Monday, December 18, 2017
02:30 - 04:15; 105 min. -
AP Environmental Science:
Virtual Water and the Tragedy of the Commons-
Chase examined how much virtual water is inside the average Christmas gift. A T-shirt has a hidden price of 400 gallons of water. Just a single bar of chocolate requires 380 gallons of water; a single glass (not a bottle) of wine uses 28 gallons of virtual water. The object of the lesson is to think of the true cost of a product and to respect and use the product through its entire life, to make the expense worthwhile. The tragedy of the commons refers to when a shared-resource system, used by individuals according to their own ‘needs’, ultimately behaves contrary to the common good of all users by depleting or spoiling that resource through their collective action. The first example I provided was the passenger pigeon, which prior to 1860, was the most prevalent species on Earth. Flocking in groups of possibly a billion birds, they had a devastating effect on farms and villages, but were a blessing as a source of food. When the shooting became a sport, this bird was the primary target. A single person could kill 4,000 a year for feathers to make beds and pillows. By 1900 they were functionally extinct, the final bird dying in a zoo in 1914. The second tragedy of the commons is currently taking place in the oceans, where a single net used today, big enough to take in 500 tons of fish, much of which is unwanted by catch, is thrown away as waste.