the bags offer far outweigh their cost. Independent studies also show that plastic bags are environmentally preferable to paper because plastic bags have a lighter environmental footprint than paper and when they are reused, they are preferable to the reusable plastic totes. In addition, current plastic bags use 70% less plastic than those of 20 years previously and account for less fuel to transport, fewer emissions than paper bags. Nevertheless, moderate reuse; plastic totes mad e from polypropylene are better for the environment even though plastic bags are a more environmentally friendly choice than paper bags and reusable totes. Due to the damaging environmental effects which plastic bags have, countries like Taiwan banned the use of plastics bags to reduce environmental issues such as litter and landfill. With a ban on plastic bags, funds would be redirected to infrastructures. Consumer demand shift toward other alternatives, creating more opportunities for entrepreneurs to come up with alternatives to plastic. Companies that manufacture reusable bags could also expand their product lines and create more jobs (..). However, research by †¦ revealed that banning of plastic bags would lead to an increase in paper bag production, resulting in a greater amount of methane being released in landfill. Other research also revealed that banning plastic bags does not help the environment as it increase carbon emissions and other environmental problems. Research by Lane showed that even though most of the waste in landfill sites comes from packaging, plastic bags form only a small fraction of the litter stream. They occupy lesser of the landfill space, leading to lesser greenhouse gases and pollution, as compared to wood and paper (British Retail Consortium News, 2007). I agree with the authors assumption that plastic-bag bans would not lead to a long-term solution in saving the environment. The use of materials and energy should not be restricted where only unnecessary use of plastic bags is avoided. Instead, there should be a sustainable use of everything which includes the reinforcement of public awareness and motivation to reduce, reuse and recycle (3Rs) to resolve environmental problems. Therefore, some countries like UK do not support an outright ban on plastic and seek other possible alternatives such as reusable totes or paper bags or having a tax imposed on plastic bags. Prendergast et al. (2001) found that consumers are more likely to reuse a paper bag an average of 2.7 times whereas a plastic bag will be reused 1.6 times and retaining a paper bag over a plastic bag leads to increased re-usage. However, alternatives such as reusable totes and paper bags have a worse effect on the environment than plastic bags. Plastic bags require 40 perce nt less energy than paper bags and that paper bag manufacturing creates 70 percent more air pollution and 50 percent more water pollution (†¦). Alternatives to plastic bags may not be practical because in many cases, efforts to increase bag recycling have shown minimal success to date (†¦). Furthermore, when governments outlaw plastic bags to encourage consumers to use other environmentally damaging products, more pollution is actually created. There might also be society and economic impacts on the less affluent in terms of employment loss, due to reduced plastic bag manufacturing Another possible alternative which the authors did not consider could be the recycling of plastic bags in recycling centers where plastic is melt and polymers are reused to carpets or clothes. However, plastic recycling has proven to be difficult to process mechanically as plastic bags are made of polyethylene where it is often labour intensive and cost intensive to sort plastic waste. A key assumption made by the authors is that plastic bags bans are beneficial for the environment. Therefore, the issue of banning plastic bags still remain a controversy as many variables are at play and the process of changing consumer behaviour in relation to plastic bag use can be a complex one. There are different perspectives as to how such consumption should be modified. For countries such as Bangladesh and India, flooding and public health concerns resulted in the use of legislation to ban the use of plastic bags. Plastic bag bans can prevent flooding in urban areas and human health problems. In the UK, voluntary action is on the part of consumers and the business community to reduce plastic bag use. Consumers are urged to reduce their use of plastic bags while manufacturers and retailers are expected to introduce measures to encourage consumers to act responsibly. Other countries like Italy, Ireland and Denmark prefer to impose tax to encourage consumers to reduce plastic bag use and taxes collected can help raise revenue for further environmental improvement. To conclude, the use of plastic bags have a great impact on sustainable consumption and changing consumer behavior through voluntary action, legislation banning the use of plastic bags, or taxing their use can make an effective contribution to a more sustainable future.

Persuasive Essay on Gun Rights Essay

Gun Control Have you ever been involved in a home invasion? How did you protect yourself, or if this would happen have you thought about how you would protect yourself? This is a real concern in families’ minds across the nation. When I think of having a future family I think about how I would keep them safe. Growing up I never had to worry about this, because I knew that my parents would be able to protect me. The way my parents would and have protected me was with a gun. Today, gun control is a major concern in political campaigns across the nation. I will be talking about why we should keep our gun rights based on: home safety, illegal guns and the second amendment of the constitution. We would agree that home safety is in the minds of most Americans, but no matter how hard we try to protect our homes it’s not always a realistic fact. According to fbi.gov, nationwide in 2010, there were an estimated 367,832 robberies. According to Gary Kleck, Ph.D. a professor in the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice at Florida State University in Tallahassee and author of â€Å"Point Blank: Guns and Violence in America† conducted a survey by random telephone sampling of 4,978 households in all the states except Alaska and Hawaii. Results indicating that American civilians use their firearms as often as 2.5 million times every year defending against a confrontation with a criminal, and that handguns alone account for up to 1.9 million defenses per year. My family and I had a personal experience with a home invasion. It was a normal Wednesday night; I was finishing up some late night studies while I heard something from down stairs. Someone had decided to rob our house. I went to my parent’s room to tell them about the intruder. My dad went and unlocked his gun safe and pulled out his twelve gauge shotgun. He exited the room with a loud pump of the forestock. The intruder was quick to run out the door after hearing this. We never had to fire a shot and our guns saved are possessions from being stolen and are family from being harmed. Gun control that is proposed isn’t stating that all guns should be taken away, but that restrictions should be put on guns. Well this does sound logical and does sound like it should work, but it doesn’t necessarily mean  it will. Almost all drugs are illegal except for marijuana in few states, but how many in this room knows someone who could provide them with illegal drugs? Almost everyone. This is the same with guns. Criminals find ways to get drugs just as easily as they could find ways to get illegal guns. According to a recent Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) report, there is a significant diversion to the illegal gun market from Federal Firearms Licensees (FFL). The report states that â€Å"of the 120,370 crime guns that were traced to purchases from the FFLs then in business, 27.7 % of these firearms were seized by law enforcement in connection with a crime within two years of the original sale. This rapid `time to crime’ of a gun purchase d from an FFL is a strong indicator that the initial seller or purchaser may have been engaged in unlawful activity.† No matter if gun restrictions have been risen or not this is only restricting the people that are lawful with their guns and restricting the people that are responsible with their guns. Criminals are not affected by gun restrictions, because due to criminal records most can’t buy guns legally anyways, but they still find them through black markets and criminal acquaintances. Taking away the gun rights of law obeying citizens is unfair and is violating our constitutional rights. According to the second amendment of the United States constitution states â€Å"A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.† I think this says it all. The constitution is what our country was built upon; it is what our founding fathers had set for us to follow in order to become a better society than the one they came. Myself, being very patriotic, I find it hard to see why someone would want their rights that they are given as a free, American citizen, taken away. These amendments have kept us as a reigning world power for so long and why would anything change now? We have been so fortunate to be founded on such morals and freedoms that we have perfected a functioning society within law. Yes, the United States has been in slump lately, but we are still considered a world power and in most eyes we are still considered top dog. So, why change something if we are already on top ? If it isn’t broke don’t fix it. Guns save lives, not takes them. Education is the big problem with guns in today’s society. We have been raised to fear guns, but in reality guns have been something that has so much as freed our nation from England’s reign. Guns have been a part of negative outcomes, but with these outcomes a bad person stands behind this gun. Bad people will always be bad, whether you stick them behind bars or if you put a bracelet around their ankle. We shouldn’t let these bad people determine how all the good people live. We should stay above the bad people and show them that they have no control in our great nation. Guns don’t kill people, people kill people. Thank you. Bibliography: http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/bill_of_rights_transcript.html Title: Bill of Rights, Second Amendment, Charters of freedom Publishing: National Archives; last revised 1791 http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/guns/procon/guns.html Title: â€Å"How criminals get guns†, Hot guns Publishing: pbs.org, Dan Noyes http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/ucr/crime-in-the-u.s/2010/crime-in-the-u.s.-2010/violent-crime/robberymain Title: The fbi federal bureau of investigation, robbery Publishing: U.S. Department of Justice; last revised 2010 Point Blank: Guns and Violence in America Author: Gary Klerk Publishing: A. de Gruyter, New York, 1991

1) What Legislation Is in Place to Help You Administer Medication Safely? Give an Account of How This Affects Your Work.

Unit 616 Medication Questions 1) What legislation is in place to help you administer medication safely? Give an account of how this affects your work. The Medicines Act 1968 Regulates the supply and manufacture of medicines and defines the three categories of medicine: Prescription only, pharmacy medicines and general sales list. This affects my work in that it tells me which types of medicine I can simply pick up over the counter (for example, if someone I supported had a minor problem such as a cold, by consulting this legislation I would know which drugs I would be able to pick up without a prescription).It also categorises the medication which I currently administer and gives me an idea of how different types of medications are classified. For example, many times in the setting I work in, medication orders will be repeat prescriptions. For this, correct information must be supplied: name of service user, name and strength of medication and amount ordered sufficient for the time p eriod. The Misuse of Drugs Act 1972 Categorises banned substances into bands A, B, and C. This tells me that administering certain drugs would result in me breaking the law. It outlines what is legal to administer and what isn’t.Also this act outlines the legal requirement to store controlled drugs in locked cabinets and keep a record (controlled drugs register) of stock numbers, expiry dates etc. At our workplace we administer several controlled drugs such as diazepam, so this legislation affects me in the way that is outlines my legal responsibilities for storing and safely administering these drugs. Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 This act informs me of mine and my employer’s duties at work and tells me what is required of my employer to ensure the working environment is safe. Care Standards Act 2000Establishes national minimum standards in order to meet the needs of the people we support. For example, some of the people we support like to administer their own me dication and all information regarding their medication must be available for them to access at any time. Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002 This act outlines the requirements of employers to protect their employees from the hazards of substances used in the workplace. Medication comes under this act and it outlines principles for recording, safekeeping, handling and disposal of medicines, all things we deal with on a regular basis.

Essay on Chapter 4 Notes ( Earth and Its People) 3rd Edition

Chapter Four! Greece and Iran 1000 – 30 B.C.E. â…  Ancient Iran 1000 - 500 B.C.E †¢ Also known as the Persian Empire. †¢ Little written materials are left. A. Geography and Resources †¢ Northwest Iran was more open to attacks by the nomads of Central Asia. †¢ Irrigation in the first millennium B.C.E. enabled people to move to open plains so they could plant. †¢ Under ground irrigation channels. †¢ Human survival depended on a delicate ecological balance. B. the Rise of the Persian Empire †¢ â€Å"Iranians† spread out across western and central Asia. Europe--- India †¢ Medes was the first group to achieve a complex level of political organization. †¢ Medes settled in the northwest and came under the influence of the ancient centers in†¦show more content†¦with Sparta winning. †¢ Transforming Macedonia into premier military power. †¢ Improvements on hoplites formation. †¢ Alexander (king and son of Philip, a.k.a. Alexander the Great) defeated the Persian King Darius â… ¢. Influence by small independent communities, warring, allowed invaders and was difficult for people to develop a sense unity - GREECE â… £ The Hellenistic Synthesis 323 – 30 B.C.E. †¢ Alexander died a sudden death which sent a half-century of chaos. †¢ Hellenistic Age – epoch ushered in by the conquests of Alexander †¢ Ptolemy’s – dynasty that ruled Egypt and sometimes laid claim to Syria-Palestine †¢ the people of Egypt were only one ethnic group and easily controlled because they were mostly farmers. †¢ Antigonid dynasty ruled the Macedonian homeland and parts of northern Greece. †¢ Alexandria (made by Alexander) had a royal compound, palace, administrative buildings, mausoleum, library, research institutions, doctors, and scientists †¢ Families mattered †¢ the advanced theory of the atoms †¢ Logographers wrote in everyday language. †¢ Herodotus published his Histories. D. 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