Non-Renewable Resources
Non-renewable resources are any materials that we use that are replenished slower than they are extracted/economically utilized (often thousands-millions of years). So one problem is that while we may have enough of these materials in the short-term, eventually they will run out faster than they will come back. Many of these materials have their base in minerals, which are deposits in the Earth's crust that can be extracted and made into useful products in processes that provide economic benefits and jobs. To get minerals out of the crust, they must be extracted, usually with mining operations. Examples of non-renewable resources include coal, oil (which makes plastics as well as gas), natural gas, and metals (aluminum, copper, iron, etc.).
There are different types of mining, and each carries with it environmental disruptions and hazards, such as scarring and disruption of the land surface (e.g., spoils banks), loss of rivers and streams due to movement of sediment, pollution of water and air due to movement of sediment, equipment and chemicals used, impacts on aquatic life due to runoff, large amounts of solid waste that needs to be stored, and more.
The video below does a great job of explaining the different types of mining as well as the entire process and environmental impacts very well. Pay attention and take notes!
MEDCs often will have strict environmental regulations surrounding mining, that requires restoration following the processes and minimal environmental disturbances. LEDCs may not be able to impose these types of regulations, so many companies based in MEDCs will outsource mining operations to LEDCs to avoid restoration and compliance costs. Thus, even though they use way less of the resources, many LEDCs are affected more harshly in terms of the environment than MEDCs when it comes to mining.
Not only do the mining operations themselves have harmful impacts on the environment, but turning the materials into the products, their use, and disposal also contribute. This is referred to as the life-cycle of a product. You can see an example of a product's life cycle in the image below:
Don't forget...each step in here requires transportation which pollutes and disposal requires land use and will pollute not only land, but water as well.
Let's face it...we can't get around using products and products require materials from the Earth. We can, however, minimize the impact on the environment by exploring different types and uses of those resources. We will explore those below:
Renewable Resources
Renewable resources are able to replenish as quickly as they are taken out, or may not even need to be replenished (e.g. sun). We will get in to much more about renewable energy resources in the next section (solar, wind, etc.), but there are renewable resources we can try to utilize to lessen the strain on the non-renewable mentioned above as well. The major advantages of renewables is basically unlimited use if used sustainably, most do not pollute or produce greenhouse gases at near the rate of their non-renewable counterparts, and processing is minimal to none in comparison. Timber (providing wood and paper) is a renewable resource, but if a forest is clear-cut, trees will not grow back. Also, cutting down faster than the growth rate would make it non-renewable. Fresh water is another example of a renewable resource, but again, if we draw it out faster than it is replenished, it becomes unsustainable. Biomass and air are also considered to be renewable.
Recyclable Resources
Recycling is turning products into other products made of the same material instead of disposing. Recycling both renewable and non-renewable resources has major advantages. For any material, not having to extract or cut down saves the amount of transportation and processing energy used. Plus recycling decreases the rate of exploitation (meaning the resource is available longer) and decreases the amount of landfill waste created. Some argue that it uses just as much energy as using the parent product, but this is only one aspect of the advantages of recycling, and it's not even true in most cases. In fact, aluminum recycling saves 95% of the energy used in processing from parent material! The following diagrams really hit home on some of the many recycling advantages.
Alternative Resources/Ideas
There are many ways we look at the environmental problems associated with resources, mainly caused by exploitation. While recycling is great and really does make a difference, reuse and reducing are even better. Why? Well, reuse is simply reusing a substance in it's current state, with minimal to no reprocessing. So, when something is reused or re-purposed, it's truly putting no additional impact on the environment. No landfill waste. No mining. No processing. What are some examples? Things at home, like using an old vegetable can as a flower pot or using the gray water from the shower to flush toilets. And then, there's bigger...using shipping containers as buildings (they do this for some Starbucks). People can get very inventive when it comes to reusing. Reducing is the most simple...finding ways to reduce the amount of resources we use by making our processes more efficient.
One of our big problems is that we've become such a disposable society. Plastics are very cheap, and they break easily, so we tend to consume and throw away much more, especially in MEDCs. Think about plastic ware and plastic water bottles. They're convenient, sure, but how much harder is it to bring a reusable water bottle and to wash off a metal fork and knife? But what do we end up doing? Taking these plastics, using them once, throwing them away. The are taking up so much space in our landfills and a lot are washing into our oceans! We really need to get back to sturdy things that, yes, may cost more up front, but will save both money and the environment in the long term.
Check out this graph that illustrates just how much of an impact reducing, reusing, and recycling can have on the lifespan of resources.
Other than reducing and reuse, some ideas to reduce resource consumption are:
- Decreasing waste at mining sites
- Increasing environmental standards for mining operations
- Decreasing subsidies (government breaks/payouts) for mining
- Increasing subsidies for reuse/recycling
- More efficient manufacturing processes
- Bio-mimicry (copying nature's processes)
- Recycling waste or energy to use in other processes (Resource Exchanges)
That last bullet point is really great. There's some industries that do that now, and an example of how waste from one process can be used in another is shown below.
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