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 »
During the readings on disposability, I was surprised to notice a stark contrast between the article written in the plastics journal in the 1950/60s, and the ones more recently. “The future of plastics is in the trash” is indisputably a sentence we can look back on and only sense irony, but why was it said
Reflection on Disposability as human and scientific progress Read More »
For this week’s waste tracking, I took a picture of my trashcan at my mom’s house once again. The image shows various paper items and a big ginger ale bottle. A key point to highlight for this week is the fact that my mom and grandma were both sick during this weekend, and it is
Disposability was heavily promoted in the early stages of industrialization, especially as capitalist ideologies took hold. The economic benefits of a throwaway culture were prioritized over long-term environmental consequences. What began as an innovative concept quickly became a matter of convenience, with disposability now deeply ingrained in daily life. While disposable products contribute to pollution,
Flaws of Disposability Read More »
When I first think about the term ‘disposability’, what comes to mind is usually single-use items such as plastic utensils, paper cups, or packaging that’s used once and then thrown away. But as I’ve learned in class, disposability goes beyond objects. It’s a mindset shaped by our political and economic systems, where both things and
Personal Reflection on Disposability. Read More »
After our readings this week, I have come to realize that the social construction of disposability is a subtle yet strong force that shapes our perspectives on value and worth. In particular, it works by creating a hierarchy of things, where certain objects, and, as we discussed in class, certain people, are considered expendable or
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