In the new world: Metaverse, people’s space for movement will be increasingly limited and narrow. All activities in the real world can be done at home, such as doing business, going to school, working in an office, making friends, or taking vacations.
It could be that all cycles of human relationships starting from courtship, fiance and marriage are also carried out online from their respective homes. Only then will the couple meet to build a household, have children, send their children to school, and even marry off their children, all of which are again done online from home.
Attending social events will also be like that. Coming to birthdays, engagements, weddings, births, until the death takziyah later will be done from home. Technologically, people still count their presence in various activities and events through Virtual Reality (VR) or Augmented Reality (AR) representations.
From this we can already see that people will be more active at home. Well, at home they still have to eat and drink, have to take a shower, wear clothes, brush their teeth, use soap, and fulfill all the needs that VR and AR cannot represent.
Because more people are at home, they will order food and drink and all their needs online. Or if forced to leave the house, they will buy with a take away system alias wrapped. Anyway, everything is brought home, and all of that is potential waste.
It is unavoidable and denied or hidden, the trend of waste arising from households will increase. Which if not managed properly and correctly, what happens next is a disaster because of waste. The impact will return to humans, the environment, and abiotic and abiotic ecosystems to the culture.
The waste with the largest increase in volume included plastic, cardboard, PS Foam (styrofoam), and other materials in the form of packaging and packaging for shipping goods from online sales.
The Government recommends reducing the use of plastic, PS Foam, and other materials as packaging and wrapping. However, of course, online businesses cannot follow this recommendation. Because if they reduce packaging or packaging, their products can be damaged in transit or rotten and so on.
Conditions during the pandemic, when people are doing more activities from home, cause the generation of waste from home to increase. Most likely, the waste generation in the future Metaverse will be in the same condition as it was during the pandemic.
Technologically maybe people are ready. If there are still those who are not ready, then the environment will force them to be ready. Like technology stutterers, the majority of whom are now using smartphones.
No one can imagine how fast technology has developed since the invention of the steam engine. The journey of the industrial revolution 1.0 to the industrial revolution 5.0 only took 2.5 centuries. Whereas before 1769, technological progress was very slow.
The positive impact of the new world that we are about to welcome must be many. Although the negative impact of the Metaverse is also certainly a lot too. One of the negative impacts that will occur is the trend of increasing waste generation in households.
Just like other basic and basic human needs, waste generation cannot be solved with VR or AR. If waste is not managed from the source, then all waste will end up being dumped and it will be a disaster.
However, if the waste is managed properly and correctly it will bring benefits. Because everything can be processed into recycled raw materials. In the future, the concept of reduce, reuse and recycle (3R) may no longer be used. Only one “R” remains relatively relevant to the future Metaverse or Multimetaverse. The hope is that the acceleration of technology can be parallel with the realization of good and correct waste management. Namely, waste management that does not have a negative impact on the environment, humans and other ecosystems around us.
More on Lifestyle
