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Thursday, January 30, 2020
Recycling and Plastic Bag Essay Example for Free
Recycling and Plastic Bag Essay They are also cheap, light, durable, easy to carry and in many cases, free. The most commonly used shopping bag is made of High Density Polyethylene (HDPE). This type is used in the majority of supermarkets and stores. After these bags are used, they often end up in landfills or as litter, roughly only three percent of plastic bags is actually recycled per year (Planet Ark, 2011). The materials used in making plastic bags make them non-biodegradable. According to the science dictionary, 2011 refers to â€Å"these materials cannot be decomposed into environmentally safe waste materials by the action of soil bacteria. †These harmful substances are toxic and take approximately four hundred years to break down, or in this case photo-degrade; which is how plastics made from (HDPE) break down. Since they are not biodegradable, they remain in the environment and are absorbed in soil or water (Indian Centre for Plastics in the Environment, 2010). This essay will discuss the various harmful effects of plastic bags, and demonstrate the risks that these bags impose on humans, animals and the environment. It will also discuss a series of suggested solutions that could help reduce plastic bag usage. Although plastic bags appear to be fragile and light, their negative environmental effect is devastating. Plastic bags may cause large amounts of pollution in every step of their limited life cycle, from the extraction of raw materials, production, transportation, and recycling or disposal. Plastic bags can be defined as the most damaging form of environmental pollution. They can have a damaging effect on marine animals and wildlife in addition to the aesthetic effects on beaches, parks, and trees. Plastic bags are potentially one of the main causes of death to marine animals (Harbor keepers,2008). Up to one hundred thousand marine animals or more die each year from eating plastic bags which are mistaken for food. This can result in blocking the animal’s intestines and possibly lead to the animal’s death. Another possible situation is that wildlife, such as birds, can get tangled in plastic bags causing choking and immobility, which may eventually lead to death. (Senior, 2008) and (Citizen Campaign, 2010). In other situations, after plastic bags photo degrade they remain toxic and could be eaten by fish, shellfish or any other marine life and survive this allows the toxins to enter our food chain through bioaccumulation (Puget Soundkeeper Alliance, 2011). As a solution to these types of problems is taking action by educating and increasing the public’s awareness to the harmful affects that a plastic bag impose on our environment. Applying this would mean to get consumers involved in reducing the number of plastic bags they consume and instead of getting new bags they can simply reuse their old bags (Sea Turtles Conservancy,2011). Another important solution would be using bio degradable bags instead; these types of bags take up a shorter time to degrade and become environmentally safe to both humans and animals. These types of bags are made from natural materials therefore; they are digested if animals swallow them (Biodegradable Plastic Bags,2011). The harmful effects of plastic bags extend to affect human health and social lives. According to the US CPSC (Consumer Product Safety Commission, 2011) suffocation has been a significant of death among children under the age of one. According to a report presented in 2007 by Clean up Australia, when plastic bags are thrown in the streets they may block the drains and result in flooding during heavy rain. Stagnant water in blocked drains may create a breeding ground for many forms of insects like mosquitoes, which can transmit dangerous diseases such as malaria, dengue fever, and encephalitis (World Health Organisation, 2011). Reducing, reusing and recycling, in that order, could be the most viable option to decrease the social and health impact of plastic bags. Reducing the number of plastic bags can be applied by imposing a fee such as PlasTax. In 2002 PlasTax was issued in The Republic of Ireland, which is a fee on plastic bags. This new tax resulted in a ninety four percent drop in plastic bag consumption in one year (Convery F, McDonnell S, Ferreira S, 2007). The next step is to reuse, instead of disposing of plastic bags consumers should be encouraged to keep reusing their bags. The final step is to recycle the plastic bags, many supermarkets such as Tesco and Sainsbury’s give the consumers the option to bring in their old bags for recycling. In conclusion, usages of plastic bags are very limited unlike their infinite damages. They are harmful to health, the environment and wildlife. The solutions to put an end to the problems associated with plastic bags are available, cooperation between governments, shops and individuals is vital to take the necessary actions by reducing, reusing and recycling plastic bags.
Tuesday, January 21, 2020
Collective Bargaining and Labour Market Outcomes for Canadian Working W
Collective Bargaining and Labour Market Outcomes for Canadian Working Women I     INTRODUCTION: UNIONS, LOW PAY, AND EARNINGS INEQUALITY The major purposes of this paper are, first, to examine the impacts of collective bargaining on labour market outcomes for women workers in Canada, specifically with respect to pay, benefits coverage, the incidence of low pay and the extent of earnings inequality, and, second, to suggest ways in which positive impacts could be extended via the expansion of collective bargaining coverage. This part of the paper briefly reviews the literature on the impacts of collective bargaining on earnings, low pay, and earnings inequality, and Part II provides some background description of the labour market position of Canadian working women. Particular attention is paid to the situation of the majority of women who continue to work in lower paid, often insecure and part-time, clerical, sales, and service jobs. The central conclusion of the empirical analysis in Part III, mainly based on data from Statistics Canada's 1995 Survey of Working Arrangements, is that collective bargaining coverage, con trolling for other factors, has significant positive impacts in terms of raising pay and access to benefits, and in terms of reducing the incidence of low pay among women workers. However, the level of collective bargaining coverage for women is very low in precisely those sectors of the economy where women in low paid and insecure jobs are most concentrated, namely in private services and in smaller enterprises. Promoting better labour market outcomes for women workers accordingly requires a major extension of collective bargaining. Part IV of the paper briefly considers ways in which this could be achieved through trade union action and through changes to public policy. The 1996 OECD Employment Outlook comprehensively documented profound differences in the degree of earnings inequality and the incidence of low pay in the advanced industrial countries, noting that these two labour market characteristics are closely related in that "the incidence of low pay tends to be highest in those countries where earnings inequality is the most pronounced." While there is significant variation between countries, a generalized pattern is that continental European countries, particularly in Northern Europe, have a strikingly more equal distributio... ...omen in non-unionized jobs, while for men, the wage difference was about $4.50 - or 24 per cent. The wage premium associated with unionization is shown for selected subgroups of women and men in Table 3. It is notable that the apparent union wage premium tends to be higher for less educated workers, though this is more clearly the case for men than for women. This is consistent with the fact that managerial and professional occupations in the private sector have very low rates of unionization. Table 3.     Average Hourly Wages of Women and Men, by Unionization and Selected Characteristics, Canada 1995      WOMEN               MEN               Union     Non-Union     "Union Premium"     Union     Non-Union     "Union Premium" All Age 15 to 24 Age 25 to 44 Age 45 to 69 Less than high school High school grad. Certificate/Diploma University degree Full-time Part-time Managerial/Admin. Professional Clerical Sales Services Blue Collar Firm size less than 20 Firm size 20 to 99 Firm size 100 to 500 Firm size + 500      16.68 11.23 16.92 17.37 12.16 14.60 16.56 21.38 16.90 15.95 18.59 19.49 14.47
Monday, January 13, 2020
Formal Speech( Social Networks and Cyber Crime)
S P E E C H #03 Thank you Chair, As we know in the today’s world networks and communication has become a new dimension of our society. Almost everyone in our world is aware of internet and social networking sites on it. Now a day’s any rupture in internet can collapse the world economies and administrations. A large part of our population is rather prone to cyber crimes; yes the lovable internet is also a place to exercise easy piracy, frauds, hacking and other criminal activities.Cyber-threats are without doubt a new security challenge. Like most countries, Finland is increasingly dependent on a secure and functioning cyber-space and therefore increasingly vulnerable to unexpected and rapidly-emerging cyber-attacks. That is why we aim to become a global forerunner in cyber-security. While this will be the first such national strategy of its kind, the overall approach builds on decades of co-operation and co-ordination in crisis preparation and management.The guidelines for the new cyber-strategy were laid down in 2010 in the government’s broader Security Strategy for Society and the European Union’s Convention to counter cyber threats. At the moment, however, responsibility for cyber-security remains scattered between many different organisations and stakeholders, reflecting their specialist areas of expertise. This has slowed the creation of common objectives, with key decision-makers acting in relative isolation. Procedures and responsibilities during a nation-wide cyber-crisis have also yet to be defined with sufficient clarity.One of the main tasks of the current process, therefore, is to assess the need for a new authority to co-ordinate the strategy at a political level, as well as organising responsibilities at the operational level. Many of the risks of cyber-attacks are shared between the governments and the private sectors. And since most of the critical infrastructure is owned by the private sectors, the job of identifyin g and managing cyber-risks must be done in partnership. The forthcoming strategy will respond to all of these challenges by comprehensively analysing cyber-threats and deciding on the best way forward.
Sunday, January 5, 2020
The Negative Impact Of Haze And Pm2.5 - 899 Words
The Negative Impact of Haze and PM2.5 Since 2010 mass media rise up reports of haze and PM2.5 which are two of main reason result in air pollution and make bad impacts on people’s health in China. Most of times when haze happened in people’s life it lasts for a long time in a severe way. People in China can feel that air pollution become much worse day by day since 2012. People even need to check the air pollution index to arrange their lives; they wear a paper mask or more serious mask to go out and to work even to have parties with friends. People rely on fresh air to live, but now they even do not know when they can take a fresh breath again. Air pollution became increasingly bad nowadays; haze and PM2.5 influence people deeply, Chinese people should pay more attention on it and value environmental protection. One of the main source cause air pollution is PM2.5. It used to be an unknown term to the Chinese people but now almost all the Chinese people get familiar wit h it. PM2.5 stands for particulate matter that the diameter of particle smaller than 2.5ÃŽ ¼m (Zhou, et al., 2015, p.1). If the diameter of particle smaller than 2.5ÃŽ ¼m then it can get into human body but it will blow out by human selves. Also, if it is bigger than 2.5ÃŽ ¼m it will be stopped at the first step in respiratory system which is human’s nasal cavity and vibrissa. PM2.5 is considered to be the worst element in air pollution to people’s health, it can go through the whole human respiratory system then getShow MoreRelatedAir Pollution Is A Costly Environmental Problem878 Words  | 4 Pagespollutants in air above SanDiego, CA seems to be comprised of Ozone (O3) and Particulate Matter (PM2.5). PM2.5 refers to ground-level paticulate smaller than 2.5 mircos. Ozone which occures at or near ground level is introduced to the air we breathe through a chemical reaction. This reaction occurrence happens when nitrogen dioxcide mixes with volatile oganic compounds with the help of sunlight. The brown haze seen over cities on cold mornings is primarily due to NO2. Ground level ozone is a main contributorRead MoreA Strategy For Reducing Air Pollution911 Words  | 4 Pagesvehicle numbers in Beijing has been contributing to the grey smog and frequent occurrences of Haze in Beijing (Zhang et al., 2013). Small particulate matter (PM) is the prominent air pollutant responsible for the grey sky in Beijing while other forme such as sulphur dioxide, carbon monoxide and nitrogen dioxide emissions has also been reported concurrent increase over the time (Gang, 2009). Beijing PM2.5 figure is reported repeatedly showing more than 100  µg/m3 average mass concentrations. ThisRead MoreIndustrial Air And Water Pollution2248 Words  | 9 Pagespollution problems. In some major urban cities, people seldom can see blue sky, sky’s color on children’s painting is no longer blue, it becomes grey. And I will be focusing on the water and air pollution caused by industrial production in China and the impact to human health and environment. There is a saying in China that water is the source of life, the importance of production and the base of ecology. Water is essential for human to survive, 60% of human body is made of water, and we consume waterRead MoreIndustrial Air And Water Pollution3492 Words  | 14 Pagespollution problems. In some major urban cities, people seldom can see blue sky, sky’s color on children’s painting is no longer blue, it becomes grey. And I will be focusing on the water and air pollution caused by industrial production in China and the impact to human health and environment. There is a saying in China that water is the source of life, the importance of production and the base of ecology. Water is essential for human to survive, 60% of human body is made of water, and we consume water
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