POST 2; THE IDEA OF PROGRESS: QUANTITY vs. QUALITY

To begin with, I would like to point that the Idea of Progress is the idea that advances in technology, science, and social organization can produce an improvement in human condition. The technological progress enables people to work more efficiently and improve their living standard. The scientific progress increases the knowledge of the world and discovers new materials. Finally, the social progress ugrades education, reduces gender and racial discrimination but makes traditional values aside. We can talk also about moral, political, ecological, cultural or economic progress.

We can distinguish two notions of progress. Firstly, in terms of quantity which means forward a movement, as toward a goal. Then, in terms of quality that could be defined as the progressive improvement of society. To exemplified this two ideas I have chosen two different documents about plastic industry.

QUALITY

This document is extracted from an analysis of European plastics production done by ‘The  Europe Association of Plastic  Manufactures’ on 2015 . The document shows a circle graph with the percentages of the different plastic products markets.

In 2015, 46,3 Millions of tonnes of plastic were manufactured in Europe. The largest sector for the plastics industry is packaging represented with an 39.6% of the total plastics demand.In second place comes building and construction with 20.3%. Automotive is the third sector with a share of 8.5% of the total demand.Electrical and electronic applications represent 5.6% of the plastics demand and are closely followed by agricultural applications with 4.3%. But plastics are also used in households, furniture and medical products with a total of 21.7% of the European plastics demand.

Those figures expose that the growth of the plastics industry has a multiplier effect on numerous important sectors of the European economy. People usually think that plastic industry just have negative effects. However, the document illustrates how useful is plastic nowadays. Moreover, it is a pillar of society because it provides thousands of jobs in the UE. Plastic is also a highly durable  and soft material. That is why plastic products are all over: bottles, bags, yogurt pots, car bumpers, pvc windows or sun glasses…

QUALITY

Yet, reality is much more bitter. This video is a piece of news from CBC channel broadcasted in 2011. It talks about the Garbage Island located in the south Pacific between Hawaï and Japan.

The Vancouver correspondent interviews a photographer who was shocked by the impact of this garbage island on nature. He spent several weeks photographing birds that live but also died in the surroundings because they have in their stomachs a lot of plastic trash such as lighters, golf balls or little toys. Actually, plastics are estimated to represent almost 80 % of the total marine debris floating in the world’s oceans.

To put in a nutshell, I will say that the problem is not only related to the plastic industry but to the mass consumption based on benefits. This one makes people want to have more and more things, things that are thrown away when they do not work anymore, this generates mountains of waste.

Personally, I think that it is a shame that recycling which could be a way of prevent all what we have seen is not widespread.

BONUS: 23 creative ideas to recycle a plastic bottle