Environmental Impacts & Consumption Essay

In an bind examining alternative use in the Welsh capital of Cardiff, Collins, et al. (2006) provide a critique of the tool known as the bionomical Footprint that has, in recent days, gained increasing currency in the assessment of anthropogenic environmental feign, as well as a brief history of its phylogenesis and its implementation. By thoroughly scrutinizing the limitations and implications of Footprint methodology, Collins, et al. concluded which critical areas of consumption imply to be addressed in Cardiff. Ultimately, the researchers goal is to provide a door-to-door value assessment of the Ecological Footprint methodology in congeneric to its advantage in the development of sustainability policies.The phrase in question is entitled, The environmental Impacts of Consumption at a Subnational Level The Ecological Footprint of Cardiff, by John Barrett, Andrea Collins, Andrew Flynn, and Thomas Wiedmann. It was published in the Journal of Industrial environmental scie nce in 2006. In it, Collins, et al, discussed the history of the Ecological Footprinting methodology, noning that it is premised on the idea that the artificial satellite has a limited ability to provide for all human resource demands. Therefore, any policy decisions regarding resource lend oneself must take this into level by balancing planetary limits against economic growth. Collins, et al, posited that humanity is currently in a state of overshoot, in which natural capital is being apply faster than the planet can replenish it.Despite the strong intimacy which governments have taken to the habituate of Ecological Footprint as a sustainability indicator, it faces some criticism Some have argued that it does not accurately reflect the impact of human consumption. Others maintain that it does not apportion the responsibility for impact in any recyclable manner. Regardless, Collins et al asserted that the Ecological Footprint is at the very least, useful to policy makers du e to its precedent to communicate the link between consumption and impact.One of the key themes of the article was the need for measurements of sustainability and resource use to be fair and legitimate ones. In effect, the tie in was that for any meaningful changes to be made regarding improving matters of sustainability in the city of Cardiff (or any other city for that matter) it would be necessary that selective information obtained is actually useful to the formulation of sustainability policy any resource use.To do otherwise, would only stymie progress in these areas or result in what other pundits have called, greenwashing which is the illusory notion of sustainability. As such, footprinting is designed to use standardized official and annual statistics and expenditure data to establish important links between personal consumption and environmental impacts, with resource use being the chain between them.As a city that has father driven primarily by finance, retail and tour ism as its captain economic sectors, Cardiffs participation in manufacturing has declined significantly over the years and developed a moderately prosperous lifestyle. However, its residents live an unsustainable lifestyle, using cardinal times the average earthshare, and placing them well into overshoot. Furthermore, a majority of the resource consumption residents engage in is derived from food, travel, energy and consumables. The result is that dramatic changes will be necessary to address this.Ultimately, it is personal consumption rather than local patience that puts Cardiff residents in the position of being unequitable in their use of resources, and requires reframing social practices and institutional structures to undo these habits. These consumption domains include food and drink, with the primary area of concern being energy- profound preparation methods transport, with concern directed towards private transportation and tourism, with their intense reliance on catered food being of concern.In conclusion, Collins, et al, argued that Footprinting is of great utility in measuring impacts, but it must also be match against recognition of contexts which consumption should be set against In the case of Cardiff, it should not be used to flatten the individual experiences of consumption, nor should its organizational nuances be leave out in assessing impacts. Simply put, the Footprint methodology is only as useful as the context it is set against, and the extent to which it is refined for socio-economic groups or geographical/subnational ones.