GEI Assignments
(1. commodity chain: 15 points; 2. carbon footprint: 15 points; 3. 2-part analysis of environment issue in a country [Not the US]: 25 points)

 

Assignment 1: The Commodity Chain

This project is worth 15 points (of 100 total course points)
Due Date: XXXX ; Length 4 pages (including max 1 page chart of commodity chain)

 

Objective:

 

Follow a product lifecycle from initial production to final processing. Utilize library resources to research the environmental geography of commodity production from initial 'primary' product, e.g. wood, iron ore, ÔdownstreamÕ through agro-industrial processing and transport to point-of-purchase and final consumption. Examine ÔsideÕ environmental effects at each step (or ÔnodeÕ) along the commodity chain

 

Assignment:

 

Choose a commodity that has been industrially processed, (e.g. paper NOT trees; Green Giantñ Frozen Corn NOT field corn; computer chips NOT silicon etc.). Typically we are concerned with ÔconsumerÕ commodities, that is to say items that are purchased by the final consumer in a store, but we might also think along lines such as, for example, vaccines, tourism electricity generation, or sewage and waste control. Trace the product geography and in commodity-chain terms 'downstream' from the 'primary product' (e.g., trees) to processing, and then to consumers.

 

The product MUST trace a global commodity chain, not be produced in a single country.

 

You should be able to provide environmental information on the following production aspects:

1) where did the 'primary' product(s) originate, e.g.  where was crop grown or ore mined?

2) Initial processing/reprocessing/refining/smelting

what sorts of chemicals or agrochemicals were used?

were toxins released into the environment?

were workers or nearby residents exposed?

was the environment significantly degraded after the primary product was produced/extracted?

were environmental justice issues involved?

3) transport

4) final packaging and processing

5) final marketing and sale:

where and to whom is the final 'downstream' commodity marketed?

what environmental impacts, e.g. on 'nature,' consumer's or worker's health, occur during final consumption?

what damage do 'places of consumption' cause e.g. shopping malls

6) what waste products are associated with the commodity and how/where are they disposed of?

7) what ÔsideÕ chains are necessary for consumption of this product? e.g., safety inspections, quality assurance, federal oversight

8) what role, if any, may be played by process separation?

 

Possible Studies:

 

frozen foods                                                                                                     consumer fruits, e.g. apples or citrus

instant coffee, cocoa, tea                                                                       fibers e.g. acrylic or rayon

wood products: paper                                                                            car batteries, tires

beer, wine, cigarettes                                                                               propellants, lubricants e.g. Chloroflorocarbons

get creative: vaccines, tourism, electricity generation, sewage, waste control

Sources:

 

keyword search, e.g. 'lead and acid and batteries' in the Web of Science

Newspaper Indexes, e.g. New York Times, Wall Street Journal

Books on Production Processes, worker's health

Academic Journals/Magazines, e.g. New Scientist, Amicus Journal, Environment,

Trade journals on, for instance, cheese or wine.