planetworks

• Consumption patterns


  The use of economic or consumer goods and resources. It can be categorized as individual, family, company and government consumption
• Production patterns


  How people generate and manufacture the products they need to use, sell or consume
• Heavy dependence on coal in production patterns

  Aggravates the problem of climate change
• China has large coal mines and relies on them for its energy requirements, making it one of the most polluted countries on Earth
• Dependence on petroleum in manufacture and production of goods


  Makes the U.S. produce 23% of global carbon emissions, and eastern European countries including Russia produce 14% of carbon emissions
• Raw materials used in production

  • Paper from tree pulp or grass fiber
  • Rubber from rubber tree sap
  • Machinery from minerals
  • Bread from wheat, cassava or rice flour
  • Textiles from plants like cotton, abaca and ramie, and animals like silk, wool and cashmere
• Ecosystem has the ability to regenerate, sustain and adjust what is lost, but with the excessive use of land resources, the ecosystem will be destroyed
• More consumption


  • More demand
  • More production
  • More extraction of natural resources
  • Faster destruction of resources
• The resources in our environment are limited but the need for production and consumption is unlimited
• Government initiatives to protect the environment

  • Kyoto protocol - specifies targets and timeframes for reduction of greenhouse gas emissions
  • Emission certificates - guarantee a product's resource efficiency
  • Carbon offsetting - reduction of carbon footprint by using options like wind or solar energy
• Saving energy not only saves money but helps cut carbon emissions
• Reusing materials usually uses less energy
• Composting leftovers, peels, cores and cuttings would reduce emissions and help protect healthy soil
• Almost every plastic is produced from fossil fuels and in every single phase of its life cycle, plastic emits greenhouse gases
• The concept of planetary network emphasizes that everything on earth is interconnected
• Global warming causes changes in the climate patterns and weather cycles of the Earth
• Climate change is real and is happening now
• Human activities are largely responsible for the increase in global temperatures that causes climate change
• Correcting wasteful consumption and production patterns is one of the keys to sustainable development and preventing worsening of climate change