Lab4Kochar

//Write three paragraphs on how Annie Leonard defines the system of the 'materials economy' and describes its interactions. //  Annie Leonard shows the negative sides of the materials economy. She does this by first breaking down the five stages that she has identified comprise this economy. Extraction, Production, Distribution, Consumption and Disposal each play a role in what is depleting our natural resources and harming not only the environment but also humans as a species. Her claims that we have turned into a “wants-based” society rather than a “needs-based” one are not farfetched at all and just hard facts.  The power of Corporations is another aspect that Leonard focused on. Because governments now need the corporations money (taxes) to support the increase in spending (military), corporations are able to get away with a lot. As was said, if you do not own, or purchase, then you are almost of no value to this society. Two of the ways corporations are contributing towards the Earth’s depletion is the extraction of the natural resources at an alarming rate and by constructing factories which produce high amounts of toxins (pollutions).  By valuing someone by what they drive or what they wear has led to us consuming more than ever before. At first, anyone who has the first Ipod was seen as “cool” or “in”. Now, anyone who still uses that same Ipod (first generation version) would almost be teased for not buying one of the new slimmer and more versatile models. This not only leads to us being tremendously materialistic, but aids in crime rates. In CCT322 - Marketing Information Products and Services, we were told how individuals who are unable to purchase the items that would make them “cool” tend to use crime to acquire such things. This is another issue which was not focused on by Leonard but is equally as of a concern.

//Define extraction, production, distribution, consumption and disposal. (One paragraph for each term) //        //<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">How does her Flash presentation effectively organize the categories comprising 'the materials economy' in its interface design? (2 paragraphs) // <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"> <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">The flash presentation organized each step of the materials economy into a chronological order. It shows each stage of how the products originate (extraction) to the final step (disposal). During the flash presentation, you can click on each of the icons at the top that represent the stages. This way, if you want to watch only one of the stages again you can do so by simple clicking on it. <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"> <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">When specifically talking about one stage, the video zooms into that stages icon and shows an animation of what the topic is. An example of this was when Annie Leonard was showing how people who had lived in places with natural resources were now required to move and work in unsafe factories. The animation showed the depletion of natural resources and stick figured moving from the first stage onto the second stage, the production. <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"> <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Keeping the flash presentation simple and interactive made the message a lot clearer. I noticed that I made a lot of attention to each stage and was able to understand everything that was going on. By keeping the same background for the entire video and presenting each step the same way kept the whole message together. Instead of getting 5 different messages, I was kept in tune with the big picture.
 * <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Extraction **<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"> is basically gathering the natural resources that the world has to offer. Cutting down trees, blowing up mountains for metals and minerals, and fuel are just some of the examples that first come to mind. Personally, I feel that using what nature has provided us is ok, however, this has gotten out of hand as we are extracting more than what nature has/can produce. If we run out of these natural resources, we have nowhere else to do. We cannot “make” natural resources and that is why they are called “natural”.
 * <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Production **<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"> is when we take the natural resources that were extracted in the previous step, and we put them together with other materials. This then results in the creation of the desired goods and products. Production can be synonymous with “making”, we make the products in this step that then go on to be distributed, consumed and disposed of.
 * <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Distribution **<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"> is the middle man between the production companies and the consumers. Basically it’s how we get the products that are made. Wal-Mart and Loblaws are two typed of these distributors. However, these major stores are not all that could qualify as “distributors”. Mom and Pop stores and convenient shops can also qualify as distributors. There are also distributors to these distributors such as “cash and carry’s” and big box stores.
 * <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Consumption **<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"> is us; plain and simple. We use these goods that we purchase from the distributors, who get the products from the producers, which make them by means of extraction. Eating a chocolate bar, wearing a shirt, using the microwave, cleaning with a wash cloth are all examples of consumption.
 * <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Disposal **<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"> is when we throw out the wrapper of the chocolate bar, we donate or throw our old clothes (most likely to make room for the new clothes we have bought) and we replace our old gadgets. All the waste we accumulate from the products we bought. One of the most fascinating statistics was that one individual makes 4.5 lbs of garbage a day which is DOUBLE what used to be the case.