Essay on “Waste Not, Want Not”: Summary

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“Waste Not, Want Not” by Bill McKibben
Global warming is of a great concern to everyone all over the globe. Today, there are a lot of waste products heaped together on the ground and they have contributed immensely to the climate change problem. Bill McKibben in his article “waste not, want not” brings to our attention to the fact that there are waste issues in our communities in general. In the article, the author argues that we are wasteful with our possessions and we never conserve what we have. . Specifically, McKibben states that the world’s economies as well as the planet’s existence are at stake owing to the general waste of materials such as money, natural resources, and even human possibilities. I stand to agree with him because I believe that the waste situation is sad and will jeopardize our well-being if not addressed.
Even though humans know that it is in their best interest to preserve the environment, they do very little to ensure that they never waste resources. While a lot of talk has been made on the need to conserve the environment, less action is being taken. In the fashion industry, what is now common is “fast fashion” where cloths that are produced are worn one or two times and then discarded. Americans are the most wasteful people. The author exemplifies this claim by resorting to a case with a Tanzanian resident who, according to McKibben, consumes much less energy in the year than an average American does on a New Year's day (9). This is particularly a worrying trend because even if the US is rich in resources, the people need to try and learn how to save. It is this kind of wasteful culture that has seen the US borrow from countries like China, something that our forefathers could never have contemplated happening before. Perhaps if we were just a little considerate on how we use our resources, we might never have had to borrow.
McKibben notes that 46,000 “pieces of plastic debris float on each square mile of the ocean”. We need to stop and think how such actions interfere with the ecosystem. Clearly, we need to be responsible in the way we manage waste and use our resources. We depend on the ocean and the fish need it clean for their survival. What if the ocean becomes inhabitable to the fish? Who would suffer most? It makes no sense why people would dis...