Waste Production and Overdevelopment: An Approach to Ecological Indicators
| Published date | 01 December 1977 |
| Date | 01 December 1977 |
| Author | Dag Poleszynski |
| DOI | 10.1177/002234337701400402 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
Waste
Production
and
Overdevelopment:
An
Approach
to
Ecological
Indicators*
DAG
POLESZYNSKI
Chair
of
Conflict
and
Peace
Research,
University
of
Oslo
and
International
Peace
Research
Institute,
Oslo
In
this
paper
the
magnitude
of
waste
production
in
the
overdeveloped
part
of
the
world
is
discussed.
The
focus
is
on
what
is
seen
to
be
technically
possible
and
not
on
the
changes
in
affluent
economies
of
the
East
and
the
West
which
may
be
seen
to
be
politically
realistic.
As
such,
the
paper
may
be
seen
to
give
one
vision
of
a
future
Utopia,
where
no
people
are
engaged
in
material
production
for
non-essentials
while
others
starve
to
death
or
go
unclad.
If
limitations
in
resource
use
make
it
impossible
for
all
to
attain
the
material
standard
of
the
industrialized
world
and
if
we
are
aiming
at
a
world
community
of
approximate
equality
in
coverage
of
material
needs,
there
is
no
other
solution
for
the
affluent
than
to
cut
down
or
’trim
the
fat’,
be
it
in
terms
of
biology
or
economics.
It
is
implicit
in
the
paper
that
over-
consumption
has
something
to
do
with
underconsumption,
that
overdevelopment
has
come
about
as
a
consequence
of
exploitation
and
an
unjust
division
of
labor
between
people
and
countries,
even
by
brute
force.
But
overdevelopment
may
also
be
bad
for the
overdeveloped
and
not
only
for
those
deprived
of
the
necessary
minimum
for
survival.
We
have
not,
there-
fore,
tried
to
separate
one
case
from
the
other,
but
rather
looked
at
the
question
of
how
much
can
be
said
to
represent
waste.
Our
first
approach
studies
three
less
industrialized
countries
which
today
are
considered
to
have
solved
the
problem
of
covering
basic
material
needs.
We
find
that
these
countries’
per
capita
energy
use
represents
only
13
%
of
the
energy
used
by
an
average
citizen
in
16
selected
industrialized
countries.
Our
second
approach
examines
the
possibilities
of
cutting
down
on
energy
use
in
industrialized
countries
without
changing
the
level
of
material
production.
Altogether,
we
find
that
a
30-40
%
reduction
from
the
present
level
would
be
a
realistic
goal
for
many
overdeveloped
countries.
In
a
third
approach,
by
analysis
of
the
different
sectors
of
an
overdeveloped
economy,
we
conclude
that the
potential
reduction
in
energy
use
would
probably
be
closer
to
the
80-90
%
estimated
in
the
first
example
than
the
30-40
%
estimated
in
the
latter.
We
then
discuss
how
the
work
force
could
be
reorganized,
given
that
the
industrialized
countries
want
to
reduce
the
use
of
energy
and
give
up
the
production
of
luxuries
or
excesses.
Of
the
alternatives
presented,
we
favor
increasing
the
intensity
of
labor,
combining
this
with
a
less
energy-intensive
societal
structure
in
general,
i.
e.
to
emphasize
increased
self-reliance.
Finally,
we
relate
the
problem
of
overproduction/consumption
to
indicators,
stressing
that
indicators
should
primarily
be
concerned
with
resources
that
1)
are
in
scarce
supply,
and
2)
that
have
something
to
do
with
the
coverage
of
basic
material
needs.
1.
Introduction
In
this
paper
we
shall
discuss
some
of the
possible
implications
of
converting
the
affluent,
exploitative,
and
unjust
part
of
the
world
into
a
world
with
social
and
ecolog-
ical
balance.
We
shall
not
argue
at
length
for
the
necessity
of
such
changes,
but
rather
assume
that
radical
changes
in
world
order
are
needed
for
the
survival
of
mankind
at
large,
be
it
socially
or
ecologically.
The
focus
will
be
more
on
what
can
be
done
technically
to
change
things
than
on
what
is
politically
possible,
and
may
therefore
be
termed
naive
or
unrealistic.
But
it
is
our
contention
that
shall
a
utopian
vison
ever
become
more
than
wishful
thinking,
some-
body
has
to
show
that
Utopia
indeed
exists.
And
in
our
Utopia
nations
do
not
produce
hangar
ships,
nuclear
warheads,
or
SST’s.
*
WIP
Paper
No. 9.
The
World
Indicators
Pro-
gram
has
been
financially
supported
by
the
Nor-
wegian
Research
Council
on
Science
and
the
Humanities
(NAVF),
Oslo.
Revised
version
of
PRIO
Publ.
No.
21-36,
June
1976.
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