Consumption In Junkyard Planet By Adam Minter

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When one first think of the word junk, you might imagine the old useless goods that maybe lounging around taking up space in your or you may simply think of trash. We Americans as being one of the largest consumers in the world produce a lot of junk every day. Whether that 's the paper we tear off straws at fast food restaurants or the $1000 smartphones we seem to replace or upgrade frequently, we waste a lot, which to some can seem deteriorating but in truth we can afford too. In Junkyard Planet By Adam Minter he breakdown how the junk we waste daily is a result of income in the U.S and how other countries like China utilize the waste we produce. Here we will go into further analysis on how the junk that we waste daily as americans, can be profitable and how other countries can benefit from this.

Junk is something that will always be there. As along as humans continue to consume and advance the need to replace or get rid of out of date goods will always be prevalent.According to minter in the U.S between 1960 and 2010...the volume of waste generated tripled, from 88.1 to 249.9 million tons (p. 27-28). To produce waste, someone has to consume and use a good or product. In order to attain to those products it requires money so the more you can buy or “waste” generally, the more income to support it. From the 1960s until now the sure its safe to stay prices of good and products have gone away up as gas have inflated by dollars within the decade. That can only mean we as a country are generating more income. That is as a country, some small cities produce more trash than major cities. To understand minter will give you a deeper understanding about communities in these cities, the amount to waste recycled and how that relates to income. Some major cities like New York which have “long standing recycling programs” recycle the amount within their city, that we do nationally average (Minter 30). Others cities with more impoverished communities have far lower rates. Places like Houston only managed to recycle 2.6 percent of its municipal solid waste while as a place like San Francisco 's rates are above 70 percent (Minter 30-31). Both Houston and San Francisco are major cities with communities of poverty but san francisco 's rate is incredibly higher because the cost of living. That would require a higher income and usually when you a higher income you can afford to buy more goods, which generates more waste. The box for you new HD TV or even the plastic bags from your day at the mall.
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In places with a higher income most wouldn 't see value in boxes and bags because they are replaceable as most likely can afford more boxed or bagged goods than someone in a city like houston, which has a lower income, who might try to use the packaging of good for other means. “..in San Francisco a glass jar of trader joe 's bruschetta is likely headed directly to the recycling bin; in the slums of mumbai...if you can afford it-might very well become a kitchen implement”(Minter 30-31). The more money you have the more you can replace, the more waste created. The less money you have the more you try to reuse or finds ways to get the most out of your purchases. The waste we produce

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