Written by: Jiya Mehta

Hello! Thank you so much for taking the time to read my blog. In this post, I will be writing about the correlations between capitalism and the environmental crisis. Before you go on, I would like to say that all of the views presented in my writing are my own, and are based on data and other information that I have found. Except for direct quotations, any information presented about people that are mentioned are solely based on my opinion – and is not intended to offend anyone. 

To start off, what is capitalism? 

Capitalism is an economic and political system in which a state’s industry (goods) are controlled by a private party to gain astronomical profits. In other words, the means of production is privately owned by a wealthy buyer. 

Who benefits from this system? 

The answer to this question is quite simple – the owners of private property. I believe that during the COVID-19 pandemic the ‘true colors’ of corporation owners have risen. For example; the mass infection outbreaks in Amazon factories, misinformation spread by the owner of Tesla, and a (possible) patent on vaccines. Employees are forced to work in hazardous conditions due to lack of sick paid leaves, and the fear of getting fired and being unable to pay bills. During the Coronavirus pandemic (2020 alone), Jeff Bezos has earned an astonishing $74 billion!

Affect on the environment

A group of 14,000 volunteers spread across 55 countries joined together to collect over 300,000 pieces of plastic litter in order to collect data. The data determined that the highest quantity of waste in Canada came from Costco. The companies that were named the highest plastic polluters in the global audit are Coca-Cola, Nestlé and PepsiCo. It is not surprising that these companies appeared on ‘The World’s Top Polluters’ list for three consecutive years. Following this data, Coca-Cola announced that they aim to use 50% of recycled plastics in their packaging by 2030. The same company has also said that they will aim to reduce 35% of un-recycled plastic by 2025. Do you believe this is enough? Coca-Cola is a multibillion dollar corporation that produces the most amount of waste per year – 2.9 million tonnes, to be exact. In fact, the 2017 Carbon Majors Report reveals that since 1998, the same 100 companies are responsible for 71% of the global industrial greenhouse gas emissions. Knowing that large corporations earn billions upon billions a year, shifting to environmentally friendly packaging and production should be straight-forward, – however greed overrides this decision. Abigail Aguilar, a co-ordinator of Greenpeace Southeast Asia, explains this perfectly: “To stop this mess and combat climate change, multinationals like Coca-Cola, PepsiCo and Nestlé must end their addiction to single-use plastic packaging and move away from fossil fuels,”.

Solutions

Now that we have assessed the issue, here are some possible solutions:

1. An immediate ban on single use plastics and unethical production. The current Prime Minister of Canada, Justin Trudeau, has promised to impose a ban on some single use plastics by the end of 2021. This ban will include: plastic grocery bags, straws, cutlery, stir sticks, six pack rings, and takeout containers. I personally believe that this is a great start to a better future. 

2. Hold large corporations accountable for their damage. It is evident that multi-billion dollar businesses are taking advantage of cheap plastic, without thinking about the repercussions on the environment;they should have to deal with the consequences. After all, we must blame the producer rather than the consumer. 

I strongly believe that we cannot wait longer to ban plastic use because demand and mass production are increasing which will lead to exponential growth in waste. 

Is the abolition of capitalism necessary to create significant environmental change? What are your thoughts? 

Works Cited (in MLA format):

“Ontario Probes Possible Labour Violations at Amazon Site Shut down over COVID-19 Outbreak | CBC News.” CBCnews, CBC/Radio Canada, 15 Mar. 2021, www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/ontario-labour-ministry-investigating-amazon-site-outbreak-covid-19-1.595053

Pitcher , Jack. “Jeff Bezos Adds Record $13 Billion in Single Day to Fortune.” Bloomberg.com, Bloomberg, 20 July 2020, 18:13, www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-07-20/jeff-bezos-adds-record-13-billion-in-single-day-to-his-fortune#:~:text=Bezos%2C%20Amazon’s%2056%2Dyear%2D,downturn%20since%20the%20Great%20Depression 

“Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, Nestlé Named Top Plastic Polluters in Global Audit of Plastic Waste | CBC News.” CBCnews, CBC/Radio Canada, 8 Dec. 2020, www.cbc.ca/news/science/global-audit-of-top-plastic-polluters-1.5831337 

Noor, Saleha. “Why We Need to Change Capitalism for Climate Action: Earth.Org – Past: Present: Future.” Earth.Org – Past | Present | Future, Earth.org, 19 Aug. 2020, www.earth.org/change-capitalism-for-climate-action/