Pollution
Pollution is becoming increasingly pervasive in our daily lives. It manifests in various forms, including vehicles, factories, waste, and numerous products. Many people struggle to grasp the full extent of the problem and understand where we currently stand.
Is it as serious as it is often portrayed? In summary, pollution encompasses everything humans create, as even the smallest object designed to make our lives easier contributes to pollution, whether it is intangible (gases) or material (waste).
Consider the production of a simple wooden pencil costing 25 cents. To manufacture this pencil, at least one person had to travel by car or public transport, contributing to atmospheric pollution. Additionally, maintaining the vehicle—such as investing in lubricants, tires, and brakes—produces further pollutants at the garage, thus creating indirect pollution. This does not include the emissions from the pencil factory and the electricity consumed during production.
Thus, producing a 25 cent pencil involves both direct pollution from the worker's travel and factory operations, and indirect pollution from vehicle maintenance. If you purchase a second 25 cent pencil, you effectively double the amount of both direct and indirect pollution associated with its production. Moreover, the money earned by the factory is distributed as salaries, dividends, and bonuses, and this money is then spent by the workers on other goods, which, in their production, generates additional pollution.
To stop this pollution, we would need to cease the use of fossil fuels (oil, coal) and their polluting derivatives. However, in our current society, there is no other form of energy that could meet the growing demand for our energy needs.
Ceasing their use would trigger an economic "crash," as the transportation of goods and the movement of people would be severely impacted or even rendered impossible. Additionally, a large number of people would be deprived of electricity.
Pollution is proportional to the current economy, as the economy is directly linked to our consumption (purchases) and our dependence on fossil fuels (transport, electricity, food) that we can no longer do without.
So when you spend 25 cents, you generate pollution equivalent to 25 cents (as in the pencil example). When you spend $25,000 (for a car), you generate pollution equivalent to $25,000 because more people are involved and the money will be fully circulated, meaning that $25,000 will be used to purchase goods repeatedly.
The more money spent, the more pollution is generated. Therefore, if there are more people on the planet consuming, there will be more pollution. Conversely, if there are fewer people consuming, there will be less pollution. And of course, if you don’t spend, then there is no pollution... or almost. Is that even possible?
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