In Year 10 Geography we are learning about the functioning of environments and the scale of human-induced environmental change that is challenging sustainability by using pictures.

Students were asked to find their own picture to show a natural environment issue, give the picture a title, describe the picture to someone who cannot see the picture and explain why it is a geographical issue for us and the environment. Students in the class then voted on the issues and Lin’s work was voted the best in the class.

Lyn Tilbrook
HSIE Teacher

Shopping for Cheap Trash

Description: 

A woman who appears fashionable carries with her four large paper shopping bags as well as her purse.  She stands among a field of rubbish (a landfill presumably).  She has a rather unbothered look on her face, like she is browsing through a shopping centre. 

Why is this a geographical issue for us and our environment? 

This picture is about overconsumption.  The woman represents people.  People go shopping.  They buy stuff for cheap and are cheap in quality, or that they have no real use for; they buy it because it looked cute or nice and it was cheap.  Humans continue with their purchases, on and on and on.  They have now accumulated a large amount of stuff, and they need to get rid of it to have space for more cheap things, so they throw it away.  It was cheap so it does not really matter anyway. 

By overconsuming goods, humans use vast amounts of energy and water to produce the large quantity (e.g. One kilo of cotton needs almost 10,000 litres of fresh water), most of which are sent to landfill (which fills up too quickly).  Over 200,000 tonnes of clothing is sent to landfill annually, in Australia alone.  They slowly degrade as they are often made of plastic (think cheap toys and accessories).  The water could instead be used for people to drink or to be a part of the ecosystem it was originally taken from (a lake for example) to support biodiversity and residents who surround it. 

Lin Zhao LimSchneider
Year 10