The history of wastefulness (podcast episode)
2 billion (2.000.000.000) tonnes of trash is generated each year, with an increase by 70% expected by
2050.
The most amount of waste is generated the week after Christmas and during Ramadan → in general:
when there is cause for celebration.
The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is an area in the Pacific Ocean, off the coast of California, where
there is a greater concentration of plastics than elsewhere in the ocean.
It’s two times the size of Texas, a thousand miles or more across → a diameter of a thousand miles or
more. Or: a diameter of 1.609 kilometres (1 mile = 1,609344 km).
High-income, developed countries are responsible for a large part of the generated trash, even
though they only contain a small part of the world population.
Sub-Saharan Africa poses the biggest future threat, with a likely threefold increase in waste
generation by 2050.
Japan produces only half as much waste as Canada.
The history of wastefulness started with the invention/implementation of the sewerage system.
The 1950s have proved a turning point in the cultural shift to waste. The escalation of mass
consumption, growth of the fast food industry and change in the material used in packaging, has led
to a lack of care and responsibility when it comes to waste and consumption.
It’s difficult to turn back the clock and generate less wealth because waste influences the economy
→ generating waste, generates wealth.
For example, scavengers collect thrash to then sell it.
Each year, 8 million metric tonnes of plastic flows into the ocean. Plastics in the ocean are a big
threat, because many plastics are made with chemicals that are harmful and they
concentrate/attract toxins.
Plastics make their way into the food web through the ocean animals that ingest the plastics, and we
eat those animals.
Words to be remembered
To generate trash Afval genereren/produceren
A thousand miles across A diameter of a thousand miles
Half as much as De helft minder
The sewerage De riolering
To discard To get rid of = afdanken
A toxin Something poisonous and harmful = gifstof
To ingest Take sth. into the body by swallowing or
absorbing it = opnemen in het lichaam
A scavenger A person who searches for and collects
discarded items
The GDP Gross Domestic Product, final value of the
goods and services produced within geographic
boundaries of a country during a period of time
(normally a year) = bruto binnenlands product
, Top PR nightmares: what went wrong?
United
A passenger was beaten up and dragged off a full United flight because they needed the seats for
crew member.
The problem: the chief executive said in a written statement that he was sorry for having to re-
accommodate the passenger. It came across as inauthentic and written by a legal team.
A better approach would have been to speak like a human being, to recognise that they’ve done
something wrong and to then own up to it and express genuine regret.
Toyota
Cars were accelerating unprompted due to gas pedals occasionally getting stuck to the floor. Toyota
responded slowly to customers’ complaints and millions of cars were eventually recalled.
The problem: they didn’t believe they had done anything wrong.
A lesson to be learned here is to listen to outsiders. They can give you perspective to address a crisis
properly.
BP
BP couldn’t extract oil safely, but they compounded it immediately with very bad handling.
The problem: the chief executive said “there’s no one who wants this thing over more than I do, you
know. I’d like my life back.” which came across as insensitive.
A lesson to be learned here is to be disciplined. The media are on alert to find slip-ups like these.
To summarise: the dos and don’ts
Listen to other people. Show compassion and empathy.
Don’t wait too long, try to be ahead of the media.
The Huawei crisis (PR Week article from June 2019)
Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei got caught up in a crisis and claimed it was being unfairly
targeted by the Trump Administration is a proxy war that is more about trade tensions between the
US and China, than security allegations.
= A proxy war is a war in which opposite sides use third parties as substitutes for fighting
each other directly. For example the Vietnam War, fought between North Vietnam
(supported by the Soviet Union, China and other communist allies) and South Vietnam
(supported by the US, South Korea and others).
The Huawei crisis is regarded as an example of a proxy war because it’s not just about the security
allegations against Huawei, it’s about the US thinking these Chinese tech companies are an economic
threat. Moreover, the US placed pressure on other governments to also turn their backs on Huwaei.
The crisis was caused by criticism in regards to cybersecurity, intellectual property and human rights
violations and the arrest of Meng Wanzhou (the CFO and daughter of the founder of the company).
The allegations led to the US Department of Commerce adding Huawei to al list of companies
considered a threat to US nationality security. Eventually, a number of companies cut their deals,
which would influence customers in the future.
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