Adam Minister publication, “Junkyard Planet,”

In his book "Junkyard Planet," Adam Minister highlights various contradictory discoveries about humans and the environment. The book in general illustrates how people mistreat the environment in order to exploit recycling or waste goods, which contradicts information about the risks such firms or trade offer to the environment and human health, particularly youngsters who have been exposed to dangerous chemical compounds. In fact, Minter (2013) clearly shows the contradictory data of how man pollutes the environment in order to become wealthy, which contradicts the law of environmental conservation. He depicts the nature of the dispute vividly by creating a Dickensian depiction of China's largest rubbish collecting and recycling dumps. Looking at China’s system of waste management and many public as well as privately owned garbage recycling companies, it constantly imports garbage including dangerous scrap metals, papers, plastic, and wires among many other dangerous and toxic waste material. They recycle such garbage and produce cheap and harmful products which subsequently hurt many lives by exposing them to many diseases including cancers.

Nevertheless, Adam puts it right that nearly every person on the planet discharges toxic electronic waste which accumulates into huge tones. These wastes are shipped from developed countries to the developing countries particularly for cheap processing or recycling. Step defines this kind of trade as a big problem full of conflicting interests (Minter, 2013). The developing countries focus on their interest of making more wealth, and little do they care about the health and environmental impact they cause to the minority group-their consumer. Adam discovers and becomes very much aware of all the hazards the trade and recycling of garbage substance are associated with, thus conflicts his personal interest to prosper through the same trade. His major goal in the book is guiding his audience through the secret entrance to the teeming arena of great machines, barefoot rag collectors, self-made millionaires and in various ways giant entrepreneurs in big business worth over five hundred billion dollars per year.

Despite having known the risks of the waste trade, it is undoubted that the truth conflicts Adams interest since it is definitely clear that he is in a closer intimacy with the global junk trade matters and world’s networks as well as a whole commissioner for the junkyard. His enthusiasm does not block him from seeing the problem the trade causes to the environment. He categorically states how more and more waste material are recycled and reused and at the same time people consume more thinking doing so would release them of the harm such materials would cause were they to be dumped anyhow (Minter, 2013). This is in conflict with what the values the society expects from Adam, the values in justice and human rights. He ought to have stood very firm in protecting the core values in justice as well as the human right to quality products and clean and healthy environment. In fact, it is thought to be “a get out jail free card,” which is not the case in the real sense. Another conflicting finding in the publication, within the Guiyu town, lying in the south of China’s most unspeakable polluted spot for electronic waste, Adam Minister boldly recognizes the dire repercussions of irresponsible and careless processing, laborers working without protection from the dangerous substances and highly polluted water and land. But ironically, Adam makes a contradicting recommendation for the waste trade as a better alternative to make wealth and become rich.

Based on the reaction regarding the conflicting values in justice and human rights, inherent human dignity, equality, and non-discrimination are some of the identified conflicting values in the book. For example, Adam clearly understands that the cheaply processed or recycled harmful waste products are dangerous to human health and selling such products to the human being for consumption is equivalent to a violation of human dignity to living a healthy life, thus a conflicting value in justice and human right (Minter, 2013, p.4). Also, the giant waste recycling companies in China use poor and barefooted workers who collect rags and even sort the material before processing. They even work unprotected for peanut pay which Adam is much aware of, yet he is still determined to pursue the same line of trade, this conflicts the value of equity (Minter, 2013, p.6). Equity and non-discrimination are the most important value which when embraced would help to bring to an end this harmful trade. Lastly, as consumers justice demands of us to push for safe and healthy products which neither harm our lives nor the environment. We should regard demand for quality and standardized products as fundamental rights.















Reference

Minter, A. (2013). Junkyard planet: Travels in the billion-dollar trash trade. Bloomsbury Publishing USA.