Month: March 2019
Detriments of Global Warming
This report will analyze and assess data and other materials as they relate to a major issue of society; in which many individuals have come to know as “global warming” (or climate change which is use moreso in news reports as a result of government and politics). Detailed repoire will be offered on the true significance of attaining knowledge in things such as the roles in which global warming plays within society on a worldwide basis, as well as assessment of its detriments within the world today.
It will give readers the opportunity to assess and moreover question their own perspective on these things and moreso inform them of what is being done, or rather ways in which individuals could and/or already have called for an end to a dying earth.
The report will offer many factual references, as well as charted data to acknowledge (even moreso) the issues faced, and conclusively work under the purpose of allowing for individuals to attain a sense of familiarity to the topic. The paper will serve as an additional source that examines global warming and climate change, and will look at ways in which such an issue affects the lives and health of our habitual Earth (inhabitants and environment alike).
Over the course of an extremely sparse number of timelines, from prehistoric changes in climates all the way to the intensity of ‘heat wave’ news reports, facts have been made more substantial for individuals in regard to the justification that carbon dioxide is essentially the sole regulator of all climate change. According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, global warming can best be defined as a “gradual increase in the overall temperature of the Earth’s atmosphere; generally attributed to the greenhouse effect caused by increased levels of carbon dioxide, chlorofluorocarbons, and other pollutants” as well.
Climate change or global warming can also serve to be a “scientific phenomenon” that essentially connects the elevation of Earth’s normal temperature as a result to radiation being present within the Earth’s surface, which can often serve to be seen in the very simple fact that the issue has existed for a large majority of history. This goes to say that though it has been existent for far beyond its political and economic fame, global warming has only just recently become an issue over the last couple hundred years as a result to a rapid growth in greenhouse gases that have been exposed to the Earth’s surface dominantly over time.
This issue that our society has come to accentuate as being global warming is a major atmospheric deviation, in which it displays a variety of risks to life on Earth for a great amount of history. The earth has been intensifying greatly to an extent that has led more and more species and inhabitants on Earth to grow less tolerable of the high temperatures. Global warming is modifying (if not completely eradicating) natural surroundings slowly but surely, lessening sources of food that serve to be mandatory for the survival of Earth's inhabitants, leading to extinctions of some species, and much more; in which serves to be a reason why researchers, as well as scientists, have come to the conclusion within their circle that climate change will cause nearly 33% of the Earth's creature and plant species to confront elimination or extinction by 2050, and this essentially explains that such an issue will serve to be the main contributor to Earth's extinction.
Inhabitants on a worldwide basis (not limited to a specific area of the world) are key contributors to global warming and climate change through their utilization of non-renewable energy sources, or rather unnaturally disposable resources, as a despondent, in which it provides and/or serves as a benefactor for transportation to get from place to place and much more. Individuals have grown to be more acceptable of living a lifestyle that is not the most ecologically agreeable for the society in which they live in. The only way to a successive result of temperature alteration is by firstly eliminating a key component to its upheaval, which is carbon dioxide.
To completely rid our world of the extensive ramifications of carbon dioxide; and moreover ratify its production, individuals need to learn the benefits of cooperation and participation in society's efforts to eliminate such circumstances that come with global warming. Expansions in the education of individuals on the factors which lead to our world's prospective nullification can definitely be an essential in establishing conditions for its betterment. Individual must become more aware of the roles they play in causing some ecological issues of our world, and one of the most simple ways of doing this is in starting the teachings with younger individuals. It would be most beneficial in younger aged inhabitants; however, all should receive the facts necessary to make a change in these things.
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Two Views on Global Warming
In recent years, the global warming crisis has been a hot topic, one that is often coined by Republicans as a “liberal issue.” In Scott Waldman’s article, “Republican lawmaker: Rocks tumbling into ocean causing sea level rise,” he articulates some of the central claims made by Republicans and Democrats on the U.S. House of Representatives Science, Space and Technology Committee. The conversation was argued by a leading climate scientist, who was often involved in correcting misstatements by both sides.
To understand why each group feels so passionately about the cause of the issue, what their underlying beliefs are. On the one hand, we have a group of people who believe that humans are the sole cause of the global warming crisis. Greenhouse gas emissions, fossil fuel burning, and a string of other human activities have caused Earth’s temperatures to rise, at incredible rates. Their belief system could be classified as a reverse commons theory as defined in Garret Hardin’s (1968) article, “Tragedy of the Commons.” In his article, he describes how humans have been taking away from the commons for so long and how the planet cannot keep up with these demands indefinitely. Conversely, global warming is a result of things being added to our commons such as the atmosphere, by humans. This parallels the article from written by Katherine Wu (2018) from the Smithsonian, who described the dire state of our planet, where even a two-degree increase in temperature would cause immense problems.
The other group does not have much sense of urgency but has shifted from claiming that global warming was not taking place at all, to identifying other causes than humans. Mo Brooks, a Republican from Alabama stated that the cause of the oceans rising was merely sediment or rocks being deposited on the bottom of the oceans. This was refuted by the climate scientists, Duffy, who pointed out that these changes would have minuscule effects on a geological timescale. The same feelings are held by a majority of Republicans who believe even if humans are contributing to global warming, it is not enough to be the full causal mechanism. This attribution of responsibility is the determining factor between these two groups.
The first group has an urgency to the research and data collection that supports their beliefs, but also shows the fragile state of our planet. These scientists spend millions of dollars a year on these endeavors, and much of the same is always found; global warming is happening, but now it is an even more pressing issue. It must be realized though that data can be skewed, which was reiterated by Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA), who was bothered that the climate scientist, who had been accused of tampering with data in the past, was not further questioned by the committee. Statements like these show a cause of the tension between the two groups, which is the skepticism of scientists. These scientists who do highly specialized work, out of the general public’s sight, and bring back evidence that refutes our traditional beliefs are often not accepted. This issue was discussed in an article by Handlin (1965), where he stated that we have ambivalence towards the scientific community. This love-hate relationship works by scientists bringing about new findings that can benefit us, and also findings that challenge our traditional way of beliefs (Handlin, 1965).
Although most of the second group remains skeptical about data that names humans as the leading cause, there has been a rapid change in some perspectives of this group. According to a NY Times article by Nadja Popovich and Livia Albeck-Ripka (2017), the viewpoints of Republicans in areas that are experiencing the effects of global warming, are the ones who are now realizing that their actions may have more of an effect on the situation than anticipated. This further shows the fluidity of our traditions in these circumstances. This change in viewpoint of some of the second group does bring a sense of hope because they are beginning to realize the fragile state of our planet, and take some action to lessen the effects of human activity.
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Global Warming Threating Life’s
I have watched the movie The Day After Tomorrow and it shows us fictionally what could happen as the worst possibility if we keep ignoring global warming. Jack Hall is the main climatologist in the movie and he goes to U.N. officials to present his environmental concerns, but he was tossed aside by most of the people. He said in the movie that “the government needed to start making long-term preparations now,” before it was too late. Then after they tossed him aside his research and all the estimations that he made came true. Later a massive “superstorm” developed setting off a chain of devastating natural disasters throughout the world.
By the time anyone realized what was happening most everyone was dead, billions of lives and places in ruin. This movie sparked my interest because there are scientific facts and important people telling us that we are straining our resources and our environment. Yet we keep on throwing their concerns out the window, and that has real life consequences. Global warming is harmful to us and the environment and if we don’t start taking better care of the planet now then we will have big problems to face such as, more frequent and intense weather, higher sea levels, and wildlife extinction rates will continue to rise. Global warming has many consequences, one of which is causing more frequent and intense weather to occur.
We all know or recognize that seasons and temperatures have changed since each of us were kids. I remember as a child that it would be fall September through November and then winter would come in December. Now it starts to get cold October through November and we have barely even had any of the fall season. Based on figure ones graph it shows that the average surface temperature for the whole globe has increase from the 1850’s through 2011. The graph states that there has been much more of an increase in the twentieth century. From that graph alone it shows us that the climate has changed and has gone up a lot since we first started taking weather and climate measurements. “The work of climatologists has found evidence to suggest that only a limited number of factors are primarily responsible for most of the past episodes of climate change on the earth.
These factors include: Volcanic eruptions, Atmospheric carbon dioxide variations, and Variations in solar output.” (Patel et al.217). Studies have shown a link between carbon dioxide in the air and the mean of worldwide temperature. The efforts of scientists that study climate and weather have shown that a small quantity of factors are mainly accountable for most of the globes climate change events. Those factors are differences in solar output, differences in atmospheric carbon dioxide, and eruptions from volcanos. Admission of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere is one of the leading causes of global warming.
Over the past centuries we the people have noticed a spike in temperature and a difference in seasons. My cousin told me the other day that when you go to New York the air is so polluted that it fills like you are breathing through maple syrup, it is that thick. Another consequence of global warming is rising sea levels. Researchers started keeping records on how the climate was impacting the arctic ice over a century ago. “Near Prince Rupert, the ocean rose 12 cm between 1909 and 1999, and sea surface temperatures have risen as much as 1.8 degrees C off the coast. Some provincial glaciers have receded 1,100 metres in the past century.”(Pynn and Baglole 3). Most of the world’s ice from glaciers is found in two areas Antarctica and Greenland. Since we only have two beautiful places where glaciers are still found we should want to preserve the ice as much as possible.
Sea levels are rising at a high percentage rate and the ice is melting. If we don’t reduce global climate change the ice and glaciers will keep melting and by the time we wake up the problem will be past solving. Thank of it this way, the more ice that melts the less space the world has for land. Water takes up more space than ice, so when the ice melts, the water will likely take up twice the space of the ice. “In 2005, the ice cap covering the Arctic Ocean shrank to its smallest size since researchers began keeping records a century ago.”(Lonny 24). Some people are asking if the carbon dioxide from the atmosphere will later own cause the ocean to turn acidic. The ocean has a pH of roughly 8.2 which means that it is alkaline.
Alkaline means that something has a pH of 7 or higher. Logically since the earth’s oceans have never had acid in them since the beginning of time it stands to reason that acid shouldn’t be in them in the future. The ocean holds a lot more heat than the atmosphere, because of this ocean temperature is more vital than land temperature. Additionally, another consequence of global warming, that isn’t discussed a lot is wildlife extinction rates. Global warming is endangering a lot of different species around the globe. Endangered species most commonly affected by global warming are most commonly found near colder parts of the globe.
We are using greenhouse gases, and in turn we are killing our environment and all the amazing, wonderful, and beautiful creatures that live there. If we don’t start to protect our environment and the animals that live there in the future, there won’t be anything to take our kids to see. There will not be any species left to admire and protect or any wildlife to capture the beauty of. We need to cherish and protect this beautiful earth that God created. “With the increase in global temperature, the glaciers of the poles melt at faster rate than ever. At this rate, the habitats for the polar bear, penguin, harp seal, snow goose etc are shrinking.”(Athena Information Solutions Pvt.Ltd. 1)
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Global Warming Threating Life's. (2019, Mar 14).
Retrieved November 6, 2025 , from
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Think of Global Warming
Credibility:
Throughout this speech I have used many credible resources to back my statements and claims up. Preview: First we will be looking at reasons for there to be mass extinctions. Next, we will talk about the reasoning for having limited food and water supplies. Lastly, we will discuss the causes of increased amounts of floods and droughts.
Mass extinction will occur
When people think of global warming, they just think about the temperatures rising, but it’s so much more than that. If the temperatures continue to change, there will be a mass extinction. Many animals rely on heat and warmer temperatures to stay alive, and some rely on colder temperatures. Jeffery Kulger, a writer for Times Magazine, stated that “From 1960 to 2017, the Alpine snow season shortened by 38 days—starting an average of 12 days later and ending 26 days earlier than normal.” This is an example of the snow loss in the Alps.
Another example would be from the artic.
If the snow melts earlier, greenery will show which means animals and insects will be out earlier than they should be. This can cause animals and bird to arrive too late to feed. Which will then lead to starvation and then death. This can also affect people who live in the artic. Many typical hunting grounds will be vacant due to animals relocating to colder locations or from them dying off because of the heat. Some areas in the world will also be colder. With more atmospheric energy available, it can cause harsher storms to occur in different areas all over the world (Keating, p.1). These kinds of storms may occur in warmer regions, which will also affect the way humans and animals live there. Temperatures will rise/ fall which will lead to migration and irregular weather. 1. When the temperatures rise, winters will be shorter. The top five warmest years ever have all occurred within the past 8 years (Climate Central, p.1). This causes animals to migrate at different times. An example would be a colony of butterflies. Once it gets too cold for them to live here, they will move to a warmer region, which is usually Mexico. If the temperatures fluctuate, the butterflies may leave too early or too soon, and will end up dying off. This can also ruin the soil for plants. Thawing soils can release large quantities of heat-trapping gases into the atmosphere (Francis, p.1).
This can then lead to the plant to shut down or die. Extreme cold may still occur, and it will only take a short amount of time for the cold to affect the plant. Plants may over heat due to the lack of water supply. Animals will die off due to not having food, which will cause humans to not have meat nor plants to eat, which will eventually cause us to die off if there is no solution. According to NASA and the EPA, if global warming continues unchecked, it will cause significant climate change, extreme weather events and other severe natural and societal impacts (Lallanila, p.1).
Floods and droughts will cause limited food/water supply 1. Global warming will eventually cause the ocean levels to rise due to the melting ice and glaciers located in colder regions. If the water level rises, major flooding will occur in areas like New York, California, Florida, and as stated before Italy. By the end of the century, if we keep on emitting carbon dioxide most coastal cities will be flooded. (Francis, p.1). Once flooding occurs, many will lose their electricity and even their homes. This can also lead to people losing their animals and any food they could’ve been growing. 3. Other parts of the world that are used to the rain fall may now get droughts. Animals and plants may die off due to lack of water and shelter, and this will eventually have an effect on the humans living in that area. This can also cause more forest fires like the one that happened in California last year (Busby, p.1).
Conclusion:
Overall, global warming is a growing issue. If we do not bring awareness to global warming, we will face mass extinctions, limited food and water supplies, and an increase of floods and droughts. Anyone can help with this rising issue. Even doing small simple things around the house could be beneficial. Human activities that contribute to this issue need to be controlled and eventually stopped so we can protect the environment for the future.
References
- Bradford, A. and Pappas, S. (2017).
- Effects of Global Warming. [online] Live Science. Available at: https://www.livescience.com/37057-global-warming-effects.html
- [Accessed 10 Oct. 2018]. Busby, J. (2018). Warming World. Foreign Affairs, 97(4), 49–55.
- Retrieved from https://ezproxy.indstate.edu/login?url=https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx direct=true&db=aph&AN=131477896&site=ehost-live&scope=site
- Climatecentral.org. (2018). The 10 Hottest Global Years on Record. [online] Available at: https://www.climatecentral.org/gallery/graphics/the-10-hottest-global-years-on-record [Accessed 11 Oct. 2018].
- Francis, Jennifer A. "MELTDOWN." Scientific American, vol. 318, no. 4, Apr. 2018, pp. 48-53.
- Keating, Christopher. ”Global Warming.” Salem Press Encyclopedia of Science, 2013.
- Kluger, Jeffrey. "The Big Melt: Climate Change in the Alps." Time, vol. 190, no. 24, 11 Dec. 2017.
- Lallanila, Marc. “What Is the Greenhouse Effect?” LiveScience, Purch, 7 Mar. 2018
- www.livescience.com/37743-greenhouse-effect.html.
- Seo, S. N. (2015). Adaptation to Global Warming as an Optimal Transition Process to A Greenhouse World. Economic Affairs, 35(2), 272–284.
- https://doi.org/10.1111/ecaf.12121
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Think of Global Warming. (2019, Mar 14).
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Global Warming a Global Responsibility
Introduction
A famous scientist, Bill Nye, made a glaring statement: ”Climate change is happening, humans are causing it, and I think this is perhaps the most serious environmental issue facing us” Climate change or global warming is a serious and undeniable issue that is plaguing the planet. Global warming is a gradual increase in the overall temperature of the earth's atmosphere usually connected to the greenhouse effect caused by increased levels of carbon dioxide, chlorofluorocarbons, and other pollutants. Ten of the last thirteen years were the hottest on record. If the dangerous patterns of global warming continue to occur, environmental, economic, and health risks will increase. This dramatic increase in temperature is not only threatening wildlife and the environment, but also the lives of humans.
Even though humans are negatively impacted by climate change, they are also the main contributors to it. The United States is the second leader in global warming pollution behind China and makes up about sixteen percent of all carbon dioxide emissions. Protecting the planet and the environment is an important value because it is home to all living things and nature plays a key role in human health and well being. Humans are the most powerful and dangerous inhabitants of this world and they have a duty to protect it. International governments must take immediate action against global warming and find alternative energy sources to reduce the negative effects of global warming on the planet. Protecting the planet and the environment is an important ideal that must be enforced and upheld.
Human activities are greatly contributing to global warming as they release more greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. Greenhouse gases are natural gases in the atmosphere that trap heat. These gases include carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and fluorinated gases. The trapping of heat in Earth’s atmosphere is known as the greenhouse effect, and is necessary to support life. However, an excess amount of these gases in the atmosphere, such as what is currently occurring, can cause a great deal of harm. According to National Geographic, deforestation is also another cause of global warming, and as more humans cut down trees for construction and agricultural purposes, more carbon dioxide is being released into the air since trees absorb greenhouse gases. Research has proven that “one day's deforestation is equivalent to the carbon footprint of eight million people flying to New York.” (Global Warming). As more trees and forests are being cut down for human benefit, more greenhouse gases are entering the atmosphere and fueling global warming.
The effects of global warming are very grave and cause serious problems for present and future generations. These effects don’t only impact animals and plants and their environments, but humans as well. Global warming triggers droughts and heat waves as temperatures climb. These periods of dryness and heat can lead to wildfires, like the ones we have been experiencing in California, that are leading to mass destruction and ruining the homes of many humans and animals. Global warming can also cause a rise of sea level in the ocean. Evidence has shown that as “ air and water temperatures rise, ice caps and glaciers will melt, causing sea level to rise as well” (Global Warming).
As more and more ice caps and glaciers melt due to higher temperatures, the water is seeping into the oceans and causing the sea level rise, which could lead to more floods in coastal areas. Many plants and animals could also go extinct as a result of climate change since many species cannot handle and adapt to these changes. This would result in a loss of biodiversity, which is a serious price to pay for the burning of fossil fuels and human induced causes of global warming since plants and animals are such precious and necessary attributes to the planet. Another dire effect of global warming is the spreading of diseases since the warmer temperatures are more suitable for organisms like mosquitoes that carry viruses. According to Justin Gillis, a New York Times environmental reporter, “global warming is likely to increase the range and speed of the life cycle of the particular mosquitoes carrying these viruses, encouraging their spread deeper into temperate countries like the United States” (Gillis). Evidence has demonstrated that the warmer the temperature is the faster these mosquitoes and other disease-carrying insects can develop from egg to adult and the faster they can “incubate viruses” (Monaghan). Global warming negatively impacts the planet and its inhabitants in a variety of ways that all inflict harm and danger. However, there are solutions that national governments can implement to help reduce the severity of these negative impacts on the planet.
Coal is a very expensive source of power which many developing countries are struggling to obtain, so if wind energy prices kept on decreasing it would attract many consumers towards it and away from coal . Wind is also a very available and easily attainable element unlike carbon which must be excavated. This could save money in the future since it would eliminate the need to buy the tools needed to provide this coal or oil.
Solar energy is an affordable and reliable energy source that can reduce the effects of global warming on the planet. Solar panels, also known as photovoltaics, take light energy from the sun and convert it to electricity: “PV [photovoltaic] ability to generate electricity while producing no atmospheric emissions or greenhouse gases marks it as a technology of choice...Over the course of a year, it saves about the same amount of carbon dioxide that a car emits during that period” (Glenn Hamer). This renewable energy source is very beneficial since it paves a way for a clean environment. Solar energy is one of the best alternatives to fossil fuels since the sun is a natural source of energy that can be exploited for the benefit of humans, while also protecting the planet from harmful carbon dioxide emissions.
There is not an unlimited amount of coal in the environment, while the sun is always available and energy from it is extremely dependable and reliable. Excavating and extracting coal also requires a lot of man power, while solar panel manufacturing and maintenance does not exude the same level of work and destruction. Brown claimed that “In industrial nations, most installations reduce the consumer's dependence on grid-supplied electricity, much of it originating from coal...." (Brown). This also supports that a transition to this renewable energy source will help decrease the detrimental effects of global warming since it removes the necessity and use of coal and natural gases which harms the atmosphere. Harming the atmosphere goes against human morals and values of protecting the environment and planet. If national governments implement a more strict policy to utilize solar energy, people will quickly become more accustomed to it and grow less dependent on coal to perform the same job that a clean energy source does.
Providing tax benefits and credits on clean energy sources like solar energy will also encourage people to make the transition, if not for saving the environment then for saving more money. According to Glenn Hamer, the former executive director of the Solar Energy Industries Association, “A 2.5 kW system (enough to power a typical home) covers less than 400 square feet of rooftop” (Hamer). Solar energy is also very suitable because it provides clean and safe energy and does not take up much space. Many people may worry about the design of solar panels and the aesthetic since having a sheek, modern home is desired during this time period; but if it could help save the environment, a small amount of space on the roof is a small price to pay. People worry about the beauty of their homes, but the planet is also their home, and if measures are not taken to prevent its pollution, its beauty will be destroyed as well. Advances in technology are developing rapidly in this time period, allowing for more ways that could be developed to modify the solar panels to make them more efficient, inexpensive, and desirable.
Reducing the effects of global warming can also be easily accomplished by switching to hybrid cars, instead of cars that run on gasoline. Hybrid cars have a gasoline and an electric motor and conserve more gas than regular cars. According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency, the combustion of fossil fuels such as diesel and gasoline for transportation purposes is the second largest producer of carbon dioxide emissions (Overview of Greenhouse Gases). Driving cars with alternative sources of fuel that emit less carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, like hybrid cars, will extremely protect the environment against global warming. Research has shown that “In the United States, if all motorists shifted to cars with hybrid engines, such as the Toyota Prius or the Honda Insight, gasoline use could be cut in half” (Brown). Hybrid cars have both a gasoline powered motor and an electric motor. This allows for a higher gas mileage than most other cars at around forty eight to sixty miles per gallon. Although hybrid cars may cost more initially, the amount of money saved on gas will pay off in the end. Better transmissions and engines will immensely benefit the environment and if more and more people switch to hybrid cars, the carbon footprint that gasoline- powered cars leave on the planet will begin to diminish. The problem with hybrid cars is that people prefer to have cars that are more powerful and have a better and modern design.
Although these desirable cars may look nice, they are very harmful to the planet and are contributing to the negative aspects of climate change. If national governments were to offer some sort of benefit or reward to the people that purchase hybrid cars, it may encourage more people to do so. If that tactic proves to be weak and inefficient, national government may have to look at a more forceful approach to implementing the use of hybrid cars instead of gasoline powered ones. Also, lowering the price of hybrid cars would make them more attainable and desirable Most families own more than one car, so if one of those cars was a hybrid, that would be a great start to making a full transition to these clean and environmentally friendly vehicles.
Developed countries must bear the responsibility of taking the lead in reducing the effects of global warming and finding alternative energy sources. Developed and powerful countries like the United States and many European countries have the resources, technologies, and capabilities of making a monumental difference in preventing the planet from reaching an unrecoverable state with global warming. Curtis Doebbler, an international human rights lawyer declared, “Developed countries contribute very little to the enormous costs of mitigation and adaptation, and their representatives in climate talks refuse to extend and strengthen emissions limits, contrary to those of developing countries” (Doebbler). Even though they have the most power to make a change, these developed countries are the ones most resistant to performing the actions needed to fight global warming. To take it a step further, richer countries believe it is the responsibility of the developing countries to take action.
Most developing countries are on board with the drastic changes needed to be made. Since these countries do not have as many resources, they will be the ones most harmed by global warming. Mass deforestation is also apparent in developing nations, as these countries must free space in order to build factories to produce the items that people in developed countries buy every day. As stated before, deforestation is a major contributor to carbon emissions since trees absorb the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and regulate the flow of water. Developing countries have already experienced loss of biodiversity, contamination, and the other negative effects of global warming, and taking on any more of the burden will place them in a condition that is much more dangerous than their current one. “There is a difference between the emissions of developing countries which are “survival” emissions and those of developed countries which are in the nature of “lifestyle” emissions” (Saran). The emissions of the developing countries are somewhat justified because they are for survival purposes and there is nothing else they can do while developing countries have other options and a healthy portion of their emissions are for selfish and unnecessary reasons. For this reasons, the core countries must take the burden of tremendously reducing their emissions and finding other energy sources that will reduce global warming and provide these solutions to developing countries. Developed countries who will have the least to lose must take action to save the people of their country and the countries that are not strong enough to take action.
There are several cities and countries that have already taken steps to find alternative energy sources to improve the destructive outcomes of global warming. Portland, Oregon is a very environmentally friendly city and has taken many measures to utilize clean and safe energy sources. This green city was the first United States city to create a plan to reduce carbon dioxide emissions and has “aggressively pushed green building initiative's” (Green Cities). Portland also employs an effective transportation system of buses and many bike lanes to help keep cars off the road. In addition, “Portlanders recycle 63 percent of their waste, which is one of the highest rates in the U.S.”(Travel Portland). This demonstrates that it is possible to convert to more “green” ways that protect the environment, and try to eliminate as much of carbon emissions as possible.
This way of life is accepted and encouraged by the population of Portland, and if this city can make such changes, so can the rest of American cities in order to make an immense difference. Another city that implements a clean way of life is Curitiba, Brazil. Mark Holston, a journalist on Latin American topics, proclaimed, “The success of the surface transportation system has taken thousands of personal vehicles off the street, reducing congestion and dramatically cutting air pollution” (Holston). Curitiba is the greenest city in Brazil, and has many parks that also serve as stormwater management facilities. Unlike Cubatao, Curitiba has an efficient transport system that plays a critical role in reducing the carbon emissions caused by the flood of cars on the streets. Reykjavik, Iceland is another example of a city that uses different methods to reach a healthy and safe condition. Investigations of the city’s energy sources demonstrated that “...like the rest of the country, its heat and electricity come entirely from geothermal and hydropower sources and it’s determined to become fossil-fuel-free by 2050” (Green Cities). This illustrates that there are several places that have actually taken a stand against global warming and made a lasting change on their environment. It is possible to take these measures, hopefully, these cities will set an example and encourage others around the world, like the U.S., to also make a change. Many United States citizens believe that they are immune to the effects of global warming, but that is obviously not true. However, if America follows in the footsteps of these cities and countries and makes drastic changes, the destructive effects of global warming will lessen.
Conclusion
Admittedly, many people may argue that renewable energy sources, like solar energy, are not suitable solutions to global warming. Howard C. Hayden, the editor of The Energy Advocates, claims “Most people cannot afford to cover even part, let alone the entire south-facing roof with solar collectors” (Hayden). He argues that solar energy is too expensive and that many people will not be able to afford it, thus making it inaccessible and a poor alternative to fossil fuels. Glenn Hamer provides a different viewpoint and declares, “As the industry has grown over the past 25 years, the cost of PV has declined by several orders of magnitude. The PV industry estimates that the system price paid by the end user will be $3-4 per watt in 2010” (Hamer). The price for solar panels has decreased over the years, and will continue to decrease in the future and be available to all countries. It is the responsibility of the developed countries to provide solar panels to those countries and people who cannot afford it, or to lower the overall cost of solar panels. In the end, solar and wind energy prove to be cleaner and safer than fossil fuels and the price to pay for these renewable energy sources is much less than the price of the harmful consequences of global warming.
Protecting the planet is a value and a mission that must be upheld and carried out, and if not, the duty as humans and civilians living on this planet will not be executed. Rich, developed countries must take responsibility and respond to global warming before it reaches a level where it can no longer be fixed. Countries must work together to find ways to target all aspects contributing to global warming and use the advanced technology that continues to be modified today to eliminate these harmful factors. Each individual can play a part in fighting the threatening conditions of global warming. Their roles can be as small as switching to reusable water bottles instead of plastic ones, using CFL or LED light bulbs instead of traditional incandescent ones, and using public transportation systems. If no action is taken, the problem will continue to progress and become even more severe, endangering future generations.
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Global Warming a Global Responsibility. (2019, Mar 14).
Retrieved November 6, 2025 , from
https://studydriver.com/2019/03/page/18/
Global Warming a Fix for the Future
Everyone has heard the infamous words “global warming”, but not many understand the disaster that’s happening. Terms are thrown out such as carbon emissions and greenhouse gases the list goes on, and those not scientifically savvy tend to brush off what may become the downfall of humanity. According to Nasa’s official website, “The planet's average surface temperature has risen about 1.62 degrees Fahrenheit since the late 19th century, a change driven largely by increased carbon dioxide and other human-made emissions into the atmosphere.4 Most of the warming occurred in the past 35 years, with the five warmest years on record taking place since 2010”. This phenomenon has started to show itself as recently as this past year, making record breaking highs in temperature.
The effects of global warming include warming of the ocean’s water, which can lead to catastrophic weather. Also, melting of ice caps will cause the sea level to rise, this will eliminate our coastline as we know it. Sea level is already rising at an alarming rate. “Globally the sea level has risen about 20 centimeters since the beginning of the 20th century and more than 5 centimeters in the last twenty years”. Since the industrial revolution, around the mid 1800’s, carbon emission has been on the rise.
The average carbon emission before the 19th century was around 280 ppm. However, now Carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere are reaching 400 ppm. Since carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has a direct effect with warming of the globe this is bad news. Many scientists are warning politicians about cutting back on CO2 emission, but many are refusing to look at the science and refusing to make the changes needed. The idealistic fix is to cut carbon-based fuel systems totally and integrate a source of cleaner energy. The energy source most abundant is solar energy, replacing carbon-based fuel with solar energy is the future. Solar energy is limitless, clean, and easily available. With further technological advancements there’s no reason solar energy can’t be used to power every residential house, commercial building, or every vehicle on the road.
Transferring to solar energy in those three areas could be the life or death difference for generations to come. Realistically, solar energy could replace nearly all sources of energy, including land vehicles and building power. There’s no excuse not to convert to total solar power, other than the humanistic thought of muscle cars ruling and electric cars stinking. The only time solar energy wouldn’t be a feasible option is in a case where a large amount of energy is needed at one time, such as a rocket launch. Fossil fuel use could still be a relevant source of energy, it just needs to be limited for certain situations.
There are countless advantages to converting to solar energy. This isn’t a matter of making money, this is a matter of saving the environment as we know it. It has been shown carbon emissions are nearing 400ppm. According to Hugh Steadman’s research carbon levels between 4-450ppm will cause catastrophic climate destabilization, 425-600ppm will cause irreversible climate destabilization, and levels above 600ppm will cause human ext. Carbon emissions need to drop by nearly half to get this under control. These advantages include having an endless supply of energy, pollution being bare minimum, and reducing the use of fossil fuels.
Since solar energy is a renewable energy source from the sun energy is limitless. Solar energy can even be picked up on cloudy days, in lower amount. If energy isn’t being gathered due to weather battery storage can be used instead to generate the power needed. Solar energy will be the most economically friendly solution to this carbon emission problem. Initial costs to set up solar panels will be quite expensive, but the ROI of solar panels will be massive. A study done in Poland, by Mixtaj, L., Naš?áková, J., Weiss, E., Weiss, R., & Zawada, M., showed an annual saving of 284 euros for electrical energy and a return period of twelve years.
While other energy sources such as natural gas, the return period would be nearly double the time, twenty-two years, to get the money back from initial costs. Doing this will drastically decrease electricity bills per month making the investment instantly worthwhile. Greenhouse gases are the main culprit in global warming, solar energy drastically reduces the amount of greenhouse gas emittance. Solar energy has been known to produce small amounts of greenhouse gas, but nothing compared to traditional energy sources. This is the main reason solar is the best replacement for energy.
The whole objective is to cut down on air pollution and nothing compares to solar when it comes to cleanliness. Another advantage of solar is the reduced need for fossil fuel use, with an abundance of solar energy there will be no need to waste precious fossil fuels on tasks easily achieved by renewable energy. Fossil fuels should be used only when necessary and at this rate they will be totally gone, soon. Fossil fuels have been in use for a few hundred years and are a great source of energy. However, the use of fossil fuels releases carbon into the atmosphere at a rate many times more than alternative sources. Research showed in 2014, fossil fuels were responsible for 81% of the planet’s energy source. Ultimately, fossil fuels will become much more expensive as scarcity becomes more relevant, then pushing an alternative source of energy to the forefront. Benefits will be extravagant once these energy systems are put into place. Once governments agree to incorporate these systems electricity will be dirt cheap. The nation will be powered totally on sunlight with storage reserves always ready to kick on.
Maintenance for these systems will also be minimal, the benefits are endless.
This problem cannot be left alone any longer, the science is showing trends that are irrefutable. “Mankind has pumped some 150 billion tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Almost half that amount has been emitted since 2000”. The disadvantages of solar energy must be sacrificed to ensure a safe future for the planet. Some of these disadvantages include job loss, high initial cost, large area consumption, and animal habitat destruction. Loss of jobs is a difficult subject to tackle, one cannot be persuaded their job needs to be eliminated. For example, coal miners have already had a reduction in job opportunities and will only decrease in solar energy becomes a real possibility to power the planet. However, with a decrease in coal careers comes an opportunity in the solar energy field. It’s a tradeoff, many times in history these shifts have come about.
High initial cost to install and integrate solar panels and batteries large enough to store the abundance of energy being brought in is another disadvantage and probably the main issue keeping progression low. After funding, finding an area to put these solar structures becomes an obstacle, a fear is the destruction of animal habitats. Some research on this topic showed that other than land clearing the environmental change had little effect on the wildlife within the area of research. Assuming these studies hold true over time, solar energy looks very promising. The area needed for a mass solar energy plant is extremely large and presents its own problems in large cities. A fix for that problem would be to tie the energy into a grid and pump the energy in from a more rural area, easier said than done.
The conversion to solar energy has its own set of advantages and disadvantages, but no disadvantage is greater than the future of the planet if carbon emissions continue to rise at this pace.
The environmental catastrophes will continue to get worse. Hurricanes will become larger and more powerful than ever before. Ice caps will continue to melt causing flooding in coastal areas. Crops will begin to die due to increased heat. The negatives of global warming are real and are in effect now, at a smaller degree. The negatives of solar energy being job loss, high initial costs, large area consumption, and animal habitat destruction. All these negatives can be mitigated to a certain degree. Job loss will level out and be replaced with more current jobs. The high initial costs will only hurt for a moment, they will pay for themselves in the long run. Animal habitats have been shown to do well with solar plants nearby. The positives are endless including limitless energy, low pollution output, and fossil fuel reduction. The data shows solar energy is the future. It’s a matter of time until fossil fuels become scarce and prices of all will skyrocket, causing an economical crash. Hugh Steadman predicts a nuclear war over resources as they become scarce.
If solar energy plants are put in place today this fear can be put to bed. Results will show a decrease in global warming and all negative factors that come along. The world will have to work together and face this issue head on. One country cannot accomplish this goal alone. They all must work in unison. Cutting fossil fuel usage and putting forward a plan for the future. The most sensible plan is solar energy. The positives far outweigh the negatives. This is a plan that may hurt now, considering job loss, but will be far worth it in the future. It’s the only thing that can happen, because what’s going on in the environment cannot last much longer. It’s comparative to a lifelong smoker, they need to quit but the satisfaction for the moment blinds them from seeing the future. That future is not one, exactly like ours if these changes are not made.
References
- Callery, S. (Ed.). (2018, September 21). Climate change evidence: How do we know? Retrieved from https://climate.nasa.gov/evidence/
Hartley, P. R. (2018). - The cost of displacing fossil fuels: Some evidence from Texas. Energy Journal, 39(2), 233–258. https://doi-org.db21.linccweb.org/10.5547/01956574.39.2.phar
Mixtaj, L., Naš?áková, J., Weiss, E., Weiss, R., & Zawada, M. (2012). - Evaluation of Return on Investment for Proposed Use of Solar Systems in Poland. Metalurgija, 51(3), 361–364. Retrieved from https://db21.linccweb.org/login?url=https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&d b=a9h&AN=77926197&site=eds-live
Rudman, J., Gauche, P., & Esler, K. J. (2017). - Direct environmental impacts of solar power in two arid biomes: An initial investigation. South African Journal of Science, (11–12), 93. https://doi-org.db21.linccweb.org/10.17159/sajs.2017/20170113
Steadman, H. (2017). - Climate change or climate catastrophe? New Zealand International Review, 42(4), 19–23. Retrieved from https://db21.linccweb.org/login?url=https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true& b=a9h&AN=124229931&site=eds-live
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Global Warming a Fix for the Future. (2019, Mar 14).
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Global Warming the Truth Behind the Matter
Approximately 4.543 billion years ago the earth that we call home was created. Since that time the atmosphere has gone through some drastic changes but, the most change seen in the atmosphere has been within the last 100 years. The reason behind this change has been human evolution and the changes we have had industrial wise. As technology has continued to grow so has our need for the thing that affect our environment badly and help power our new ideals. The atmospheric changes we have had come from a term we call global warming. Since we have played a major role in the pollution that has changed our earth, we must now realize what global warming is, what our role has been to make if flourish, and things we must do to reduce the effects it is having on our planet.
Due to different reasons our climate continues to change, mostly heating up, causing polar ice melting, severe tropical storms, and mass droughts. We refer to this change as Global warming. The pure definition of this term is a gradual increase in the overall temperature of the earth's atmosphere generally attributed to the greenhouse effect caused by increased levels of carbon dioxide, chlorofluorocarbons, and other pollutants. Although there are skeptics that try to deny or redirect what global warming is, it is obvious that it is real and that it is serious. Over the past decade temperatures have risen more than any other time that we have measured.
This graph shows the temperature increase and difference from a scale in terms of the last century. After the economic boom in the 1920’s the temperature has slowly began to rise. Although it seemingly looks as if it is risen only a little this amount, during this time period there has been plenty of devastation around the world.
Over recent year scientist have continued to discover different ways we are affecting our climate badly and the list seems to continually grow. As the search continues to find the causes it is agreed amongst the main scientist community that the main cause is green house gases. Greenhouse gases are known as water vapor, Carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide, and methane. These gases are what create the greenhouse effect, warming that results when the atmosphere traps heat radiating from Earth toward space. Each of these gases play a different role in the change and each are as important as the other. Water vapor acts a feed back to show how much the atmosphere is warming seeing it is the most abundant. Carbon dioxide, Nitrous oxide, and methane are all produced form humans and some natural resources. Carbon emission is the biggest human factor of all. Over the last century the burning of fossil fuels like coal and oil has increased the concentration of atmospheric carbon dioxide.
This graph from the NOAA shows the mass amount of carbon currently in our atmosphere and how much was in the previous thousands of years. This show the amount as they truly are, of the charts.
As the science around global warming continues to grow it has become more obvious how much it contributes to natural disasters, and Wildfires has become on of the biggest destructive things that carbon emission has affected. With the continual rise of carbon emission our environment continues to heat up. Wildfires on the west coast of the United States have continued to become more frequent and dangerous since the late 1900’s and early 21st century. In the span between 1986 and 2003, wildfires happened almost four times as often, burned more than six times the land area, and lasted almost five times as long when compared to the period between 1970 and 1986.
As the graph above shows, the gradual increase in land being burned gives a key sign to the increase in its dangerousness and destructiveness. These rises are due to the effects of the greenhouse effect and will continue to rise. Rick Ochoa, fire weather program manager at the National Interagency Fire Center in Idaho, told MNN, "We still have a long way to go on prescribed burns, but I would say that while we are making improvements on that, in some regards global warming is outrunning our ability to do it."
The overview of this research paper is to gain a greater understanding that global warming has been growing tremendously due to the greenhouse effect. Each time something on the planet releases carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases, it has an effect on global warming.
When looking into a way to slow the increase of global warming nations are taking action to use less energy by withdrawing themselves from things that require a lot of energy and creating or building alternatives fuels for their homes and more. As an individual, I can work on using my car less, so gas is not used as much to minimize the release of carbon dioxide. With that, I will take the public transportation or car poll. At home, if items that require electricity is not being used, they can be unplugged and put away. There are so many ways people can work toward slowing global warming’s increased effect on the environment. So for that matter, after doing all the research that I have, I agree that global warming is a huge trend and it is real.
The resources showed the increase through important facts and also with graphs to prove and show the evidences of what is happening in our atmosphere. Now reviewing the paper and everything learned, one can say that a change needs to occur. The change does not have to be all at once, it can be something that is gradually worked on. People just need to know that action is needed because the cause of disasters is us. As the atmosphere continues to change it is becoming more dangerous not only for the human population but most of all for our planet itself.
References
- Carbon dioxide concentration | NASA Global Climate Change. (2017, May 17). Retrieved November 18, 2018, from https://climate.nasa.gov/vital-signs/carbon-dioxide/
- N., U., & R. (2014, July 8). Global Climate Change: Evidence and Causes. Retrieved November 18, 2018, from https://globalclimate.ucr.edu/resources.html
- NASA/GISS, C. C. (2013, October 09). Is Global Warming Real? Retrieved November 17, 2018, from https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/global-warming/global-warming-real/
- McLendon, R. (2017, July 10). Are wildfires getting worse? Retrieved November 21, 2018, from https://www.mnn.com/earth-matters/translating-uncle-sam/stories/are-wildfires-getting-worse
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Global Warming the Truth behind the Matter. (2019, Mar 14).
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Global Warming and Cryptocurrencies
Introduction
Cryptocurrencies have progressed in our society and have come a long way as a trading alternative. Digital currencies like Bitcoin or Ether have made themselves the most popular growing unit value and proved to be the most successful and legitimate transaction. Although cryptocurrencies have massive and multiple benefits, it does not exist without its fallbacks. The environmental impact of digital currencies have become to rise under question and scientists are concerned for the potential outcomes that will arise in the nearer future.
Unlike the dollar or other various currencies like the pound, these virtual “coins” are not tied to a bank, instead they are “mined” by computers in data centers that use excessive and huge amounts of energy. as of December, 2017 one of the most vastly used digital currency, Bitcoin (BTC) estimately uses about 32 terawatts of energy every year, which is equivalent to powering about three million households in the U.S. The process of mining BTC and other digital currencies uses a staggering amount of energy and the numbers are only rising especially for the black market and illegal businesses.
Meteorologist, Eric Holthaus argues, “bitcoin is slowing the effort to achieve a rapid transition away from fossil fuels”. The burning of coal and other fossil fuels is currently a major source of electricity and power worldwide, not only for cryptocurrencies in the business aspect but also for other hosts. Researchers at the University of Cambridge have indicated that much of the electricity used in mining operations has come from insufficient coal based power plants that were constructed in rural areas of the country in advance of large construction projects many of which were never materialized. Coal burning is a significant contributor to climate change in the environment and the result of carbon dioxide which is produced by the process.
Not only does coal burning impact climate change but it also promotes air pollution. When coal is burned it releases a number of airborne toxins and pollutants. Mercury, sulfur dioxide, lead, nitrogen oxides, particulates, and various other metals are all included when comes to chemicals and toxins released into the air we breathe in everyday. This impacts the health of the occupants on earth, which includes us humans. Health impacts can range from asthma and breathing difficulties, to brain damage, heart problems, cancer, neurological disorders, and premature death. Coal impacts the basic necessities needed to sustain life like water, for example. More than a million tons of coal ash is produced from burning charcoal every year. More than half of that waste ends up in local ponds, lakes, landfills, and other sites where, overtime, it can contaminate waterways and drinking water.
Conclusion
Global warming is a serious, long term and a problematic global impact. Chemically, coal is mostly carbon, which, when burned, reacts with oxygen in the air to produce carbon dioxide which ultimately is a heat trapping gas. When carbon dioxide is released into the atmosphere, it acts as a blanket, warming the earth above normal limits.
Although the environmental impact will not be sudden and quick, mathematically, the more and more Bitcoins are mined, energy will be required and which will process it more and intentionally polluting and damaging the world we live in. There are several ways to induce environmental healing by searching for alternatives.
With the recent and rapid growth of cryptocurrencies in general, one might wonder how in the world there might be an alternative or solution to this problem. The alternatives can focus on two different and separate aspects, one that issues with the way cryptocurrencies are mined, or another approach that deals with the renewable energy powered mining operations. One of the ways to fix or alleviate the problem is to use renewable energy for power mining operations.
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A Test Report on an Overview
The world is fueled by devices that consume society’s every whim, desire, and technological fix. For many, these devices are the quintessential reason for life and consumes a person’s daily existence. It is only proper that the corporations that design and manufacture these devices incorporate new technologies into their proceeding designs. Once the version reaches the market place, the citizenry of the world crave, stalk, hunt, and virtually acquire the device. In most cases, the new device is not that much different from its predecessor, yet while new devices are acquired the others no longer serve a purpose and are abandoned and forgotten. For some, these devices find their way into the hands of charities for distribution to the needy; others are traded in for refurbishment and resale, while others are improperly discarded as trash destined to rest in peace in landfills.
The issue of recycling e-waste (electronic waste or short-life-cycle electronic product), its environmental impact, and resolution became a concern to Lee, Chang, Fan, and Chang in their 2003 article “An overview of Recycling and Treatment of Scrap Computers” in which the authors provide statistical data, facts, and develops sound alternatives to the problem at hand. The purpose of the research was to measure the effects of these devices ending in landfills and to provide a preemptive remedy to properly remediate, dismantle, and recover components and materials to avoid contaminating landfills and endangering the planet and its populations.
Though the paper does not depict who is responsible, it becomes the responsibility of each person on the planet to do their part by making proper arraignments for their devices when they have reached the end of their usefulness. If the Earth’s population continues to consume and dispose of these gadgets at the current rate, then the world for future generations will become a cesspool of acidic puddles containing cancer-causing agents. Even though this article was written over fifteen years ago, its mantra still is clear, pristine, and ever so much more important, fix the problem now, or reap the caustic realty of tomorrow.
In 2014, The United States “generated 11.7 million tons of e-waste; …globally, 41.8 million tons of e-waste was generated with only 6.5 million tons treated by electronic take back systems (recyclers). (LeBlanc, 2018) With only 6.5 million tons recycled, 30.1 million tons did not. The abundance of e-waste is directly correlated to improvements in manufacturing technologies that allows these products to be produced quicker. In turn, resulting in “large quantities of relinquished personal computers, and other electronic devices, containing hazardous materials.”(Lee CH1, 2004). The materials that can be remediated properly are lead, batteries, capacitors, mercury-containing parts, and plastics. Once placed in landfills, they can pollute the environment if not properly disposed of in a facility capable of handling this kind of e-waste.
In developing the paper, the authors needed to support their position on what is and what will be winding up in a landfill if these technological devices are not disposed of properly. The paper did not pose any suggestion that the focus of the study contained any hands-on investigation. There were not alleged trips to landfills nor did they provide any significant testing of proclaimed hazardous wastelands. Instead, the authors provided charts that visually detailed what each device contained based on manufacturers’ specifications of each device and many assumptions. For example, the paper discussed the components of a circuit board.
The paper stated, “The typical circuit board is made of epoxy, resin, fiberglass and copper.” (Lee CH1, 2004) It is potentially factual that all circuit boards are manufactured utilizing similar materials and chemicals. Yet, it would have been extremely more convincing to discuss the acquisition of an abandoned board, dismantle it, test it for the properties being warned, and then generate a report with the findings, not to mention the environmental impact that particular device caused in the place where it was acquired. Which, it did not. Overall, the paper was based upon supporting a hypothetical analyses based on conjecture and in not all cases, supported without solid proof. In all, the paper provides speculation instead of concrete facts.
During their investigation, the crux of their work did not properly discuss the hazards caused by the materials found in the landfills. Instead, their findings of hazards was noted in their suggestions on how to remediate, properly handle, and collect the materials from abandoned devices. The paper proposed recycling methodologies and procedures on how each effort could produce and contain risks or caustic reactions done properly, adequately, and safely.
In subheading 2, “Recycling and treatment of CRTs”, it utilized deceptive methods. A CRT stands for cathode-ray tube. A CRT is a “specialized vacuum tube in which images are produced when an electron beam strikes phosphorescent surface.” (Rouse, 2005) It speculates that an analysis was completed by an electron dispersive spectrum (EDS) detection device (Noran 432C), and found both the major (> 5 wt. %) and the minor elements (< 5 wt. %) which can be identified in the panel and funnel glass of a 14 in. Philips color monitor.” (Lee CH1, 2004) The support does not come from an actual analysis for their paper, but comes from another source that suggests the testing occurred at a different time, place, and maybe a similar model and lists the source as “C.-H. Lee, C.-H. Hsi, A study on the recycling of scrap cathode ray tubes, Environ. Sci. Technol. 36 (1) (2002) 69–75.” (Lee CH1, 2004) The analysis of this CRT tube cannot be sustained as factual science; the results were acquired through scholarly research that could have been skewed or misleading; depending on what the purpose of the journal article was trying to attempt.
It is true that recycling electronic devices is a concern to maintain a safe environment. The authors site recycling methods and investigate an enterprise in Taiwan. It lauds their prowess and defines their recycling processes. Here, it becomes believable that such endeavors can be accomplished. The facts and evidence appear cogent and topical, yet such concrete information should have been forthcoming in the body of their paper. It becomes possible that this paper was produced not to make the world aware of the dangers of not recycling, but as an attempt to lure in business to China’s ability to recycle computers and prosper from the components retrieved. If this is the case, then the nation should be on the forefront of responsible recycling methods; on the contrary, they are not.
A Google search performed during the authoring of this report requested information on “does China buy old computers for recycling?” Immediately, “China’s Most Notorious E-Waste dumping Ground Now Cleaner but poorer, Thousands of polluting recyclers have shut down in Guiyu, Guangdong” dated September 22, 2017 from the South China Morning Post, contradicting the words of Lee, Chang, Fan, and Chang appeared. The article quoted a recycling representative that stated, “Every household was engaged in that business, we just did it at home, and on the street…the whole town was blanketed by foul air that smelled of acid.” (Pinghui, 2017) It appears the 2003 article “An overview of Recycling and Treatment of Scrap Computers” was written to provoke countries to provide abandoned e-waste to China to implement recycling based on well thought out recycling technologies.
In turn, the commentary is debunked. The South China Morning Post refutes Lee and his associate’s scholarly efforts. If such procedures were implemented, as discussed in the 15-year-old article, there would not be such articles written discussing the contrary. It is not to say that there needs to be more recycling efforts, but these efforts need to be conducted by competent companies that have the needs of the world and its populations in mind and not just for a quick sound bite that sounds great on paper but never materializes.
Works Cited
- LeBlanc, R. (2018, March 125). E-Waste Recycling Facts and Figures. Retrieved November 20, 2018, from The Balance Small Business: https://www.thebalancesmb.com/e-waste-recycling-facts-and-figures-2878189
- Lee CH1, C. C. (2004). An overview of recycling and treatment of scrap computers. Journal of Hazardous Materials, 3.
Pinghui, Z. (2017, September 22). - China’s most notorious e-waste dumping ground now cleaner but poorer. Retrieved November 22, 2018, from South China Morning Post: https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/2112226/chinas-most-notorious-e-waste-dumping-ground-now-cleaner-poorer
- Rouse, M. (2005, September). Cathode Ray Tube. Retrieved from Whatis. om: https://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/cathode-ray-tube-CRT
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Recycling what should we do
The practice of recycling has brought a new awareness to society and the importance of the effects on the planet as we see what the careless dumping of trash into sewages and the ocean has done. Many ask why recycling is important, it's simple, recycling reduces the amount of energy required to create new products. By practicing the act of recycling, we are cutting out unnecessary energy requirements for the mining of new raw materials and it serves as a major factor with helping to fight climate change. Not only does recycling help fight climate change but when people dump cans and plastic into the ocean, the species that dwell there often suffer the consequences of human error. For example, when oceanic creatures and birds consume plastic inadvertently, they risk choking which causes a steady decline in their population (Mambra). Recycling is and should be taken seriously in hopes of improving the air we breathe and the oceans our animals live in for survival.
Recycling
Recycling is also crucial to our environments success as recycling helps minimize pollution by reusing what we would consider garbage. When people burn garbage, it emanates harmful chemicals into the ozone layer which potentially could leads to diseases. Garbage and other forms of pollution thrown into the ocean could potentially kill and affect natural resources such as fish, coral reefs and other life form that thrive in the ocean that could be a benefit to the human race. Another reason recycling is so crucial to our environment is that recycling plays a big role in preserving our natural resources. For example, if we recycle paper products like newspapers and books, we can save more trees on earth (Sarden). Saving trees not only allows animals an environment to thrive in but it also maintains and provides oxygen that us as living breathing humans need to survive. Any reduction in CO2 and other harmful gases are significant in fighting climate change. If pollution levels can be cut by a significant amount this could lead to a positive impact on the overall health of the population.
Economic Benefits
There are also economic benefits to recycling. Recycling has increased the possibility of employment. Millions of people have been afforded the opportunity to work and make a living as a result of the implementation of recycling. People make money while saving the environment by collecting garbage, segregating it, transporting, and turning them into useable products. Over time, there has been an uptick in the practice of recycling. This is due in part to the help of the United Nations.
The United Nations is an intergovernmental organization that strives for peace, security, friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and is also the central point for the actions of all nations. The United Nations also developed 17 goals that contributes to having a sustainable society around the entire world and in UK the efforts to lead citizens in the right direction is occurring. The UK government is encouraging their citizens to recycle their waste in order to reduce UK's waste mountain and the UK also suggests that 60% of the household waste could be recycled or composted. Other nations like Switzerland citizens recycle for incentives and are very proud of their recycling efforts. The government expresses how important it is to recycle. About 80% of plastic PET bottles are recycled which is far higher than the 20 to 40% average for the UK.
Other countries in the UN such as the United States, also take action when encouraging their citizens to get on board with recycling efforts. For instance, efforts to improve recycling rates and to reduce household and commercial waste are led by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). As a result of the EPA's efforts it has resulted in the U.S. recycling 28% of its waste, which was doubled in the last 15 years. Also, you'll notice that recyclable products are labeled with numbers from 1 to 7, 1 being the most recyclable, and 7 being the least recyclable (Schenker). This method helps to promote recycling as it allows citizens to recycle at a higher rate as clear understanding as to what items qualify for recycling are acceptable for recycling and reuse instead of throwing those items away.
Conclusion
In conclusion various countries use several different methods of tactics to get individuals involved in recycling at a much higher rate than before in order to keep sustainability in the world alive. The U.S., Switzerland, and the UK all provided examples of how they encourage their citizens to recycle and ways they help and reward those citizens who decided to recycle in hopes of keeping sustainability in the world alive and thriving.
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How does Recycling Really Affect the Environment
Introduction
The Personal Project is a new and exciting outlet for me as I have never made a project or a work of mine that has to be this extensive. It is very major to choose a topic that I am interested in. The topic has to enrich my knowledge and show off my capabilities.
Since the project has to involve my interests and skills, I have decided to do a project that helps me grow in two fields I enjoy: filmmaking and the preservation of the environment. Although I do not think these would be suitable career paths for me, I still think that I will gain a lot from researching and taking action on this project. Furthermore, I have always wanted to delve deeper in the art of filmmaking so hopefully I will gain a better understanding of the process of making a film even though the product is going to be a few minute short not a full-length film.
Since I had never heard of the Personal Project before October 2018 I had to really think over the planning aspect of this project. I had about 4-5 months to finish this and even less time till I had to turn in my first version. So I learnt a thing or two about time management when I was done with the Personal Project – as described in my reflection.
Goal
My goal is to educate my peers on the real impact of recycling. The goal is quite challenging as people my age are somewhat stubborn but I know that they are willing to learn. I had to carry out research about recycling and find out more about shooting videos.
My goal was achieved by answering my guiding question “How does recycling really affect the environment?” in a video format. The video is evidence of my research and growth over the project, it portrays the information found. If successful the video will not only educate people but also be a representation of my work and time put in the project.
Global Context
In my opinion, the global context that best fits my Personal Project is Globalization and Sustainability. It is the study of “how we organize ourselves” and societal decision-making. I chose it because recycling is a human-made system and also largely an economic activity with an impact on the environment.
The societal decision-making subheading of this global context is the one that helped me understand how societies as a whole change their beliefs, so I can apply that to my product – convince my peers to recycle. I looked into societal decision-making examples such as climate change and from this I found out what works and does not work to convince people. I concluded on my own that people do not like to be belittled and told they are not smart to convey a message, while convincing people you have to show them that they are equals.
Investigating
Prior learning
Most of my teen years I have been interested in recycling and sustainability. How can I use this product twice? How can I change this piece of clothing to give it a new life? All these questions were relevant to me since I was about 11 but as time went on I began to not only worry about using products twice but also about the trash my family was producing. I was very lucky that my parents were so open-minded because they heard my concern and we started recycling at home with the help of recycling bins. I learned what materials are recyclable and which ones are not.
My biggest learning experience was going to the “Getli?i” landfill and recycling center. It is just outside of Riga, Latvia. There a professional not only told about all the work they do there but also about their efforts to recycle more and how it is challenging because people do not do it at home and there are no mandatory recycling laws for big companies. This knowledge makes it much easier for me to understand recycling on a big scale not just at home.
In 7th grade biology class we studied recycling and doing it at home, I made a presentation on how many of my classmates recycle for which I made a survey. This helped me with surveying people for this project.
In 9th grade geography class we had to make a project on landfills and how they affect the soil and groundwater. What I found out is that a lot of the garbage that is buried poisons the groundwater so healthy communities cannot live around landfills. At first I had forgotten what I was taught, but when I began to research it came back to me.
I have made many video projects for school so I know how to take decent shots and edit videos so making the end product will not be that hard as I have basic prior skills.
Research and application of information
A large part of my personal project was conducting research to extend my knowledge further. My primary research was from internet sites. I only used the sites that seemed reliable. I looked for sites from established institutions like the UN and steered clear of commercial sites that may have biased or even fake information. I also avoided information from anonymous authors and checked the date of the articles because they might have outdated sources. In this way I gained most of the facts for the project. I did use Wikipedia to find out what recyclates are. Because everyone can edit Wikipedia, it might not have been a reliable source but the information obtained was factual and had very little bias. Wikipedia gave the definition and the use of recyclates which I checked and an article published under the Wageningen University & Research, which is a reliable source as it is an official university web page, stated the same information.
I also made a survey to find out how many people in 3 different age brackets recycle and if they think it is needed. This gave me first-hand information that I knew was reliable because I had gotten it myself.
In the process of finding information I also talked to my biology teacher to find out more about how landfills poison the soil and groundwater around it. I thought this would be the field of expertise for her and I was correct. She was able to provide me with basic information about how people can’t live near these landfills because not only is the air quality is not great but also they can’t grow anything edible in the ground because it could be poisonous for the human body.
Planning
I did my research and displayed it in my product. I have chosen my product to be an educational video on the real impacts of recycling. Since my final product is not only a product but also an outcome, there are criteria for the product but also areas that must be met in order for me to have a successful project. I had to have all the information that answers the question of my project.
Developing criteria for my product
My product had to be:
- Well organized in terms of portraying the information, it cannot have too much information
- Colorful and well edited – the video had to be bright and pleasing to the eye
- With catchy frames that do not have too much text in them
- Educational for my peers which would include people from ages from 14 to 20
The main audience of my educational video was younger people like students ages from 14 to 20. I wanted them to understand recycling better but in order to do that the product had to follow the criteria I listed. From experience I knew that the video should not be too long as the attention span of students is fairly short especially if the media they are watching is about something they might consider boring. The video had to show all of the information I had found in a compact way that highlighted the most important parts. Using stop motion was a very effective way to display all of the research because stop motion has a lot of moving parts which catch the eye. And if done with colorful materials my goal of interesting younger people in my product was achieved.
Research had to be done on filmmaking to ensure the greatest quality of the video I could achieve, It was important that the video was well made not only well researched. I had to implement the rule of thirds so I framed the movie in a way that was more pleasing to the eye thus better in getting more people interested and hopefully even pursued to recycle themselves. Finding the best editing software was also major as I wanted the editing to not be too flashy but look professional.
Developing a plan to complete my project
I knew that if I wanted a successful product due dates had to be set so I did not procrastinate and make everything in the last moment. I set myself small goals for each time period. For example I set a goal for myself to have all the research completed by December. This way I finished my work on time and it did not feel rushed. This also helped me to not feel overwhelmed by the workload of the project.
Taking action
After completing my plan I started working on my product. The first thing to do was gathering all of the information I need. The most challenging task was figuring out with what camera I would capture the video. I chose my phone because that was more convenient for me. Most of the video is stop motion so I had to take individual photos of each frame which was challenging. For the stop motion frames I cut out words from colorful papers to portray the information I had found while researching. I also needed to make charts out of paper. Some things I did write with my hand. I used a lot of digital design tools. I made little animations that brought the video to life. Making the video a desirable length was laborious as I needed many shots. I also needed to fix some of the shots in Photoshop afterwards as some of them were framed awkwardly or looked bad. I also did color correcting while editing because the lighting for all the frames was not same. This was because the video was not shot on the same day and one of the days was sunny but the other one was a bit cloudy which gave the video a blue tone that looked weird. It was very difficult to edit together the individual frames because it was hard to determine for how long each frame should be shown so I had to figure out how fast others can read.
Time management was a problem for me with this project as I did not really understand the work I needed to do until about late October while all the plans stated that work had to have been started in September so that set me back. It is hard to make an educational video in about a month while you are doing your studies and do not have any days off for this project specifically because sometimes it did feel that I had to make a choice between studying for a test or doing research for this project. I wish that I had been informed about this project earlier.
I actually had to scrap one version of the product as 5 files were corrupted by my computer so I had to go through all of my files and see which ones were missing.
This did not speed up my process at all, it set me back actually, I was very discouraged after this this because I had put hard work into making the stop motion parts and had to recreate the missing shots. It did not help that on top of all this my weekends were filled with studying for school an since winter starts in November, it was getting dark faster so some of the shots do not match the ones that were shot when it was brighter outside which now was a reoccurring problem. This was also why I turned to digital design as you do not need any good lighting for that.
Reflecting
Reflections on my Knowledge
My knowledge of recycling has increased greatly. Before the Personal Project I thought I knew quite a lot about recycling and sustainability, I am happy to say that now I know a whole lot more about recycling than I ever did before., for example, I used to think that almost everything could be recycled but now I know that any black plastic cannot be recycled in any way. The extensive research opened my eyes to many other ways to preserve the environment than just recycling.
I discovered the zero-waste movement and learnt lot about fast-fashion. Now I have cut out using straws of my everyday life because I discovered that they are non-recyclable and end up in the landfills. I also bought a reusable water bottle so I don’t buy bottled water every day before school. These changes might seem small but another thing that I now know because of the project is that every little thing helps. For example, if everyone in the U.S.A. recycled just one plastic bottle those materials could make more than 54 million T-shirts.
My research skills have also improved greatly. I can now tell if a source is reliable or not way faster than before. This will prove to my advantage when writing any other papers in the future as I will be prepared to find the most interesting, compelling and important information a source has to offer.
I also discovered a new interest of mine – animation and digital design. I had never looked into this field but while making this video I had a few difficulties with real life shots so I had to find a different way to portray my information. By browsing the internet I found tutorials on implementing digital design and animation in simple stop motion videos. So I did it and it turned out great. The little animations really enhanced my film and made it more interesting, but more importantly I found a new passion from doing the animations. If I had not done this project I might have never even found out that I like digital animation and the process of doing it.
Evaluation of Product
In the planning section of this project I set product criteria that had to be reached. I think the product completes all of the criteria quite well.
The video is well organized in terms of portraying the information. I made sure not to have too much text present so it is easier to read. I do have to admit that in some frames some of the text is rather small and might be harder to read for people with bad eye-sight.
The video is definitely colorful. I used a lot of colors and contrasting to make it interesting. But the editing seems a bit choppy at times.
The video is educational as it does have many facts laid out in a way that is understandable for my audience which is 14 to 20 year olds.
Unfortunately due to my phone’s camera and the editing software, the quality of the video is not that great.
I am very happy with the outcome of my video. It is a digital product so it is environmentally friendly; I am not printing anything on paper and wasting resources. And I think that the video does an excellent job of getting my point across.
Now that the product is finished, I have achieved the criteria I set for myself at the start of this project. I had a great time making the animations and learning new things.
Reflections as an IB Learner
The International Baccalaureate states that IB students demonstrate 10 different qualities such as: Inquirers, Knowledgeable, Thinkers, Communicators, Principled, Open-minded, Caring, Risk-takers, Balanced and Reflective.
I think that while making this project I have improved on 4 of these qualities: knowledgeable, thinker, communicator and reflective.
Firstly, I think I have become a lot more knowledgeable on the topic of recycling as I already stated in „Reflections on my Knowledge”. I carried out loads of researched that really broadened my view on recycling.
Secondly, I think I really became a better thinker. There was a lot of problem solving to be done in the making of the product which I successfully did.
Thirdly, I believe I became a better communicator. I had to communicate with my supervisor in an appropriate matter and I had to set meetings with her. That took a lot of planning and arranging also which, again, improved my thinker quality.
Furthermore my reflecting skills have also become better because of the process journal (Appendix) that I had to write in while making the project. I wrote down ideas and steps of my work and analyzed it all thoroughly.
Bibliography
- Sharon G. “Why can’t all plastic waste be recycled?” Keele University (August 2, 2018), https://theconversation.com/why-cant-all-plastic-waste-be-recycled-100857
- Molenveld K. “Recycled materials: properties and standards.” Wageningen University and Reasearch,
- https://www.wur.nl/en/Research-Results/Research-Institutes/food-biobased-research/Research-in-the-spotlight/Waste-a-valuable-resource-for-performance-materials/Recycled-materials-properties-and-standards.htm
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How does Recycling Really Affect the Environment. (2019, Mar 14).
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Saving Ourselves and Others
Our species has lived over two hundred thousand years on earth and in the past year we have created over 2.6 trillion pounds of garbage. That's over eleven million Royal Caribbean cruise ships in weight. The largest cruise ships built to this day. We just throw away trash and never really think about where it goes. Most of us never see it. Most trash is sent to landfills where it is burned releasing methane and carbon dioxide, which makes up almost ninety percent of the gases in a landfill. The bacteria breaking down the trash also releases harmful gases into our atmosphere. Those chemicals can also contaminate our bodies of water and ground water. Some trash is even dumped into the ocean, almost fourteen billion pounds of trash is dumped into the ocean every year. The simple way of protecting our planet's land, air, and water is to recycle.
Landfills have become a global problem. We are running out of space to put the synthetic waste. This accumulation it will have devastating effects on the environment. Plastic is a really hard substance to break down. It takes thousands of years to decompose. When the plastic decomposes it releases harmful green house gases. These gases ,carbon dioxide and methane, are very harmful to take in. Each trees can only get rid of about fifty pounds of carbon a year, but plants are considered a limited resource. We need a well balance of carbon dioxide to be able to have oxygen. If we can reduce the amount of plastic we uses daily it would help substantially. I used to use over two plastic water bottles a day until I switched to a permanent water bottle. That is approximately fourteen water bottles a week. Imagine everyone in the United States (325.7 million) using half of that a week. Thats over two billion water bottles a week. With recycling we don't have to destroy habitats to make more room for our waste. We will be able to save trees and natural habitats for wild life.
Landfills can even hurt our near bodies of water. When it rains the water carries the chemicals from the landfill to near by bodies of water. Essentially making it dangerous for aquatic life and the wild life that has to drink out of that body of water. Landfills also effect our ground water. In some states their water filters are not as robust as others. This makes public water questionable in some areas. Some public water in the United states even carries these harmful bacteria and chemicals.
Trash in the sea is also a big problem. Hundreds of thousands of marine animals die each year die each year from ocean pollution, and almost one million seabirds die from ocean pollution problems. There is even an island of trash in the great pacific that stretches over six hundred thousand miles composed of plastic and floating trash. This Island is the size of Texas; the biggest state in North America. Plastic in the ocean kills many marine life due to them mistaking it as food. Upon ingesting it they consume many chemical killing them from the inside. If they do survive the plastic is passed up the food chain harming the bigger fish that relies on those smaller marine life. Sea turtles also mistake plastic as food and when they ingest it they choke or they starve from the plastic making them think that they are full. This has made almost all species of sea turtles become endangered.
The cost of recycling my be high, but is letting a whole planet unlivable not equal to the cost? The Earth will always be here but will we? If pollution keeps skyrocketing the way it is now we won't be able to live on the planet that we are meant to be on. As of right now we do not have the technology to find another planet to live on. We do however, have the knowledge and the power to make earth a healthy living space; not just for us but for the thousands and thousand of animals with us. Many people have started organizations to help with our trash epidemic. They just need a little help and understanding from others, because we will have to face this epidemic in the future. So why not prevent that fate before hand and recycle to make a cleaner and breathable future.
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Benefits of Recycling
There is an increased demand for electronic devices all over the world, especially for those desiring to make life simpler and safer. These devices have many positive effects on human life, but they also take a major toll on the environment, contributing to major pollution and waste. Since the 20th century, the increase in production of human waste has stimulated quick steps to be taken in developing different methods of recycling products. The increasing disposal of products being consumed, like electronics and plastic, are filling up landfills all around the world. This creates health hazards in the areas they inhabit.
Benefits Of Recycling
Recycling has many benefits because it largely reduces the amount of pollution that is excreted, it reduces the need of large landfill sites used to dispose of waste, it conserves energy and scarce resources, and creates all types of different jobs. Recycling is in no way a new concept and was a practice in existence thousands of years ago. Originally, the beginning efforts for recycling were minimal. Initial attempts were usually individuals who went around and collected trash from households to sell for profit, who were called the rag-and-bone men (Recycling [Global Issues]). Decades later in the mid-nineteenth century, the Industrial Revolution was taking place.
This revolution was the start of a colossal pollution and refuse problem because of the surplus of metals and textiles, so people could start throwing things away because they could just buy new ones (Recycling [Global Issues]). But when World War II took place in the 1930-40's, the aftermath involved a major economic depression. Items were no longer in a surplus due to all the money and resources being drained in the war effort, meaning that it was essential for items to be reused. This post World War II effort saw how everyday household objects and plastic were being produced in large-scale factories (Recycling [Global Issues]).
This made it so industries saved a lot more money to dispose of used materials rather than reusing them, so people called it the throwaway society. On April 22, 1970, the first Earth Day was marked and it changed the majority of the population's view on recycling (Recycling [Global Issues]). In the future years following the start of Earth Day, new recycling requirement schemes started to show on bottles and paper. To this day, there are still more efficient ways being considered for recycling. Giving used materials the opportunity to be reused and put back on the market for profit requires a lot of preparation. These materials first need to be collected from businesses and homes, then transported to a materials recycling facility.
Once at the facility, workers then process all the materials in order to increase their value. They separate all the material into different sections, such as glass separated by its color, plastics being transported and organized into separate pallets, and paper being baled (Recycling [Environmental Encyclopedia]). The materials that are about to be recycled, called PCMs, are mixed material that may be contaminated with toxic or nontoxic residue (Recycling [Environmental Encyclopedia]). While all types of recycling facilities may have different technology, the materials may be cleaned and reduced in large groups, or put in smaller groups, taking more time. Once all of the items are processed and properly cleansed of all impurities, they are then cleared to be reused and sold back into the market for profit. The increase of waste in landfills throughout the world is causing major environmental issues.
For more than a century, many countries are disposing of people's unwanted waste in landfills. 136 million tons of solid waste, which is about 2.3 pounds per person a day, was sent to landfills in the United States in 2014 (Recycling [Opposing Viewpoints]). The majority of these sites are sanitary landfills, and they are equipped with the most modern environmental protection and gas collection systems (Jones). Thanks to the modern equipment that these sites are equipped with, most of the sanitary landfill sites avoid emitting environmental pollution and releasing harmful greenhouse gas. But what about the unsanitary landfill sites? Unlike the sanitary sites, these sites do not have any protection sequences for the environment. Therefore, they can cause various environmental problems from the pollution of health, soil, and water (Jones). By recycling used materials, it helps avoid putting these environmental and health hazards into our landfills, assisting the environment in becoming a healthy and sanitary place for people all around the world. In the current day, energy is being consumed at an extraordinary rate. Since more countries are being introduced to the wonders of technology and are also becoming more modernized, the demand for energy is increasing daily.
Recycling conserves this essential energy because the products that are going to be recycled usually require less processing in order to turn them back into usable materials. Although there is energy saved every time something is recycled, the amount that is saved depends on the material. For example, recycled aluminum saves more energy than recycled glass. Since aluminum is produced from aluminum ore, it involves a huge process that involves an enormous amount of heat and electricity to make (How does recycling save energy?). Most cans that are made from Coke, Mountain Dew, or Pepsi are made from aluminum, but this differs since the processing that is done on the aluminum from the ore is not needed because the cans can simply be re-cleaned and re-melted. Aluminum is a resource that is predicted to be in a deficit in upcoming years, so recycling it is a huge boost in saving it as a resource. In 2017, 3.7 million tons of aluminum were produced by recycling in the United States, which saved enough energy to provide electricity for 7.7 million homes (How does recycling save energy?). Glass does not nearly use the amount of energy required to produce aluminum because the only real energy-intensive action being done is getting the heat to melt the mineral mixture.
Creating glass still uses energy but only a small amount, and in return, glass does not come close to saving as much energy as producing aluminum (How does recycling save energy?). While there may be minuscule amounts of energy being saved depending on which product is being recycled, there is nonetheless still energy that is being conserved, contributing to the fight against pollution and the diminishment of resources. Other than positively helping the environment, recycling can also boost the economy by creating all types of different jobs worldwide. A study conducted in 2016 showed that the recycling activities the United States accounted for attributed to the creation of 757,00 jobs and $36.6 billion in wages (Recycling Basics). Many businesses and industries that operate locally, nationally, and at international levels depend on recyclable materials to make a profit.
One job that has been created by industries is the collection, processing, and preparing of recyclable materials (Bailey). Individuals who work in these jobs are involved in picking up the trash to bring to the recyclable centers. Another job is in the manufacturing process, which involves creating new products from the previously collected and processed items (Bailey). These jobs don't require high education and can help unemployed middle and lower class individuals find stable jobs. The need for recycling has become more evident over time. Acts from past generations and historic events of long-term damage have made the push for recycling more urgent. Previously, the impact of waste and landfills was not proven.
Conclusion
Today, it is now understood that dumping waste has been causing detrimental effects to the environment. It is from these past experiences that the concept of recycling was created. Changing our trash into something useful has been proven to be one way to protect our environment. There have been more increased efforts through recycling to stop future damage. Although our society is still exploring options to improve efficiency and improve old items, many more organizations are now involved in correcting the problem. Over time, it is anticipated that more aggressive efforts will be discovered to make an even bigger impact. It will be the responsibility of every able individual to support these efforts and make their own changes.
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Benefits Of Recycling. (2019, Mar 14).
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The Recycling Process Converts
The recycling process converts end of life or unwanted materials into new products with new or similar functions. Elastomers are rubbery materials with an elastic property. Elastomers can be recycled in various ways after the original product has reached end of life. An example of a product that reaches end of life and goes through a recycling process are tires. Tires become unwanted when they have become worn down to the point of no longer being safe for road travel, or after irreparable damage has occurred. There are three large markets for scrap tires, they include: tire-derived fuel, civil engineering applications, and ground rubber applications/rubberized asphalt.
Around 117 million end of life tires were utilized as Tire-derived fuel in 2015. Tire-derived fuels are a viable alternative to the use of fossil fuels, if proper regulatory controls are in place. Scrap tires have a high heating value and are sought after for this property for use in cement kilns as well as other industrial applications. Tires produce the same amount of energy as oil and 25% more energy than coal. The ash residues from Tire-derived fuels may contain a lower heavy metals content than some coals. NOx emissions are also lower compared to many US coals, particularly high-sulfur coals.
Civil engineering applications consumed 17 million old tires in 2015. These applications can replace other materials such as polystyrene insulation blocks, drainage aggregate, or other types of fill. A significant amount of materials used in civil engineering applications have come from stockpiled tires.
Ground rubber usage consumed 62 million tires in 2015. Ground rubber is used to manufacture many products, including: asphalt rubber, synthetic sports field underlay, animal bedding, and many more. The largest use of these is asphalt rubber utilizing around 12 million tires annually. California and Arizona are the largest users of asphalt rubber. Other uses for ground rubber are for groundcover under playgrounds, anti-fatigue mats, running tracks, animal bedding, underlay and infill for athletic fields, and equestrian footing.
Tires must go through a recycling process before it can be reused for other products/uses. Most tires are collected from retailers when they are changed out for new tires, they are then sold to processing plants to prepare them for their long journey ahead. The tires contain steel wire to make them stronger, this wire must be removed before the rubber is recycled. Tires are cut into small pieces and treated with chemicals to create fine granules.
This process may be done either mechanically by use of a shredding machine, or cryogenically where tires are frozen with liquid nitrogen then broken into crumbs by a hammer mill. The particles are steel are removed with a huge magnet. The rubber then goes through another screening process to ensure no wire or other contaminants remain. This stage also sorts the remaining rubber pieces by size for packaging and selling to any organization that needs the reclaimed rubber.
Another Elastomer product is rubber boots, or rain boots. This product typically is not recyclable by regular recycling processes. De-vulcanizing the rubber breaks down the bonds which were formed in the vulcanizing process which poses a challenge to maintain the characteristics when recycling. Many people have found other ways to recycle old worn out rubber boots, such as repurposing them into outdoor planters.
Thermoplastic elastomers (TPE) materials have the potential to be recyclable since they can be molded, extruded and reused like plastics, but they have typical elastic properties which are not recyclable owing to their thermosetting characteristics. Thermoplastic elastomers have outstanding thermal properties and material stability when exposed to a broad range of temperatures. TPEs also consume less energy to produce and can be colored easily by dyes, and allow economical quality control. Two important manufacturing methods with TPEs are by extrusion molding and injection molding. Recently, TPEs have been used in 3D printing giving them a wide range of uses. Other ways TPEs can be processed are by blow molding, melt calendaring, thermoforming, and heat welding.
The recycling of plastics and elastomers are categorized by several numbered categories, most of which can be found printed on the product itself. These numbers have a triangular set of arrows around the number showing its recycling category. These categories are as follows:
- PETE: Polyethylene terephthalate (e.g. Soft drink bottles, fruit juice containers)
- HDPE: High-density polyethylene (e.g. Milk jugs, cleaning agents, laundry detergents, shampoo bottles, washing and show soaps)
- PVC: Polyvinyl chloride (e.g. Trays for sweets, fruit plastic packaging, food foils)
- LDPE: low-density polyethylene (e.g. Crushed bottles, shopping bags)
- PP: Polypropylene (e.g. Furniture, luggage, toys, car bumpers)
- PS: Polystyrene (e.g. Toys, hard packing, refrigerator trays, costume jewelry, CD cases, vending cups)
- OTHER: other plastics (e.g. Acrylic, polycarbonate, polyactic fibers, fiberglass)
Polyethylene Terephthalate is one of the most commonly used plastic product and is found in most water and soda bottles. PET bottles are recyclable and should be recycled, but cannot be reused. When recycled, the plastic is crushed and shredded into small flakes and reprocessed to make new PET bottles, or can be spun into polyester fiber and used to make textiles, such as carpets, stuffing for pillows, lifejackets, or coats.
High-Density Polyethylene is a stiff plastic used to make milk jugs, toys, and some plastic bags. HDPE is the most commonly recycled plastic and is also considered one of the safest forms of plastic. Processing of HDPE is simple and cost-effective to recycle for secondary use. HDPE does not break down under exposure to sunlight or extreme heating and freezing, thus it is commonly used to make picnic tables and park benches. Products made from HDPE are reusable and recyclable. Polyvinyl Chloride is a soft flexible plastic and is used to make such things as plastic food wrapping, cooking oil bottles, children and pet toys, and plastic pipes and parts for plumbing. PVC is relatively impervious to sunlight and weather and is used to make window frames and garden hoses as well. PVC contains numerous toxins which it can leach throughout its entire life cycle, so it has been dubbed the poison plastic. Products made with PVC are not recyclable but some can be repurposed. PVC products should not be reused for applications with food or for children's use.
Many products can be recycled after they have reached their end of life and reused with a new purpose. Sadly more plastics end up in landfills rather than going to recycling centers to be processed and reused. The costs for recycling these products are very cost effective compared to the manufacturing of new materials. Everyone should do their part and help recycle more materials and put less strain on our resources.
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Synthetic Fiber Recycling
Synthetic Fiber Recycling
Now a days the popularity of synthetic fiber made apparels increasing. Synthetic fibers are man made and considered as cost effective. In 2015, approximately 64% of readymade garments made by synthetic fiber. Polyester, Nylon, Acrylics & Elastane are the most used synthetic fiber in textile industry. Characteristics like durability, wrinkle resistant, water repellent, quick drying, easy wash creates huge demand of synthetic fiber made apparels in fashion industry specially for outerwear and sportswear.
However, comparing with natural fiber, synthetic fiber never considered as environmental friendly. The main reason is the high rate of global resources consumption for manufacturing virgin materials. Synthetic fiber derived from petroleum or natural gas which needed a lot of water and energy to produce.
Therefore, sustainable synthetic textile recycling management can be appropriate solution.
Recycling technology for synthetic fiber and blended fiber can be classified in two type:
1. Chemical Recycling
The apparels or other textile waste cutting down into small pieces for Chemical reaction. For synthetic fiber like 100% polyester, those small pieces decomposed through chemical process from where the material again can be used to regenerate new product.
Chemical recycling technology suitable for blended fiber fabric recycling as the fiber can be separated by chemical process. Some Recent research demanded that, it is possible to dissolves cellulose and after certain filtration process regeneration of new product from cellulosic fiber is possible.
2. Mechanical Recycling
Traditional Recycling technology usually cutting up the material or disassembled the garments for mechanical process to breakdown the fiber. It is also known as garneting*. The properties of outcome materials depends on the waste. Normally waste from pre consumer stage can be respun to regenerated new fibers. Medium quality fibers and low quality fibers are normally used to make lower grade fabric.
Polyester
Polyester is now the single largest fiber group in the world. About 65-70% Polyester produced for textile and rest of 35-30% used for bottle (PET) manufacture. Researcher proved that it is possible to producing polyester material using used bottle (PET- polyethylene terephthalate) which is most important commercial polyester polymer in global material economy. At present there are many companies producing their polyester made apparels by using recycled PET. Polyester can be recycled both physical and chemical way. In physical method, The Post consumer PET waste can be directly melted to convert other product. Chemical method has extensive feature. The process start with cutting polyester waste in to small pieces and then create chips for decomposed to form dimethyl terephthalate, which can repolymerized for regenerating new yarn or filament.
Patagonia: This company started selling 100% recycled polyester made outdoor apparels from 1993. At the beginning, they recycled polyester waste from soda bottle to make polyester fleece fabric. Instead of using virgin polyester as raw materials, they used recycled polyester which reduces extensive use of global resources. At present, they are recycling soda bottle, industrial scarps and specially the garments they are selling which complete closed-loop clothing manufacturing. Their worn wear program allow customer to back their old Patagoina apparels , as return customer are gettting credit for new purchase, after sorting the garments , Patagonia will repair those garments for reuse and sell in discounted prices in worn wear website.
Nau : Established in 2007 by a group of designer with the aim of sustainable readymade garment brand. They are producing outdoor performance apparels from 100% recycled polyester. They recycle polyester in mechanical method from plastic bottle, industrial polyester waste and post-consumer product to save energy and reduce environmental foot print.
Denali Jacket by North face : Famous outdoor apparels retailer North Face has taken several project for recycling polyester. One of their core product is Denali Jacket, where they use recycled polyester from used water or soda bottle. They use traditional mechanical way by shredding the waste into small pieces and melt it down to reproduce yarn. However, they have also modified the production process to reduce chemical use and energy consumption. As they have observed, dyeing in fabric form requires lot of water, chemical & energy, they started dyeing in yarn form for black grey color which saves almost 50% chemical & water. They are using the scraps left over after production, they can make 4 new Denali Jacket by scarps of 10 Denali jacket production.
Teijin : Popular recycled yarn exporter Teijin established in 2012. Their innovative technology introduced several recycled fibers and materials, those are using by different brand for producing apparels. Teijin eco circle fiber?® made from 100% recycling polyester from plastic bottle and other polyester waste provide equivalent quality & properties like virgin polyester materials. Teijin Eco-Storm?® is a highly functional waterproof and breathable material made from 100% recycled polyester. They are using closed-loop recycling system for manufacturing both fiber and materials.
Nike : With the vision of closed-loop recycling, nike working on sustainable fashion production for a long time. According to their annual sustainability report in 2016, 71% of their product use recycled material. They are producing high performance apparels from recycled polyester converted from plastic bottle (PET) which reduces 30% of energy consumption compared to virgin polyester production. One of their recent product is Nike Hyper Elite basketball shorts which is made from 100% recycled polyester and the jersey made from 96% recycled polyester.
Adidas : To improve environmental foot print, Adidas taken several initiative. One of their remarkable step is using recycled materials to make shoes and high performance apparels. With the association of Parley (a design initiative and global network), Adidas collect plastic waste (PET) & fishing net from the coast side of Maldives. After that they send it to Adidas supplier, located in Taiwan. They shredded the waste and melted it to make new products. In 2014, Adidas used 11 Million yards of polyester which is equivalent to 7 million Adidas t-shirts.
Synthetic-Natural Blend Fiber Recycling
Fashion demand diversity and high competition in fast fashion industry forces brands to find various solution for cheap price and quality product. Based on design, comfortability & function, wide ranges of complex textile apparels available in market. There are also lot of synthetic “ natural blended fiber fabric exist in the apparels industry, however, one of the most common fiber blend is Cotton Polyester. Cotton has soft, good absorbency & good hand feel quality whereas polyester is strong, durable and cheap. The composition of two different properties fiber creates a perfect blend for ready-made apparels industry.
At present, there are many well established recycle technology available for mono fiber textile recycling like 100% cotton or 100% polyester recycling but highly efficient & commercially viable technology for recycling blended fiber fabric apparels not yet available.
The main challenge of recycling complex material is separation of the component without degrading the quality of each material. Firstly, due to blending of synthetic and natural fiber, fiber strength is much higher than mono fiber fabric which creates difficulties to shred or open the fiber.
Secondly, sorting process become difficult because of different types of blending.
There are others factors to be consider including outcome materials should have good commercial value which should cover the logistic, process cost, labor cost and profit. There are several process and research outcome has been published recent years regarding recycling of blended fiber fabric apparels.
Blend Re:wind “ a Swedish process for the recycling of poly-cotton blended textiles
It's a result of six years (2011-2017) research done by Dr Hanna de la Motte and her team with Swedish Mistra Future Fashion by the Chalmers University of Technology, RISE Research Institutes of Sweden and the international forest industry group Sidra.The process mainly focused on most common blend polyester and cotton fiber blended textiles. At first the fabric cut into small pieces and defibrated for chemical treatment. Separation can be done by depolymerizing or dissolving one of the materials in blend. In this case, the polyester fiber (PET) part used to for depolymerizing or dissolving. For chemical process Benzyltributylammonium chloride (BTBAC, purity ?‰?98%), sodium hydroxide (NaOH, reagent grade), and sulfuric acid (H2SO4, reagent grade, 95“97%) were used. As a result of chemical process the cotton part produce cellulose pulp which can be regenerate other cellulosic textile fiber such as viscose or lyocell. In addition, the polyester part gives polyester monomer which can be used for again making polyester fiber.
Our separation process, Blend Re:wind, is developed having existing industrial processes in mind, and our aim is to integrate as much as possible to minimize bothenvironmental and economic costs, while boosting businesses. Scaling up from lab scale is the biggest challenge at the moment, and it is also costly. The integration possibilities of the Blend Re:wind process would however address these challenges in feasible ways. - Hanna de la Motte, theme leader for theme 4, Recycling, within Mistra Future Fashion and research scientist at RISE.
Reuse : A waste is not real waste if it is reusable or raw materials of other product. The idea of reuse not new, from the beginning of civilization, human used to reuse the product to avoid different crisis. At present to cope up with fast changing fashion & trend, a lot of garments are thrown away before its life cycle ended. Elizabeth L. Cline, writer of Overdressed: The Shockingly High Cost of Cheap Fashion wrote in her book- Because of the low price, chasing trends is now a mass activity, accessible to anyone with a few bucks to spare.
There are many brands started take-back program. Such as Swedish fashion retailer Lindex, started an initiative to collect old garments from the customer for best possible reuse and recycle.
After sorting, reusable textile sold in second hand chain Myrorna's shops. Popular retail brand H&M collect old clothes from customer with association of I:CO. They categorized collected cloth in three purposes, apparels those can be worn again sold in 2nd hand shop, those are not wearable turned into cleaning cloth or proceed to further recycling process. Fashion brand Zara collaborating with REDRESS ( a Hong Kong based NGO) collecting clothes from customer to reuse, upcycling and recycling.Upcycling : Transforming an used apparels into an upgraded or higher value apparels or product is one of the best way to deal textile waste. First book on upcycling published in 1998, written by Gunter Paul.
The idea than getting popularity in recycling industry. Traditional recycling process convert every waste in to raw material of other product and most of the time it used for producing lower quality product which is known as down cycling. On the contrary, upcycling convert the waste into more valuable product with creative transformation. At present, there are many brands taken upcycling initiative as a part of their sustainable fashion program. In addition, there many upcycling brands getting popularity like regular fashion brands. Popular upcycling brand Re/Done released 120 pair vintage levi's jeans on their website in summer 2014, within 25 minutes all jeans sold out whereas there were more than two thousand people on the waiting list to buy.
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Recycling Plastic and its Harmful or Helpful Effects
Recycling is a common talking point in modern times as environmental factors become more and more pertinent in the political and social conversations. Many times, we do not consider the consequences, negative or positive, that come from our actions, even if we think we do. This is the same with recycling. Since recycling is never questioned, it only gains a positive reputation. Though recycling can certainly gain some negative looks, it is important to recognize that each is possible.
With the rapid growth of pollution and environmental degrade, it is possible that the accessibility to recycling has cause the effectiveness of recycling to decrease. About 40 percent of all plastic produced is used in packaging, and much of that is used only once and then discarded. Brian Clark Howard states that less than a fifth of all plastic is recycled, though many countries and businesses are trying innovative solutions to increase that number (Howard, 2018). Often, if a household has a recycling bin to throw their milk jug away in, they will not be affected as greatly when buying multiple different milk jugs per month.
This history of recycling is important as well, since many people believe that recycling is a new phenomenon in the green movement of modern times. Recycling actually began much sooner but wasn't recognized under the term recycling as that is a more modern English term. In anthropological studies, it is easy to see that everything was reused in a society and everything also had a purpose. In Western Expansion days, every bit of a buffalo's body had a purpose for the individual or the community. Since reuse is often paired with recycle the two go hand in hand and that pairing allows recycling to be a much older, kept tradition that society has finally given a name to.
In the city of Baytown in southeast Houston, the recycling program implemented there provides 96 gallon recycling containers free to each resident whether the resident wants to participate or not. (City of Baytown, 2018) By giving the option to recycle or not, the city is giving its residents the chance to decide of recycling is what is best for them. Some may not be aware of reasons why recycling could be negative or positive for themselves or the environment, but this paper lists a few of those reasons.
The Positives of Recycling Plastics
Many people believe that the best way to begin clearing the environment of the plastic pollution is to recycle all plastics. This group of people believes that recycling is the most helpful thing for the environment and is the most beneficial solution for fixing an amount of pollution. When considering recycling as a beneficial part of environmental sustainment, it is easy to see the change in the size of landfills, trash in oceans, and pollution contributed air toxins. Though recycling is growing, landfills are as well. Recycling increases parallel to population increase, but so does overall non-recyclable waste. Though recycling has not completely saved the environment, it is a good way to start the fight against trash deposits' increase due to population increase.
The main point of recycling is to reuse already created materials more than once through personal reuse or melting and reformation of already created plastic. When a plastic is created and has only been used once, it is called virgin material. One of the main goals of recycling is to minimize the amount of virgin material created as it requires more power and work to create this material than it does to recycle already used material. Plastic bottle recycling could save 50 to 60 percent of the energy needed to make new ones. To give more insight to the amount of plastic that is present in the world, according to the Recycling Coalition of Utah, enough plastic is thrown away each year to circle the Earth four times. (RCU, 2018) They also state that only about 25% of plastic made in the US is recycled, while if we recycled the other 75%, we could save 1 billion gallons of oil and 44 million cubic yards of landfill space (RCU, 2018). Recycling contributes to not only the conservation of the environment, it also contributes to the future use of fossil fuels and other needed resources.
There are many laws surrounding what can and can't be recycled. Those that support recycling think that these laws are a great reason as to why recycling is beneficial. In Texas, there are not as many laws regarding recycling as there are in other states like Oregon or Oklahoma. The most common laws are Container Deposit Laws, or bottle bills and they are designed to reduce litter and capture bottles, cans, and other containers for recycling. Jennifer Schultz gives information on the state beverage container deposit laws on the National Conference of State Legislature site. Ten states and Guam have a deposit-refund system for beverage containers. Deposit amounts vary from two cents to 15 cents, depending on the type of beverage and volume of the container..
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The Consequences of not Recycling in Missouri
The planet Earth is truly astonishing. The Earth recycles everything and reuses the material from dead plants and animals to feed new plant life and to make new soil to replenish itself. But some things that are man-made take hundreds of years for the Earth to decompose. Humankind should try to do the same thing the Earth does: recycle. Trash has been overwhelming landfills and filling the lakes, ponds and rivers in Missouri and across the world. It's up to humans to prevent this and ensure a better future.
Missourians generate 6.15 pounds of waste daily. That's 37 percent above the national average of 4.5 pounds. According to the Missouri Department of National Resource's 2006-2007 Waste Composition Study, nearly 45 percent of the municipal solid waste deposited in Missouri landfills could have been recycled. Some of the wastes in landfills included metals, paper, plastics, and glass. The study estimated that each year more than 1.9 million tons of recyclable materials were disposed of in Missouri landfills. That's 1.9 million tons of materials that could have been recycled. It's important to reduce, reuse, and recycle in order to get these numbers down and keep landfills from containmenting the environment. Ways to do this are donate old furniture, clothes, and other items to charities, start composting, take cloth bags to the store instead of getting plastic bags, and recycle anything that can be recycled.
Illegal dumping has become an issue in Missouri. Abandoned piles of garbage can threaten the health of humans, wildlife, and the environment. These open dump sites can sadly be found throughout Missouri. They are often found at the bottom of ravines, in empty lots, in pastures, and along roadsides. If these dump sites are allowed to remain, they will grow larger and attract more dumping by others. These open dumps create a public nuisance and divert land from more productive uses. They also pose many health, safety and environmental threats. They can cause fire and explosion and they damage plant and wildlife habitats. They can contaminate streams, rivers, lakes, soil, groundwater, and drinking water wells. It's important to report illegal dumping to make sure it doesn't continue to happen.
Despite all of the advantages of recycling, there have been disagreements and attacks on it. Some people claim that the environmental benefits of recycling are overrated because it can lead to pollution. The recycling process alone produces a lot of pollutants and during the sorting process, metals and other chemicals may leach into the land and water. Some people say it is too costly. Manufacturing plants need to built and trucks are needed to haul the recycled materials. It costs $4,000 in the United States to recycle one ton of plastic bags. People argue that recycled products are often of lesser quality and are often too fragile or overused. They say products made from used and repurposed materials don't have the same quality of new material. Contamination is also a big problem in the recycling industry. If there are any impurities or toxins on the original material, they'll often make it through the recycling process and end up in the new product. Although these disadvantages exist, it's still vital to reuse materials and improve and start new recycling programs.
When comparing what happens to items that are placed in trash cans with items that are placed in recycling bins, it's clear to see the economic benefits that recycling has over landfilling. Trucks are needed to collect both trash and recyclables. Trash is hauled to a transfer station and then sent to a landfill. Recyclables are sent to a Materials Recovery Facility. The collection and hauling process is the same for both, but what happens after is what makes their economic impacts very different. The City of St. Louis for example spends $33.98 per ton to send trash to a landfill. If it goes to a recycling facility, only $15.60 per ton is spent. The reason for this is recyclables have value as a commodity, and that offsets the cost of processing them into marketable products. The money that is saved by recycling can then be used to cover the rising cost of providing Refuse Division services. It can also prevent the need to increase trash collection fees. Once trash is buried in a landfill, any value it may have had is lost. It also builds up and doesn't always decay.
Items still have value when they are recycled. Manufacturers can recycle them into new products and then sell their products to consumers. This helps maintain and create jobs in both manufacturing and retail sectors. Recycling not only helps the environment, it helps the economy as well. Recycling sustains more jobs than landfills. On a per-ton basis, sorting and processing recyclables sustain 10 times more jobs than landfilling. In a study conducted by the University of Missouri, they found that there are approximately
16,000 people employed in 1,500 recycling businesses in the St. Louis Metropolitan area. This includes businesses involved with recycling collection and processing, salvage, manufacturing, retail, education and composting. The more we recycle, the more businesses are able to grow and continue to contribute to the local economy.
Electronics can take hundreds of years to decompose. Glass alone is estimated to take up to a million years to decay. Some electronic scraps can be classified as a hazardous must be regulated as a hazardous waste. The Missouri Department of Natural Resources recognized the e-scrap management problems. They took steps to in order to reduce the risks on human health and the environment. The workgroup developed a strategy called e-cycle Missouri. E-cycle Missouri is a program designed to provide the public with information that is needed to recycle electronics. The program provides electronic equipment recyclers with best management practices for collecting, processing and transporting e-scrap in Missouri in a way that will protect the environment. There are also laws against electronics being discarded into landfills. It is recommended that electronics should be recycled or donated.
Not recycling results in pollution that will affect the planet future. The state of Missouri is working to ensure the environment is cleaner, safer, and healthier. To protect the wildlife and many lakes and other bodies of water, it's essential to recycle. To read more about recycling in Missouri, visit the MORA website at www.MORA.. Humans must do their part to take care of the earth and recycle to guarantee a greater future for Missouri and the planet.
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Recycling should be Mandatory for Everyone
With the growing focus on environmental issues, experts have advocated for recycling. The move has been informed by the positive outcomes of using recycling as means of addressing environmental degradation. However, despite the growing supports for recycling, some people have opposed it citing several shortcomings. Their argument is based on an increase in the wastage of resources. Based on the opposing point view, it high time to evaluate the positive and negative effects of recycling. The outcome of the analysis will form the basis for making recycling a mandatory practice for everyone.
Recycling aid in the conservation of the world's natural resources. The emphasis on the need to recycle material has reduced the volume of natural resources extracted from the environment (Bartl). For example, by recycling paper, the industry demand for timber has declined. As a result, the level of deforestation will be maintained at a sustainable level. If the world makes it a mandatory practice, then more forest cover will be protected since paper can be recycled seven times. Therefore, it will take time before the demand is created.
Implementing a mandatory policy of recycling aids in reducing the volume of pollution to the environment. Factories such as paper mills cause a lot of pollution to the environment. if demand for their products increases, then the level of pollution also goes up. Currently, the paper mills have been ranks as the third leading industry in environmental pollution (Vijay, 31). The mills cause water, air, and land pollution. Therefore, by sensitizing the society on the need to recycle paper, it reduces the volume of mill factor production. As a result, the potential impact of pollution such climatic change will a thing of history.
Recycling reduces the volume of waste materials on landfill thus limiting the prevalence of health problem. Cases, where people embrace the practice of recycling, have recorded a decrease in the volume of waste on landfill (Omid et al). The effect was felt without making cycling as mandatory prices. Therefore, if it were to be made a mandatory practice, better results will be achieved. The policy aids in shaping the behavior of people towards the treatment of reusable materials. Most people will be motivated to embrace the practice of recycling for fear of action. As a result, the health issues associated will filled landfills will decline.
However, recycling has contributed to the wastage of resources. Most people were motivated to use more of the available product when recycling measures were implemented. Studies conducted on the restroom papers indicated the volume of usage increased tremendously when recycle bin were used (Wang & Catlin, 126). The finding affirms that recycling will increase paper consumption.
Based on the above arguments, the benefits of recycling outweigh its costs. Recycling has proven to be an efficient and cost-effective way of addressing environmental issues. However, research indicates that educating people on the benefits of recycling may not aid in conserving the resources (Wang & Catlin, 127). Therefore, the world should make it a mandatory practice that every individual should practice. The policy makes should come out and makes it a law requiring businesses and consumers to recycle materials such as paper and aluminum containers.
Recycling has both benefits and shortcomings. It aids in the conservation of natural resources such as a forest. Through recycling, the volume level of deforestation will decline as demand for more paper decreases. Also, it leads to a decline in environmental pollution as industry activities will be limited. Through recycling, only a small volume of waste materials finds their way into the landfill thus protecting from the health problems. However, the implementing recycling option has contributed to wastage of resources. Research indicates that implementing recycling option leads to an increase in material uses.
Work Cited
- Bartl, Andreas. Moving from Recycling to Waste Prevention: A Review of Barriers. Sage Publication (2015)
- Omid, Nodoushani, Carol, Stewart, & Manpreet, Kaur. Recycling and Its Effect on The Environment. Questia (2017).
- Vijay, Kumar. Recycling of Waste and Used Paper: A Useful Contribution in Conservation of Environment: A Case Study. IOS Press (2017): 31-37
- Wang, Yitong & Catlin, Jesse. Recycling Gone Bad: When The Option to Recycle Increases Resource Consumption. Journal of Consumer Psychology. (2013): 122-127
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Using Green Products Make a Difference
For years people have been told that habits such as recycling and using green products are making a difference, but are they really? Recycling is taking certain waste products and reusing them, and green products are often referred to as products, services or practices that allow for economic development while conserving for future generations. (What is a Green product, n.d). What items can be recycled is a question that is asked frequently, and there many answers for that such as: plastic bags, bottle, cans, metal, paper, and even more products than that, those are just the basics. After researching on the habits of recycling or using green products making a difference, I have begun to believe that it does benefit not only the earth, but everyone on it as well.
Recycling comes with many benefits such as, minimizing pollution, and preserving natural resources. Why should natural resources be preserved? The 9 benefits of Recycling article states that The world's natural resources are finite, and some are in very short supply. (9 benefits of recycling, 2018 March 29). Preserving natural resources will cause them to stay around for the next generations, instead of becoming extinct. Recycling minimizes pollution by taking the waste products and renewing them instead of taking them to the landfill where they will sit and take forever to decompose and just become poisonous to the earth and us.
Also, by recycling products money is saved, because instead of buying new products the old ones are reused which is way cheaper than producing or buying new ones. Another reason recycling saves money according to EHow's YouTube video is that by reducing space in landfills, by saving trees and by reducing the cost of dumping used materials. (Ehow, 2009 July 9 ). Green products are Eco friendly products that are reusable and not harmful to people. The benefits of Green cleaning state that It has been proven that using green products for cleaning can reduce health issues such as eye, respiratory and skin burns or irritations, allergies, headaches, chemical poisoning, nausea, and even reproductive hazards. (The benefits of Green Cleaning,2012, January 9).
Recycling and green products can also have many disadvantages such as bad product, time consuming, increasing pollution, and energy consumption. Recycling is supposed to decrease pollution but the article 13 Advantages and Disadvantages of Recycling; states that recycling tons of garbage will require waste to be transported, sorted, cleaned, and processed in separate factories all of which need energy and may result in by-products that can pollute air, water, or soil. (13 Advantages and Disadvantages of Recycling, n.d). Another disadvantage of recycling is that a bad product can be made, because somethings can only be reused so many times until they become fragile, or flimsy. Most think that going green is a simple step, and will not take up much time, but Rapid advance states that some will require constant monitoring and effort to ensure all systems that can be converted are. (Rapid Advanced, 2016, October 5). When looking outside the skies are blue and pretty, the leaves are changing colors, and there is grass on the ground instead of dirt.
The movie Wall-E is a great example of what will happen to this earth and everyone on it if habits such as recycling and using green products are no longer done. There are no trees in the movie, no grass, no pretty blue skies, just garbagepiles and piles of garbage. In Tara's article she states that 75,000 trees could be saved by recycling one run of the Sunday edition of the New York Times. (Tara, 2017, July 13). That is only one day out of a seven-day week period that these are printed off!
Imagine recycling papers that have been thrown away in the office at work, wrapping paper from sandwiches, or homework that is no longer needed. How much paper is that? How many trees are saved then? Another thing, if the world was to end up like it is made out to be in the movie Wall-E what will happen to everyone? Not recycling is hurting everyone just as bad as it is hurting the earth. On the map from Number of U.S landfill facilities in 2015 by region you can see that there were 624 landfill facilities in the South of the U.S. (Number of U.S landfill Facilities in 2015 by Region. n.d). These landfills fill up pretty quickly because of the trash everyone throws out each day, and the waste just sits there for who knows how long before it starts to decompose. By the waste sitting there it causes the air to become polluted and hard to breathe in. The air will never not be polluted especially now since there are millions if not billions of cars driving around every day, but by reducing the landfills it gives everyone a chance to breathe in less polluted air and even more room for trees that provide oxygen.
After taking time and learning the advantages and disadvantages of recycling and using green products, and seeing what could be done to this earth if these habits are not passed on; the question still stands are these habits really making a difference? Yes, the habits are making a difference. Take a moment and think about the movie Wall-E Could that be the next generations future if they are not taught habits like recycling or the usage of green products? One simple saying can be said and taught to the younger generations to teach them and that is Recycle, Reduce, Reuse!
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Paper Recycling
Paper Recycling
Paper recycling is the process of recovering used papers for reuse in the production of new paper products. Waste papers may be obtained from the discarded paper material after consumer use. Recycling of many different products has been there for many years since recycling has been found to be cheaper than creating the virgin product. Paper recycling has been put in place as a way of curbing waste paper disposal. The aim of paper recycling is to conserve raw materials used in production, reduce energy use and reduce paper dumping effects on the environment.
Paper recycling brings about environmental importance. Recycling makes the environment clean. Wastes have a wide range of negative impacts on the natural environment. It reduces greenhouse effects (Worrell and Reuter).Trees absorb carbon dioxide in the environment, and if more trees are cut down, there will be a high concentration of carbon dioxide gas in the air which in the long run brings about the greenhouse effect which may lead to diseases that can bring threat to a human for example asthma, respiratory allergies and air diseases.
Paper recycling reduces pollution and avoids landfills. If paper materials are carelessly discarded, our environment will be filthy, and some papers will even be released into water sources like rivers and lakes bringing about water pollution (Schaub). This endangers aquatic lives like fish, crocodiles and plants also this can bring about diseases to a human for example cholera and typhoid. Also, domestic animals may be affected if they go take the polluted water directly mainly the cattle, sheep, and goats. On the other hand, if we decide to discard waste paper by burning them, air pollution will be the result which has an effect on both plants and human lives for example in human can result in lung cancer, asthma, respiratory disorders. Recycling paper also saves on space in landfills for other wastes that cannot be recycled hence this automatically save land for other purposes like farming in plants this lead to acid rain which affects the vegetation, and when human consume the same, it affects them negatively.
Paper recycling saves on energy and water. During paper production, a lot of water and energy is used. The energy required for the first step of cutting trees to making pulp out of them is so much as compared to the energy required to make pulp out of waste papers (Worrell and Reuter). Research shows that recycling one ton waste paper saves energy capable of powering six American homes for six months and around seven thousand gallons of water this may add value to ones country's economy for example the saved water can be used for other purposes like irrigation and there will be enough water supply for households also the spared energy can be supplied for other purposes like supplying to areas where there is shortage.
Recycling conserves natural resources. If the paper is recycled, it means fewer trees will be cut down to make pulp used in paper production. Conservation of natural resources has been the goal of many environmentalists due to the limited supply of these resources; most countries are working towards the minimal use of these resources. From this human beings and wild animals can enjoy the advantages associated with trees, for example, trees act as windbreakers and are homes to some animals also trees bring about rain hence farming will be easy to perform.
Paper dumping has several effects on the environment. The main effect associated with paper dumping is pollution. Paper pollution is a serious problem resulting from waste paper disposal. Paper and pulp making are among the top five pollutants in the world. During the production of paper, chlorine used in bleaching paper is released to water sources, air and soil; this causes soil toxicity hence farming will be affected, some microorganisms in the soil may die due to this. When paper decomposes, it emits methane gas which is more harmful than carbon dioxide.
Deforestation is one of the effects associated with the careless use of paper this may lead to minimal or no rain and hence farming may be negatively affected also there will be no enough supply of fresh air which is associated with oxygen. Everyday trees are cut down for different reasons, and if people decide to plant a tree for each cut-down, it will take a long time before they grow big enough to serve their purposes. The paper and pulp industry are among the big contributors of deforestation and can be partly blamed for the global warming effect and for the extinction of some species of animals that live in the forest. Some indigenous trees have become extinct due to deforestation; these trees are mostly hardwood which is disparately needed for furniture making and construction purposes, some trees bring about tourism hence if depleted will cause problems in the sector.
In North America, many paper companies are modifying their processes to reduce waste paper and curb paper pollution. One of the main solutions is paper recycling. The process of reusing waste papers helps save on tree cutting, careless discarding of waste paper and generally saves on the energy and water required in the production of new paper products. It also reduces pollution caused by paper mills especially if they are producing bleached paper (Waltham). The American, Environmental Protection Agency, has found out that paper recycling causes 35% water pollution and 74% less air pollution than making virgin paper.
To deal with paper waste, it is encouraged that people take advantage of the current technology. With the availability of smartphones, computers, and tablets the use of paper can be reduced. Notes and important documents can be stored in them and can only be printed out when need be. Students can also read their notes on their phones and laptops (Edward). These help in reducing a lot of paperwork which might be carelessly disposed at the end of their use.
In the office, paper can be recycled. For example, if one side of a paper has been used, you can assemble the papers then pin them together to make a notebook on the unused side instead of throwing them away (Schaub).In the same sense printed notes and research notes can be well stored and passed down to the next generation so that in future the same material does not have to be printed again. These can prevent up to 50% paper dumping and pollution and also saves some money for other uses hence add some value to the economy.
Moreover, colleagues in the office can adopt the use of email for communication rather than having to write letters to their workers. This makes works easier for the employees. Employers can also keep records and information on office computers to avoid the use of manual means which is mainly paperwork (Kato, Yasuhiro, and Takao). Colleges and schools can also adopt the same, teachers and tutors can communicate with parents and students through mobile phones and emails to reduce the amount of paperwork.
To curb paper waste and dumping countries like Australia and the United States have implemented high anti-dumping import duties on paper from Indonesia, this has increased the demand for recycled paper manufactured from its own countries (Press). This, overall, reduces the amount of waste paper being disposed of hence pollution of the environment is reduced.
Finally, as a consumer of paper products, consumers can go further in reducing waste paper dumping by the way they use and dispose of paper waste. Individuals are encouraged to throw waste papers into recycle bins, buy products with least paper packaging since millions of dollars are spent in making the packages which at the end land in the garbage (Yacob, Melissa, and Hanafiah). Consumers can also take part in encouraging entrepreneurs to engage in business activities that follow environmentally friendly practices.
There are many views on paper recycling process. Some of the views include the cost of the process, the effectiveness of the process, the benefits of the process to both people and the environment and the process recycling as a method of curbing global warming. From the discussion on the advantages of paper recycling, it can be concluded that the benefits by far overdo the challenges during the process. All people involved in the use of paper products should, therefore, work towards an environmentally friendly method of recycling waste paper.
Works Cited
- BAJPAI, DR P. R. A. T. I. M. A. Recycling and Deinking of Recovered Paper. S.l.: ELSEVIER, 2017. Print.
- Kato, Yukitaka, Michihisa Koyama, Yasuhiro Fukushima, and Takao Nakagaki. Energy Technology Roadmaps of Japan: Future Energy Systems Based on Feasible Technologies Beyond 2030., 2016. Internet resource
- Press, Daniel. American Environmental Policy: The Failures of Compliance, Abatement, and Mitigation. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Pub. Ltd, 2015. Internet resource.
- Schaub, T. Ecai 2014. IOS Press, 2014. Internet resource.
- Yacob, Nor A, Mesliza Mohamed, and Hanafiah M. A. K. Megat. Regional Conference on Science, Technology and Social Sciences (rcstss 2014): Science and Technology., 2016. Internet resource.
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Story about Romeo and Juliet
Introduction
“O, she doth teach the torches to burn bright! It seems she hangs upon the cheek of night Like a rich jewel in an Ethiope’s ear; Beauty too rich for sure, for earth too dear!”(Shakespeare Act 1 Sc.5) Romeo and Juliet, by William Shakespeare, chronicles the life of two fictional characters known as Romeo and Juliet. Both characters often experience lots of loving connections towards one another. Throughout a series of close readings, Shakespeare reveals that Romeo and Juliet do not love each other because they seek love as a way to distract themselves from their mediocre lives, seek physical beauty above anything else, and their love is dominated by carnal temptation.
Shakespeare introduced the idea that Romeo and Juliet love each other out of ‘dissatisfaction’ with their own lives. Act 1 Scene 4/5 of the text states, “[Love] is too rough, too rude, too rowdy, and it pricks like a thorn.”(Shakespeare) Romeo states this when Capulet “will not stay the siege of loving terms. O, she is rich in beauty, only poor, That when she dies with beauty dies her store,”(Shakespeare) as stated in Act 1 Scene 1. Romeo could not get Rosaline to love him back, therefore Benvolio advises to put the ‘old flame’ out to get over Rosaline.
In other words, Benvolio advises Romeo to find a new lover to cure his sadness when he states in Act 1 Scene 2, “One pain is lessen’d by another’s anguish.”(Shakespeare) This causes Romeo to begin to love Juliet as he sees her at Capulet’s party to put out the ‘old flames.’ Romeo began to love Juliet because he was dissatisfied about how he couldn’t find love in Rosaline, therefore he replaced her. Thereafter, Lady Capulet states to Juliet in Act 1 Scene 3, “Examine every married lineament, And see how one another lends content and what obscured in this fair volume lies...This precious book of love...by having him, make yourself no less.”(Shakespeare) Juliet is pressured by Lady Capulet to find love at her party. Therefore, Juliet began to love Romeo since she was pressured. The two characters do not love each other truly since they have only seen each other from a distance. Romeo loves Juliet because he was dissatisfied that he couldn’t score Rosaline, and Juliet loves Romeo because she was pressured to find love by Lady Capulet.
Shakespeare begins to develop a new idea that Romeo and Juliet are only attracted to each other physically. Romeo sees Benvolio and Mercutio as role models when it comes to love. Benvolio advises Romeo on how to get over Rosaline while Mercutio is more straightforward with this advice. Mercutio advises Romeo to cure himself of love by having sex. Act 2 Scene 2 states, “ The brightness of her cheek would shame those stars, As daylight doth a lamp; her eyes in Heaven Would through the airy region stream so bright That birds would sing and think it were not night. See, how she leans her cheek upon her hand! O, I were a glove upon that hand, That I might touch her cheek.”(Shakespeare) Romeo believes Juliet is far more beautiful than a moon in the night sky. However, he believes virginity makes her look sick. Only fools hold on to their virginity! Let it go!, Romeo cries. He listens to Mercutio’s advice and begins to love her physically. He wants to have sex with her to get over Rosaline. Thereafter, Juliet states in Act 3 Scene 2, “And bring in cloudy night immediately. Spread thy close curtain, love-performing night, That runaway’s eyes may wink and Romeo Leap to these arm. Come, civil night...Give me my Romeo… .”(Shakespeare) Juliet feels the same way towards Romeo. Juliet wants to also have sex with Romeo at night even though he has not taken possession of her yet. Juliet wants to make love in the dark to submit her husband Romeo. Both Romeo and Juliet love each other physically and want to have sex with one another.
Romeo and Juliet’s love is dominated by ‘carnal temptations’ over authentic love because they love one another for their body physical features. Romeo states in Act 1 Scene 5, “Beauty too rich for sure for earth too dear! For I ne’er saw true beauty till this night.”(Shakespeare) Romeo is absolutely stunned with Juliet’s beauty. That catches his eye first when he sees her. He describes how her beauty is so magnificent that its too good for earth to dear. Romeo is in love with Juliet because of her physical beauty. On the other hand, Juliet states in Act 3 Scene 2, “let me, a shy virgin, learn the strange act of sex so that it seems true...Romeo will come leap into my arms and no one will know.”(Shakespeare) Later in the story Juliet states, “I’m not thankful for the man you’ve chosen for me.”(Shakespeare Act 3 Sc.5) Juliet is in love with Romeo which is dominated with ‘carnal temptations.’ She wants Romeo for sex and marriage which does not represent true love. Juliet’s family does not believe Romeo is the right man for her to marry since their families are rivals.
Her family wants her to marry Count Paris, who Juliet does not love. Juliet’s family insults her and claims Juliet was a no good curse. She states how she wants to make love with Romeo in the dark. In other words, she wants Romeo to help her lose her virginity. Both characters, Romeo and Juliet, have a love connection which is dominated by ‘carnal temptations’ over true love.
Conclusion
In conclusion, Shakespeare’s story characters, Romeo and Juliet, go through a series of love scenes. They experience both exuberant and depressing moments throughout the story, revealing to the reader that their love is false, not true. Through Shakespeare’s unique story, the reader is shown that both characters love each other for the wrong reasons: out of dissatisfaction, physical beauty, and carnal temptation. Perhaps they are sending a message to the reader to question themselves when they believe they are ‘in love’ and what they are willing to do for their love.
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Literary Devices in Romeo and Juliet
Romeo and Juliet is a mandatory part of a 9th graders English Curriculum, meaning 4 million students will read and evaluate one of William Shakespeare’s most famous plays each year. Romeo and Juliet is required in schools across America and even Canada so students can learn Old English while reading a beautiful story where challenging literary devices are used. William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet uses metaphors, symbolism, and dramatic irony to create more meaning in this play, initially generating a more poignant story for readers throughout America.
Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet uses metaphors to compare unlike things, causing great thought and analysis throughout his work. An example of a metaphor used in Romeo and Juliet is “As I hate hell, all Montagues, and thee,” (Shakespeare 1.1.72). Tybalt is comparing hell to all of the people with the name Montague, especially Benvolio, saying how he hates them all as much as he hates hell. Another use of metaphors in Romeo and Juliet is when Romeo says “It is the East, and Juliet is the sun,” (Shakespeare 2.2.3). Here Romeo is calling Juliet the sun, saying how bright and glorious she is in his eyes. Metaphors are just one of several literary devices used in Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. Romeo and Juliet by Shakespeare uses sybolism as a way of expressing more than what is being said by the characters, causing readers to stop and think about his words.
An example of symbolism used in the text of Romeo and Juliet is “Where underneath the grove of a sycamore,” (Shakespeare 1.1.123). The tree in the forest symbolizes isolation in this scene. Romeo is by himself lamenting about how he cannot be with Rosaline, causing a great deal of sadness for Romeo. Symbolism adds more thought to the process of what is being said, for example, “Give this ring to my true knight,” (Shakespeare 3.3.156). Juliet is telling Nurse to give her ring to Romeo as a sign of her love for him, even if he brutally killed her cousin Tybalt hours before. Symbolism is such an important literary device used in Romeo and Juliet, it adds more value to ordinary objects and leaves readers on the edge of their seats throughout the play.
In Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet dramatic irony is used to increase the magnitude of emotion and energy in the audience by having the characters know less than the patrons do. Dramatic irony is a very common literary device used in Romeo and Juliet, an example is “Marry, my child, early next Thursday morn,” (Shakespeare 3.5.127). Lady Capulet is clueless about Juliet’s marriage to Romeo, causing quite a problem throughout this piece of work, making the audience even more intrigued by the oblivious characters. Another example of dramatic irony in Romeo and Juliet is on Juliet’s and Paris’ wedding day, “Come, is the bride ready to go to church?” (Shakespeare 4.5.39). Friar Lawrence and the patrons know that Juliet has drunk a potion to get out of this marriage, while everyone else thinks she is dead, causing a huge disturbance throughout Verona.
Her parents are mourning her death while Friar is waiting for her true lover Romeo to rescue her from her terrible life. Dramatic irony is another crucial literary device used in Romeo and Juliet, causing the most conflict throughout Shakespeare's work. In Romeo and Juliet, by William Shakespeare, there are multiple significant literary devices used including metaphors, symbolism, and dramatic irony, which all help bring a very moving story to 9th graders in America. Metaphors, symbolism, and dramatic irony are very important literary devices used in Romeo and Juliet. They have also been used in countries around the world throughout history. These three literary devices are a very crucial part of William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. They are scattered throughout this significant piece of work, helping the author tell a touching story to all of its readers since 1595.
Research Paper FAQ
What are literary devices in Romeo and Juliet Act 2 Scene 2?
In act 2, scene 2, the writer uses the metaphor a few times. Other literary devices that are used are personification, hyperbole, simile oxymoron, paradox, and alliteration. Specific literary devices repeat throughout scene 2.
What literary devices do Romeo and Juliet use in Act 1 Scene 4?
In Romeo and Juliet Act 1, scene 4, the writer uses simile and pun (also known as a play on words). William Shakespeare also used foreshadowing a few times in the play, including act 1, scene 4, when Romeo expresses his fears to his friends.
What literary devices were used in scene 6 of Romeo and Juliet?
The literary devices and features that have been used in Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet act 2, scene 6 are imagery, personification, antithesis, and foreshadowing. There is also the presence of allusions to the Bible’s verses.
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The Control of Fate in and on Romeo and Juliet
Whether the entire universe composed of its brilliant cosmos and artful living beings are all wound into an intricate pattern of fibrous fates and compassion is beyond present knowledge, but the power and influence this abstract concept has on the worldly desires of humans is unimaginable. Fate is felt like an ornate cloak of unknowing over their heads and drives them to do the unthinkable as they strive to escape it or manipulate it, rather than disregarding its existence. The effects of this supposed cloak are felt on Romeo and Juliet in Shakespeare’s classic play Romeo and Juliet as they feel its pressure on their love, and their response to this pressure is to be impulsive, befitting their teenage personas. Having been born in the midst of a powerful feud between the two leading families of Verona, the Montagues and the Capulets, an interpersonal relationship between the two of them had been a cruel trick from the start.
The effect of fate on love, conveyed through Romeo and Juliet, expresses the theme that fate’s influence exhibits control over human happiness, which can be achieved by feelings of love. Throughout the play, allusions to the lovers’ unfortunate end are made and the probable preordained demise waiting ahead of them stimulate the characters to generally exhaust their own happiness. In the prologue of the play, the Chorus foredooms, “From forth the fatal loins of these two foes / A pair of star-crossed lovers take their life” (1.Prologue.4-5). Shakespeare introduces fate as an antagonist to their love from the beginning through the term “star-crossed.” This references the stars, a metaphor to fate in accordance with their belief that the stars dictated fate. Since Shakespeare chooses to start their story with their cursed end, the main purpose of the story is not to be a tragedy or drama for the audience to empathize with, but rather an insinuation to how fate influences day-to-day decisions and a warning for the audience that they should break free of the binding mind control of fate as to not end up unhappy like Romeo and Juliet.
He uses love as a metaphor for happiness to this end, since Romeo had said, “Some consequence yet hanging in the stars / Shall bitterly begin his fearful date / By some vile forfeit of untimely death” just prior to him meeting Juliet, his love (1.4.109-110, 113). Again, stars are referenced as Romeo discusses his bad luck. The young age of Romeo and Juliet serves as evidence that when young in age, the contingencies of the future looms since later years in life are usually dictated by the choices made early. Their choice was to love each other, but due to the crushing pressure of possible doom, they rushed into reaching a permanence to their love (through immediate marriage) in the name of good luck and jeopardized their happiness. The start of fate’s unsympathetic trials began with Mercutio where Romeo and Juliet’s overarching conflict of feuding families came into play. As a result of the said feud, Mercutio is stabbed in a duel and dies, cursing the families immediately before, “I am hurt. / A plague o’ both your houses! I am sped” (3.1.87-88). He wishes doom, spelling out the tragic fates of Romeo Montague and Juliet Capulet.
The death of Mercutio intensifies acrimony between the families and worsens the lovers’ situation. Through constant reference to fate and impending death, Shakespeare creates an atmosphere of expectancy for pain. However, as they actually reach said pain, the audience sees Romeo and Juliet attempt to lash out at their fate, albeit severing happiness from themselves in favor of choosing a cause. Romeo and Juliet’s attempts to dissent their fates of doomed love transcend their will to live and for the purpose of being with each other at least in death, they kill themselves as an act of damning fate. When Romeo is misinformed of Juliet’s death and does not hear that she is actually alive, he swears he will defy fate, “Is it e’en so? Then I defy you, stars!” (5.1.24). Pursuant to his swear that he would rebel against fate, he enters Juliet’s tomb and right before drinking poison and killing himself, declares,“...Oh, here / Will I set up my everlasting rest, / And shake the yoke of inauspicious stars / From this world-wearied flesh…” (5.3.109-112). Again, he references the stars and conveys how he lets fate sway him into impulsive behavior, as Juliet wakes up moments after his death. Romeo feels trapped by his fate as a Montague in love with a Capulet and decides to end his fate by killing himself by her side. One can assume that he lost sight of happiness and pursued love as became his fate as a romantic yet tragic lover boy who paid too much attention to a seemingly negative fate defined by vehemently opposing families. Romeo and Juliet ends with both lovers dead and the families willing to rekindle peace after seeing the effects of their feud on the fate of those who are blind to love.
Thus, the fate of Romeo and Juliet ends in their demise, as per fate’s influence on young minds. Noteworthily, the happenstance of Romeo and Juliet’s love and fate could have been a small passageway of the anthill known as the history of Verona, a small hole on their part but just a part of the story of a time that goes on.
However, their individual end shows the influence of fate on humans, the control the notion itself has on whether humans can be happy about their station in life. The love they express for each other in relation to their choices conveys the complexity of how love achieves happiness and its strange relationship with fate. They suggest that perhaps, love is the fate of all that seek happiness because the love of things, people, and/or places can measure happiness. For Romeo and Juliet, their love for each other was so great they were content with giving up other happiness and ended their lives knowing love was enough solace to their fate.
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Romeo and Juliet Parody
Introduction
Shakespeare can be fairly regarded as one very tough writer to read and understand. According to the New York Times, “The Oregon Shakespeare Festival has decided that Shakespeare’s language is too difficult for today’s audiences to understand.” (Gonchar 1) This Statement to an extent is true solely because Shakespearean writing can either be exciting or boring depending on the way it is taught to you . In my own opinion , Shakespeare's work is what, you- as a reader, make of it . Throughout the course of the year , We (as students) have been given the gracious opportunity to be taught Shakespeare in a way that , in my own opinion, has been the best way ever taught to me. From the very first day, I knew that this class was going to expose me to Shakespeare (or Shakesy as we could call him) in way that I had never known . Along with our amazing professor , Mrs. Coon , we read , analyzed , and deciphered the true meaning of Shakespeare's puzzle of a play , Romeo and Juliet . From understanding how the play goes farther than just love , to how to most minute characters had the largest impact and influence to the tragic death that overcame “the two star crossed lovers” (prologue) ,we truly engulfed ourselves into understanding this difficult play in a much deeper way.
It’s been an amazing journey and I truly feel that we’ve been challenged every step of the way to step out of our comfort zone, but the largest challenge we’ve been given has been to modernize the infamous play in our own way. Throughout the last couple years , many movies or shows have been made that parodize or modernize a few of Shakespeare's plays. A few examples of these would include Sons of Anarchy (portraying Hamlet) or Romeo + Juliet (obvious) . In order to really test our ability and understanding of the entire play, we’ve been challenged by Mrs. Coon to create a parody of Romeo and Juliet , containing the same characters , with a different setting and any outcome. Our choice in a parody consisted of modernizing the play in a giant favorite amongst adults, the infamous Jersey Shore. It was truly a hectic ride , but in order to show that we fully and truly understood the play , this is how we executed our parody.
To begin , I feel as though we need to give a sort of synopsis or summary as to what show we were using in order to interpret the play as a parody. As already stated we decided to use the famous and entertaining reality show , Jersey Shore. According to IMdb ,” Jersey Shore is a reality-based look at the vapid lives of several New Jersey 20-somethings and their respective friends and/or hook-ups” The show throughout its many seasons contains a multitude of characters but we decided to focus on only a select few. As the title of the show suggests, the setting takes place at none other than the Jersey Shore.
What we did as a group right off the bat was figure out what we would title our parody , and instantly knew that the perfect title would be The Verona Shore. This title would also represent the setting of the parody itself. Second we had to take into consideration that the whole basis of Romeo and Juliet would have to be the grudge that has haunted the family for an ancient amount of time. In terms of Jersey Shore, creating drama or any sort of underlying issue really isn't the problem since most of the show consists of just that, issues and drama. We had to incorporate the importance of the preserving the characters while still acting in this new version of the play. We decided to go with the very well known fight scene from the show as the basis for our entire parody since fighting was very prominent throughout all of shakespeare's play. We begun by showing the two houses living together under one roof in Verona.
It’s been a few years since the drama from the play so the characters we included in our parody were Romeo, Juliet , Rosalina , Tybalt , Benvolio , and Mercutio. There wasn't much difficulty in terms of creating the characters, but rather preserving each characters persona in each and every scene in order to have a sense of consistency throughout the entirety of the show. Our characters aren't much different from that of the actual play, they just have a hint of Jersey to them .
In the parody I ended up playing as Juliet, which to an extent was difficult. We as a group tried to keep her independent and irrational mind intact throughout so there's still that aspect of Juliet, but added in the loudness and irritating traits of Sammie. We tried to incorporate as many of the originals plays lines within our characters, such as my part (juliet) using the well known line “ A Rose by any other name would smell as sweet and b**ch im that rose” with a very clear twist to it. In addition what also does made things fairly more easy is in terms of keeping my character Juliet as identical to the original play was the fact that Sammie is deeply in love with Ron , but at certain moments does have a sense of clarity as to how bad of a boyfriend he is. Juliet (in the parody), when being compared to Sammie, is deeply in love with Rom in our skit, but also does show some sense in clarity as to his actions . She questions if the love is ok and if she should continue progressing through with the relationship. Continuing on , Tybalt was also a character that stayed relatively the same throughout the course of the parody since he carries over the grudge he has from the play.
Ty in our skit has a big hatred towards Rom which is very apparent in our fight scene. This scene in our skit shows how even after the play , there is still a large grudge amongst The Capulets and The Montagues . “The immoral pasado , The Punto Reverso”(A2S4) had everything needed in order to get his jersey side out in our parody. One detail in our characters and script that I do feel I can note as a major difference is Rosalina's personality trait.In our parody she could be considered as being an instigator of problems. In the play Rosalina wasn't heard much aside from going into a nunnery and having a relationship with Romeo before Juliet.
The reason as to why we made Rosalina this way was due to the fact of drama being needed within what we call The Verona House. Rosalina These are only a few examples of the characters and their interpretations of the play , but throughout the acting , we had a good amount of struggles that made the actual execution of the parody a bit difficult. Trying to incorporate the original lines of the play was to an extent difficult to do since its alot harder to modernize or include such elaborate speech in a modern way or form. This now brings up the point in which how adapting the parody itself was difficult.
Adaptations in today's modern era are always going to be difficult to interpret or perform due to the fact that everyone has a different view point, or could have a completely different understanding of a Shakespearean play. The reason that adaptations are very important is because it is the simplest form of expression to give a sort of understanding of Shakespeare's writing to today's audience . Since the raw text can quite often just be too difficult for many to comprehend , you can say that many people struggle with reading the play. This is mainly because the play itself was meant to be acted rather than read. You can quite possibly blame the difficulty of reading the play on Shakesys wordplay and his ability to create a confusing flow of words in his lines in his famous sonnet style.
According to Wordplay in Earliest Shakespeare , “Any discussion of wordplay needs to define its terms, however difficult that may be”. This is explaining that throughout any aspect of Shakespeare's writing, it is necessary to have some sort of definition or understanding of the writing itself in order for the main ideas to be fully grasped . Modern day adaptations are in a sense , a portal to the meaning of the original plays. These performances/movies/shows can all portray shakesys plays in such a subliminal way that even on some occasions, the audience won't even catch the reference ! A good example of how interpretations can truly go over one's head is the comparison between Hamlet and the very popular television series , Sons of Anarchy. The show contains many characters ,but the comparison begins with Jax Teller. Jax was the son of the President of the motorcycle club , The Sons of Anarchy. His father passed away in a biking accident but here lies the beginning of the comparison. If you are in any sense familiar with Hamlet,then you’ll know how that the actual reason Hamlet's father died was due to his evil brother , Claudius. The case is the same in this television series, in which the real reason Jax’s Father died was due to his best friend Clay (notice the resemblance in names?) pulling the brakes from his bike. Other notable characters which can be compared to those in the original play are Opie who is considered the bestfriend of Jax . The weird catch is that Opie is considered to be interpreted as ophelia ,just that clearly he is not the lover of the main character .
This interpretation is viewed as an attempt to show that love can come in many forms. Jax and Opie both lost their fathers which pushes them over the deep end to seek vengeance and do anything in their power to achieve that goal. Next up you have Juice Ortiz, who is a direct representation of not one but two characters from the original play, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. Juice was a very close friend of Jax until he betrayed the club and ratted them out to the police as a “mole” or a rat. This betrayal of the main character is the very reason for their direct comparison and death. In a quote from the article ‘Sons of Anarchy’ vs. ‘Hamlet’ , by Kelly Schrempf, she states “Anyone who's the least bit familiar with this classic Shakespearean drama knows that it's full of lies, betrayal, and bloodshed — otherwise known as the three key ingredients to any SoA episode. Death is practically SAMCRO's bread and butter, and if SoA is a true reflection of Hamlet , that means barely anyone will make it out of this show alive.” which is true to every extent. As any tragedy written by Shakespeare, your most beloved characters will always die .
The Show obviously ends with Jax ultimately killing his Clay and avenging his father John. Romeo and Juliet when compared to adaptations however , is a different case. As stated in the article by Arts and Culture ,”Of all Shakespeare's plays, perhaps Romeo and Juliet best lends itself to modern adaptations. After all, the essence of the play is about eschewing conventions - youngsters in thrall to their passions rebelling against the customs of their parents and society.” . The play itself is easy to adapt in a modern era today since many young adults can sympathize and relate to the struggles of “love” at a young age.
You can clearly look at the movie Romeo + Juliet if you’re familiar with the play and notice how the modern adaptation of the play is so similar to the original text yet contains small differences. One small example of a difference in the movie and the play could be the way that the two lovers die in the finale. In the play the death of Juliet begins with her finding Romeo dead and cold beside her , where in the movie , Juliet wakes up with enough time to find romeo still partially breathing as he progresses to die in her arms. Also due to the modernization, Juliet uses a Gun to kill herself rather than a dagger.
Another notable difference could be the scene with mercutio before the Capulet party. In the movie the teens pop some pills resembling ecstasy where in the movie , they got drunk with liquor. Of course there are many changes to the way the acting is executed and changed to make it seem more like an actual parody or comedy movie, but the central idea and characters all stayed the same throughout the movie. Jersey Shore is the type of show that can contain almost every aspect that is found within the play , from everything like love to the very grudge that haunts the play. Majority of these characters were able to be adapted and fitted to make a good adaptation. In a article I read by Gretchen Turonek , she states that a good adaptation contains “Faithfulness to the source material, be it in terms of plot, theme, tone, etc” which is true in our parodies. We tried to keep the raw plot , theme and characters as original yet different as best as we possibly could.
There were times where we all sort of doubted how far we would actually go in terms of being able to actually create a good parody since we all worked or went to school for other classes throughout the week. There were times were we would have to wake up at 6:00am to be ready and at Gabby's house by 7:00 - 7:30 am to record up until 12 on a weekend when we would all have to work full shifts right after. At the beginning I was very unsure as to how far my group was actually capable of going with this project, Especially losing a team member and gaining 2 half way through . I firmly believe that each and every one of us built and created friendships through this on project through all our laughs and arguments as to how we should portray our parody . In the end, our teamwork and commitment was used to actually push ourselves through every work day in order to get things done .
This perseverance really helped us in order to accomplish this super irritating yet pleasing project. As I stated in the introduction, this form of learning Shakespeare was unlike any that I had previously experienced. Mrs. Coon truly went out of her way to ensure that each and everyone of us was getting the most of out of the class and truly understanding every aspect of Shakespeare’s amazing form of writing. Day in and day out , whether I was late or on time , I always found a sense of happiness in being in a class with a professor as dedicated as Mrs. C and having such a strong Verona Shore Cast. It’s been an amazing journey ,and I truly feel that we’ve been challenged every step of the way to step out of our comfort zone. From revamping and parodizing such a famous play into a now very popular tv show, it was truly one of the funnest things I could have possibly done and experienced. The Verona Shore is always something I’ll remember.
Citations
- Stoker , Gill. “Shakespeare: Our Contemporary?” OpenLearn, The Open University, 27 Oct.2005,www.open.edu
- Gonchar, Michael. “Is Shakespeare Too Hard?” The New York Times, The New York Times, 14 Oct. 2015, learning.blogs.nytimes.com
- Shakespeare, William, and Dympna Callaghan. Romeo and Juliet: Texts and Contexts. Palgrave Macmillan, 2003.
- Entertainment, MTV. “Jersey Shore.” Jersey Shore, season 3, episode 1, 10 Feb. 2011.
- “Jersey Shore.” IMDb, IMDb.com, 2012, www.imdb.com
- Schremph, Kelly. “'Sons of Anarchy' Vs. 'Hamlet'.” Bustle, Bustle, 13 Nov. 2018, www.bustle.com
- BRUSTER, DOUGLAS, and NELL MCKEOWN. “Wordplay in Earliest Shakespeare.” Philological Quarterly, vol. 96, no. 3, Summer 2017, pp. 293–322. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com
- Romeo + Juliet. Dir. Baz Luhrmann. Perf. Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes. DVD. Twentieth-Century Fox, 1996.
- Gretchen Turonek. “What Makes a Good Film Adaptation?” Gretchen Turonek, 16 Mar. 2016, gretchenturonek.wordpress.com/2016/03/16/what-makes-a-good-film-adaptation/.
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Juliet’s Abuse
During the period of time known as Elizabethan England, the roles men and women played contrasted in many different ways. Men were supposed to be emotionless and strong while women were always required to be submissive. In the tragic romantic play, The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet, William Shakespeare introduces the theme of gender roles through different characters such as Romeo, Paris, and Juliet who all give a glimpse into what was expected of women and men respectively. Romeo and Juliet, the two protagonists of the play come from two families that have maintained an age-old feud.
One fateful night, these two “star-crossed lovers” meet. Unbeknownst to them at the time, the other maintained a part of the enemy family. Against social normalities and the will of their own family, they decide to be wedded to each other without the consent of the patriarchs of their families. The same fate that brought these two individuals together, divides them with the death of the death of the other person. Throughout the romantic play which turns to a calamity, gender themes can be identified which contrast greatly to those common today. Juliet’s lack of agency within her major life decisions highlights the way that gender roles silenced the voice of women while simultaneously placing unrealistic standards on the men of the time.
Women had very little say or power within the context of their marriage. The husband made all of the decisions without the consent of his wife. “My child is yet a stranger in the world. / She hath not seen the change of fourteen years, / Let two more summers wither in their pride / Ere we may think her ripe to be a bride.” (Rom. I.ii. 8-12) Lord Capulet’s precious young child will wed his daughter to the man he sees the best fit for her. Juliet is even absent all while this conversation concerning her future takes place. Using the term “ripe” portrays the image of the Capulets growing and grooming their child for her one purpose in life, to serve and complete a man’s personal appearance who she becomes forced into a relationship with. Her youthful age and demeanor allow the parents to infer that she is unable to make decisions for herself. Lord Capulet uses the term “we”, (referring to his wife and himself) to tell Paris why he needs to wait just a little bit longer. Shakespeare describes the only contribution Juliet would provide to her husband in the excerpt, “This precious book of love, this unbound lover, / To beautify him only lacks a cover” (Rom. III.i.118-120).
Over and over throughout the story of Romeo and Juliet, we see the symbol of a book to compare to people and love as an overall concept. Every bachelor looks for a wife that will provide a cover to his well-developed “book.” He, therefore, searches for a woman that will improve upon his appearance, and not help him make decisions. When one picks up a book, the first thing that catches the attention of the potential reader is the cover, therefore that aspect of the book needs to be the most appealing. The requirements for the perfect wife only entails that the potential bride appears not to be a total sociopath, but does have a pretty face. The metaphor of the “precious book of love” compares Paris to this bound book that has everything together but merely lacks a cover to complete the appearance of the book. Shakespeare constantly presents men as unable to show emotion and instilled with the expectation of having their life together.
Throughout Romeo and Juliet, the author unintentionally exhibits the pressure on men unnaturally feeling as if they have to be emotionless at all times.
Displaying emotion exists looked down upon by everyone which the Nurse proclaims in the quote, “Piteous predicament! Even so lies she, / Blubb’ring and weeping, weeping and blubb'ring.— / Stand up, stand up. Stand an you be a man. / For Juliet's sake, for her sake, rise and stand” (3.3.92-97). The nurse who Shakespeare expertly uses to intertwine comedic relief into the story now states that Romeo’s sentimental breakdown is embarrassing. The Nurse proves that not only did other men expect each other to be stone-cold without feelings, but most everyone else felt that way as well. Romeo lying upon the ground bawling his eyes out only furthers the Nurse and the Friar’s disappointment. The Nurse conveys the fact that women have been given the right to display emotion when Juliet is unable to hold herself together, but she expects Romeo to “Stand an you be a man.” Romeo speaks upon his own “moment of weakness” in the quote, “O sweet Juliet, / Thy beauty hath made me effeminate / And in my temper softened valor’s steel” (Rom.III.i. 118-20). Once again, the reason why Romeo loves Juliet is because of her beauty.
Her personality nor her intellect makes Romeo soften or feel feminine, but her “beauty.” The concept of Juliet merely being the cover to Romeo’s book further explains women’s roles and responsibilities as a wife. The love Romeo expresses for Juliet makes him feel feminine and weak. He views himself as a man that carries himself with valor and a steely-eyed expression. This show of emotion makes even Romeo look upon himself with disdain let alone his peers. Men were provided with an unrealistic standard of being stone-cold showing little to no emotion during the period of time known as Elizabethan England.
The Capulets took away Juliet’s ability to make decisions for herself, therefore, silencing her voice. In addition to this, men felt socially pressured to act similar to heartless and unthinking robots. Furthermore, it displays how these social normalities have been more or less eliminated from today. Yet, still, men feel as if they cannot cry out for help and have to bundle all of their emotions inside of themselves under lock and key. The glimpse Shakespeare provides of the gender roles of the time allows the reader to understand the mistreatment women went through and the agonizing restrain men had to maintain to avoid rebukes from others.
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Short Story about Drama Romeo and Juliet
A drama well known by William Shakespeare is Romeo and Juliet. Shakespeare’s play about the doomed romance of two teenagers from feuding families is the most famous love story written. This play was first performed around 1596, Romeo and Juliet has been adapted by ballets, operas, the musical West Side Story, and a dozen other films.
The forcefulness of love, love is the play’s most dominant and most important theme. The play focuses on romantic love, specifically the intense passion that springs up in the first sight between Romeo and Juliet. The love is violent, ecstatic, overpowering force that supersedes all other values, loyalties, and emotions. Love as a cause of violence, the themes of death and violence permeate Romeo and Juliet, and they are always connected to passion, whether the passion is love or hate. The individual versus society, much of Romeo and Juliet involves the lovers’ struggles against public and social institutions that disagree with the existence of their love. The inevitability to fate, this is the first address to the audience, the Chorus states that Romeo and Juliet are “star crossed” that is to say that fate controls them. This sense of fate permeates the play but, not just for the audience, the characters are also quite aware of it. Romeo's actions play into the hands of fate, his determination to spend eternity with Juliet results in their deaths.
Romeo is the son of Montague and Lady Montague. Romeo is sixteen, he is intelligent, handsome, and sensitive. Though immature, his idealism and passion make him a likeable character. Juliet, the daughter of Capulet and Lady Capulet, a beautiful thirteen-year-old girl. She begins the play as a naive child who has thought little about love and marriage, but she quickly grows up upon falling in love with Romeo, the son of her family’s great enemy. Friar Lawrence, a Franciscan, friend to both Romeo and Juliet. Mercutio who is a kinsman to the Prince, and Romeo's friend. He is one of the most extraordinary characters in all of Shakespeare's plays, Mercutio is full of imagination, wit, and at times, a strange, biting satire, and brooding fervor.
In Romeo and Juliet, the play’s main point of view is between two lovers. In the first half of the play, Romeo has the dominant point of view. We spend a majority of our time with him, and he is the character that does the most to advance the action. We first see Juliet at home with her mother and her Nurse, discussing a potential marriage to Paris. Like Romeo, she plans to attend the party to check out a prospective mate. By introducing the audience to each character before they meet each other, the play lets us see who they are as individuals, and how they are changed by love. Romeo initially seems more in love with the idea of love than Rosaline herself, while Juliet seems hesitant to fall in love at all.
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Interesting Facts about Romeo and Juliet
Back in 1597, the classic William Shakespeare play, Romeo & Juliet, was published. The play’s focus and emphasis based around the sensation and theory of “love at first sight”, the romantic side and the dangerous side. The two main characters, Romeo and Juliet, fall in love but are both heirs of feuding families, the Montague’s (Romeo) and the Capulet’s (Juliet). “Deny thy father and refuse thy name, or wilt not be sworn my love, and I’ll no longer be a Capulet,” (2.2 37-39). In these lines, Juliet is contemplating the feelings he has for Romeo, with the feelings of her father if he found out she was involved with the rival family. Exhibiting there is much danger and risk involved with romantics. Shakespeare creates drama throughout the entire theatrical performance, the drama portrayed her is a tragedy. A tragedy in theatre is when the main character(s) in the play experience extreme sorrow because of flaw, moral weakness, or the inability to handle adverse circumstances; Romeo & Juliet is a prime example of a traditional tragedy.
Romeo & Juliet is full of dramatic purposes, scenes or dialogue that serve specific purpose to the plot. The opening dialogue of the play exhibits the relationship between the Capulet’s and the Montague’s, “Two households, both alike in dignity, In fair Verona, where we lay our scene, From ancient grudge break to new mutiny, Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean,” (1.1 1-4). The quote explains that the two families are alike in many ways, but because of an old feud they will never see eye to eye, setting the mood for the entire tragedy. The type of dramatic purpose best fitting for Romeo & Juliet is the link of characters, conflict and irony.
There is emphasis on the connection the main characters have with each other, but due to the conflict of the feuding families the story ends in irony and the death of the lead characters. To get better understand the dramatic purpose of Romeo & Juliet, one might want to know the structure in which the play was written. A play can be structured one of two types of ways, climatic or episodic. The structure that fits this play the best is the climatic structure because there is a clear exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and catastrophe.
The plot of the play makes it easy to spot; Feud between two families (Montague’s and Capulet’s) makes it hard for two lovers. Romeo is still in-love with Rosaline, but two of his peers convince him to sneak into a party at the forbidden Capulet house to get his mind off Rosaline and meet someone new. Low and behold, Romeo meets someone new and it is “love at first sight”, both Romeo and his new love are head over heels for each other, but there is one problem. The girl who he falls in-love with is Juliet Capulet. Secretly, Romeo and Juliet are married by the Friar who thought this marriage would end the feud between the two families. Unfortunately, tragedy strikes as Romeo is banished by the prince for killing Tybalt, Juliet’s cousin. Juliet is now arranged to marry Paris, but her parents do not know she is already wed to Romeo. With help of the Friar, Juliet fakes her death to get out of her arranged marriage. Poor communication tells Romeo his love is dead, so he sneaks into Verona to see her one last time.
Romeo drinks poison to join his wife in death, but upon this event, Juliet wakes. When she is unable to ingest enough poison from the lips of Romeo, Juliet takes his dagger and stabs herself, reuniting the forbidden lovers in death. Throughout the entire play, there is central conflict, both internal and external. Two internal central conflicts are the running conflict between the Capulet and Montague families, the heirs on both sides were raised to hate the other because of the butter feud, but this also had a negative effect on the entire city of Verona as citizens were killed in fights between the two families, and this filters into the second external central conflict, a Montague and a Capulet falling in-love with each other and making their love even more forbidden. One internal central conflict involves Juliet after the death of Tybalt. She has to decide the best way to move on with her life, mourning the loss of her family member or have joy her husband is alive and safe. These conflicts filter back to the emphasis of the play, the romantic and dangerous sides to love at first sight. An abundance of internal and external conflict makes it impossible for the two lovers to formally be together, although forbidden, their burning love for each other makes them break the rules and experience sacrifice.
An opposing force in Romeo and Juliet is an individual against society. Throughout the play, it is noticeable the main characters, Romeo and Juliet, as individuals, are fighting with society to be together, society says no but themselves say yes. “Not proud you have, but thankful that you have. Proud can I never be of what I hate, but thankful even for hate that is meant,” (3.5 146-148). In this scene, Juliet has informed her parents she does not want to marry Paris, but she is thankful her parents have her best interest in finding her a life mate. She is fighting with society because she is already married to Romeo although her parents do not know, and it is forbidden. The key conflict of the play was the feuding families, shown all throughout the play, they are introduced at the beginning with the prologue and they run through until the ending scene, however this conflict was resolved.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t until after the death of Romeo and Juliet, the two mourning families rose statues to honor each other’s lost child, “As rich shall Romeo’s by his lady’s lie, poor sacrifices of our enmity,” (5.3 319-320). The balance forces throughout the entire theatrical performance is the feud of the families and the two young lovers. They both are acting in opposite direction, but they also carry the same significance. The two families have had an ongoing rivalry for many years and each family has raised their young to dislike the other family, but once the two meet at the Capulet party, the feud between the two families children is broken. With the feud and the love happening at the same time, the balance force is able to happen.
When Tybalt is killed by Romeo, it is easily seen the two forces are balanced through the eyes of Juliet. She is unable to decipher if she should be thankful her newlywed husband is alive and safe, or if she should have hatred toward the Montague’s because her cousin was killed by one. When evaluating the characters of Romeo & Juliet, the feud between the families decides the fate of the two leads. The two meets and marry in secret because if they were to tell their families, they would both be disowned. But, one-character particularly, the Friar, plays an interestingly important role in the play. He agrees to wed the two forbidden lovers in hopes of settling the family rivalry, but his plan more than backfires.
Had the friar not wed Romeo and Juliet, Juliet would not have faked her own death to be reunited with banished her love. Ending the play in the tragedy of them both killing themselves to be together, thus settling the feud. Foil characters, or characters who share opposite interests than the lead, are also scene throughout the play Starting at the beginning, Rosaline is a foil character for Juliet because she has no interest in sharing a future with him, whereas Juliet is willing to risk everything to be with Romeo. A second foil character in the play in Mercutio, Romeo’s best friend. Oddly enough, he is a foil to Romeo himself, whereas Romeo is a romantic and is always on the prowl for love, Mercutio shows less concern with the idea of love.
Mercutio is realistic in his ways of thinking and refuses to be a victim of love, as Romeo has with Rosaline and later Juliet. In act 1 scene 4, Romeo and Mercutio are discussing dreams, and Mercutio happens to state, “True, I talk of dreams, which are the children of an idle brain. Begot of nothing but vain fantasy,” (1.4 97-99). By using the words “dreams” and “fantasy” in the same context, it can be implied that Mercutio does not believe in dreams being a reality, just false reality made up by your mind as what one wants to happen. Romeo is so wrapped up in the idea of love that he wants his dreams a reality, and pounces on any act similar to this.
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Comparison of West Side Story and Romeo and Juliet
West Side Story and Romeo and Juliet both revolve around two rival groups and/or gangs. The film Romeo and Juliet (1968) is about two rival families, the Montagues and the Capulets, whose family feuds have gone so far back in their history that they forget the fuel behind their disputes. In West Side Story, the film involves two rival gangs: The Jets, a gang of Caucasian teenagers, and the Sharks, a gang of Puerto Rican immigrants. Their feud begins when the Sharks try to invade the Jets’ territory in Manhattan, New York. In both storylines, a boy and a girl of opposing groups fall in love with each other despite the groups differences; But in return, their love results in their death. Between the two films, a direct comparison between the characters can be clearly observed. Tony, from West Side Story, matches Romeo’s character, while Maria matches the character of Juliet.
Bernardo can be portrayed as Tybalt with his temper and need to fight, while Riff is compared to Mercutio’s personality similar to that of a jester. From West Side Story, Anita can be seen as the nurse, watching over Maria/Juliet, and Chino is in direct comparison of Paris; They are supposed to marry the key girl. Maria is set up to marry Chino, exactly like Juliet is supposed to marry Paris. In the films, the meeting of the lovers ultimately starts with a dance in which both Romeo/Tony are convinced by Mercutio/Riff to come, but for different reasons. Mercutio wants Romeo to go and forget about Rosaline by seeing the other women, while Riff needs Tony to go to help with the rivalry of the Sharks. Tony and Maria meet and experience “love at first sight” just like Romeo and Juliet at the dance. They dance together and share a kiss before they are separated and realize that they are from rival families. In both cases, a balcony scene is present. In West Side Story, Tony actually climbs the balcony and makes physical contact with Maria. Those are the major similarities between West Side Story and Romeo and Juliet.
In addition to the plot structures, similar themes are present in West Side Story and Romeo and Juliet. The idea that blinded love can lead to rash decisions is highly present in both storylines. It is present in Romeo and Juliet in a sense that within simply meeting each other, Romeo and Juliet believe they fell in love with one another. Romeo proclaims, “Did my heart love till now? Forswear it, sight! For I ne'er saw true beauty till this night,” forgetting all about Rosaline: the very woman he claims to have loved no less than five minutes prior. Juliet tells the nurse, “Go ask his name. If he be married, my grave is like to be my wedding bed,” showing that she already wants to be married. Because of their love for each other, Romeo and Juliet think they cannot live without one another. Romeo and Juliet both end up killing themselves because they believe that they, themselves, cannot live without each other. Parallelism within the theme of Romeo and Juliet is present in West Side Story. Tony and Maria kiss each and cannot bear to be without the other immediately preceding having just met. Tony, needing to see her again, goes to her balcony and they end up confessing their love for one another. Maria tells Tony to meet her at the bridal shop where she works the next day.
During this time, they practically have their unofficial wedding in that very shop. Tony then goes to find Chino after believing Maria is dead but at the last second, he and Maria find each other and go in for a loving embrace; However, Chino shoots Tony in that very moment. Maria does not end up killing herself but does grieve over Tony’s death and eventually moves on. The demonstration of the thought that blind love can lead to rash decisions is present in both Romeo and Juliet and West Side Story.
On the contrary, West Side Story and Romeo and Juliet have several differences between the two. For example, the actual rivalry is between opposing gangs in West Side Story, not families. The Montagues and Capulets of Romeo and Juliet have been fighting for so many generations that it becomes natural for them to want to fight each other.
They have no purpose behind their feud besides family hate. In West Side Story, the feud begins when the Sharks begin to intrude in the Jets’ turf. Another big difference between the two films is the fight scenes. In Romeo and Juliet, Romeo acts impulsive when Tybalt kills Mercutio and proceeds to kill Tybalt right after. In West Side Story, Tony doesn’t kill Bernardo after Bernardo stabs Riff with his knife. Tony simply impales Bernardo with the knife and runs off. One of the most critical pieces to the storyline between the two films is that Romeo gets banished, whereas in West Side Story, Tony gets no immediate repercussions for his actions. He is not banished and does not go to jail, ultimately nothing happened to Tony. Without any harsh punishment, Maria does not become quite as depressed and expresses a will to live.
Another significant difference is in the death scenes in each film. In Romeo and Juliet, Romeo kills himself because he believes Juliet is dead, and Juliet also commits suicide with Romeo’s dagger because she sees that Romeo is dead. In West Side Story, Tony does not commit suicide because, instead, he is shot by Chino right before embracing Maria. Since he is shot he does end up dying, yet this does not lead Maria to take her own life. Maria ends up forgiving the two gangs and moving on with her life. That is ultimately the biggest difference between the two films. In addition, Paris also dies along with Romeo and Juliet. In West Side Story, Chino is the one who kills Tony, yet he himself does not die.
As a result, the movies’ twists result in a more interested audience for West Side Story due to the contemporary setting as oppose to Romeo and Juliet. It uses an abundance of modern day words and phrases that people can understand better and faster than Shakespeare’s English. Also, modern-choreographed dances shown in West Side Story are more common than big formal balls as shown in Romeo and Juliet. The dancing and singing is very entertaining to watch, and it is a good tactic for keeping the audience’s attention throughout the film. The fights throughout the dances are humorous and keep the audience’s attention rather well. West Side Story is meant to grasp the attention of young adults the most. All the characters are teenagers in the musical. Being a teenager is a big part of one’s life; One can experience love, danger, and have many opportunities to make huge choices. The characters of West Side Story encounter all those experiences, which helps in relating to teenagers the most.
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