Companies often rely on plastic to produce disposable items because it lowers packaging costs and boosts their profit margins. While they benefit economically from plastic use, they rarely take responsibility for the environmental consequences of its production and waste. Instead, the burden of managing plastic waste is shifted onto individual consumers, who are expected to […]
Companies’ Love-Hate Relationship with Plastic Read More »
We talked about shading and frontier economies this past week, and it made me reflect on the ways in which business externalize costs, especially in terms of environmental justice. Understanding these two concepts are crucial in recognizing how negative consequences of consumption are often hidden from us. Shading is when businesses focus on short-term benefits
Shading and Frontier Economies Read More »
Recycling. It’s a word we hear all the time, yet the process behind it frequently remains poorly understood. We throw items into blue bins, with the expectation that they will be given a second life. But what actually happens in this process? Explaining “recycling” requires describing a complicated process, which includes gathering, sorting, processing, and
Personal Reflection on Recycling Read More »
A major issue with the recycling system is that most of the items recycled (with or without the special recycling arrow symbol) end up returned in the landfill or as other waste. Despite this, many people do not realize this and continue to recycle and assume that it is something that is actually environmentally beneficial.
Recycling or Redirection Read More »
This week’s work was quite illuminating in terms of discovering how recycling works on a practical level. However, it has many fatal flaws that prevent it from being as effective as we’d hope or assume it would be in our collective subconscious. There are plenty of examples that illustrate this point. The first is that
the importance of words and how to rethink (plastics)recycling Read More »
Thinking about waste through the lens of ‘distancing’ and ‘recycling’ has made me realize just how easy it is to detach ourselves from the consequences of what we throw away. Before taking this class, I never really thought about what was happening to waste after being put in a bin. Recycling is for many ‘convenient’
The Illusion of Recycling Read More »
Questions for this week: What political functions do waste infrastructures serve? How does ‘distancing’ function? Do we accept this general argument? What actually happens with ‘recycling?’ Can recycling ever deliver on its promises? How have policies enacted by China in the last few years affected the global waste/recycling trade? Readings:
Distancing and recycling Read More »