BUSINESS

China has some of the dirtiest air in the world, but a large share of the country’s pollutants are generated in the manufacture of goods destined for countries like the United States, according to a new study. (National Geographic News)

Use our resources to better understand the global “trading game.”

Discussion Ideas

• The new study profiled in the Nat Geo News article puts China’s suffocating air pollution in a new perspective. What is its “consumer-based way of looking at pollution” and how is it different from earlier models? Read through our activity “A Supply Chain” for some ideas. Does the activity consider consumer-based environmental factors?
  • The new study evaluates the role of consumers in industrial air pollution. Consumers are the nations, businesses, and individuals that buy and create demand for products.
  • Traditional models of air pollution have been “producer-based.” They have considered factors surrounding the manufacture and supply of products, not their distribution or markets.
  • The activity does not consider any environmental factors. It considers supply chains mostly from a supply-side (producer-based) perspective.

• Read through our activity “Interdependence and You.” Adapt its essential questions to the consumer-based analysis of China’s air pollution.
  • In what ways are American consumers connected to China?
    • Consider products frequently made in China—clothes, electronics, appliances, etc.
  • Why do American consumers seem to prioritize purchasing goods from China?
    • Consider price and ease of purchase.
  • Why can China afford to produce items less expensive than goods produced elsewhere?
    • Consider environmental and labor standards (laws) in different countries or regions.

• The study in the Nat Geo News article encourages consumers to consider their own role in pollution. What are other “consumer-based” ways of looking at global trade? In other words, are there factors besides price, availability, and the environment that consumers might consider?
  • Sure. Take a look at our Global Closet Calculator or Human Footprint interactives for ideas about factors to consider when making a purchase.
    • Politics. Some consumers might consider the political situation in a product’s country of origin. Many manufacturing nations have well-documented legacies of major human-rights abuses, for example.
    • Labor. Many manufacturing nations have well-documented labor abuses, such as child labor, forced labor, and unpaid labor.
    • Local economic impact. Some consumers might also consider the far-reaching local or regional economic impact of a purchase. The New York Times recently published a gorgeous photo essay on the waning American textile industry—a victim of inexpensive imports—for instance.