Category Archives: Blog 4

Calvin Gorman

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Consumer Product Analysis

As an avid seagoer I love anything to do with the ocean. I aim to be as environmentally sustainable when on the water, however, this is almost impossible in this day and age due to everything being made for purpose, rather than sustainability. I believe that this must be flipped and we must start taking sustainability into account as a priority, whilst still producing a product that serves its designated purpose. 

The difficulty with fishing gear is that there are many different types of braided lines depending on what the targeted species is, what the weathers like, how far offshore, and many other variables, and these different types of line are all made with different materials. Some lines such as monofilament have life spans of 2 to 3 years, whereas fluorocarbon lines can last up to 10 years. Fluorocarbon is actually the term given to a broad family of compounds including, carbon, chlorine, fluorine, and other synthetics made from hydrocarbons. Fluorocarbon is also used in Freon which is a refrigerant in air cooling systems, evidently it is not good for you. Hence, Freon was banned in the US January 1st 2020, due to health concerns and its role in destroying the ozone layer. However fluorocarbons are still used legally in the international fishing industry. Monofilament hence the name, is comprised from one single strand of line that may contain multiple different polymers chemically fused together, the most common medium for mono line is nylon. Which uses enormous quantities of water to be produced and also emits nitrous oxide which is a greenhouse gas roughly 300 times as potent as carbon dioxide. Monofilament is admired for its flexibility which makes it easier to cast, whereas fluorocarbon line is used for its sturdiness and is more commonly used when targeting larger fish or for rougher conditions. 

Zombie in the Water': New Greenpeace Report Warns of Deadly Ghost Fishing Gear - EcoWatch

In our oceans, fishing gear makes up roughly 10% of the total pollution. This is a very large percentage for solely one industry. Discarded fishing nets and fishing lines have been given the term “Ghost Fishing Gear”, this really implies how these discarded items are haunting our seas and destroying some of the most important habitats on the planet. If we can produce a product that can help reduce this pollution it would be beneficial to restoring sea life populations and helping rejuvenate coral reefs. 

During my research I found that a lot more fishing gear companies have started to experiment and transition to biodegradable fishing lines, in particular Eagle Claw Tackle which is the brand I use personally. Unfortunately many will not make the conversion to sustainable gear as very few anglers will want to buy a product that is designed to break. In response to this Eagle Claw made biodegradable lines much more affordable than other types of braid, and also imposed a 10 month guarantee on all lines made by them. I believe that this is most definitely the right approach to get people to use the product, however I also believe that people need to be made more aware of what consequences their actions have on the environment. Furthermore, government bodies should establish laws to prohibit the use of fishing gear with trace toxic materials, and aim to create a fishing industry that is completely 100% sustainable.

Plastic Portrayal in the Media

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On November 2, 2021, a news article was released discussing the impact that the portrayal of single-use plastics in media has on our society. The USC Annenberg Norman Lear Center in Hollywood, CA began analyzing how common these single-use plastics were versus reusable and eco-friendly products in television and film. They ended up coming to the conclusion that plastic pollution was just as prominent on screen as it is in the lives of most US citizens. The ultimate goal of this analysis was to bring attention to and reduce the amount of plastic presented in the media, but to also institute changes that need to be made to progress in this generation.

Most of this research was authorized by the Plastic Pollution Coalition. Through their studies, they were able to make several assumptions about how single-use plastics portrayed in television causes us to subconsciously downplay the importance of reducing our own plastic use. They stated that single-use plastic made an appearance in every episode with an average of 28 items per episode. They also took note that a vast majority of the items were not dispose of on screen, which promotes the “false narrative of ‘magically disappearing trash.’”  Dianna Cohen, Co-Founder and CEO of the Plastic Pollution Coalition states that “We are shaped and formed by what we watch. Media has the power to reimagine the world and blaze a trail to a regenerative, reusable, refillable, healthy, thriving plastic-free world for all living beings, if only we commit and act now.” When we were younger our parents would attempt to censor certain content in an effort to prevent us from mimicking any negative actions done on-screen, but to an extent we never really outgrow that as Cohen states. The things we see on television or listen to on the radio can impact our actions in such a discreet manner that we might not even realize it until it’s already happened. 

The Plastic Pollution Coalition’s ultimate goal is to form better habits in our everyday lives. They’ve reached out to many people in all aspects of the entertainment industry to express their concerns and get them involved in the movement towards change. While these changes are on-screen, they are made with the intent of altering the actions of people off-screen.

The biggest takeaway from this article is that so many different things can make subtle influences on the way we live our lives through the things we listen to or see on a regular basis. If programs like the Plastic Pollution Coalition are able to push for changes in how often and how much we see single-use plastic in our favorite TV shows, then this could subconsciously change our careless habits of consumption with the intent to discard it immediately. By replacing the single-use plastics on TV with reusable alternatives, this would set a better example for people to follow and could make a big impact overall. Every little step counts towards an earth that is free of plastic pollution and its toxic impact on the environment.

 

 

Estee Lauder & Sustainability

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A business I chose to investigate was Estee Lauder. They work to promote sustainability regarding plastic waste in all sorts of ways. Estee Lauder is a very well-known makeup company that most of you have probably heard of. Many things such as sustainable building operations and waste reduction have been significant parts to target environmental sustainability. Estee Lauder minimizes environmental impacts by reducing emissions and sending zero waste to landfills at their facilities.

The most significant part of the problem with makeup is the packaging because of the amount of plastic used. They are focusing on reducing the environmental impacts of a single package through its lifestyle. In 2020 they released guidelines to their developers to aim for sustainable packaging. By 2025 their goal is for 75-100% of their packaging to be recyclable, refillable, and reusable.

Their guidelines include:

–           Reducing and removing packaging where possible

–           Designing for reuse and refill ability

–           Building designed-in recyclability

–           Increasing amounts of Post-Consumer Recycled (PCR) material in packaging

–           Replacing petroleum-based plastics with bioplastics (if the bioplastic can be recycled and does not contaminate the traditional recycling streams)

https://www.elcompanies.com/en/our-commitments/sustainability/product-responsibility

Estee Lauder is devoted to sourcing ingredients that have no impact on people or the future. Their goal is by 2025 that at least 90% of their palm-based ingredients will be certified sustainable.

 

“Sustainability has long been central to how The Estée Lauder Companies and its brands have operated and is a key part of our corporate strategy for the future. We know this work is more important than ever, and we are committed to accelerating our efforts to contribute to the health and well-being of people and the planet.”

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Nancy Mahon, Senior Vice President, Global Corporate Citizenship and Sustainability

This quote is significant because it’s essential for brands to focus on sustainability to help our future. Estee Lauder is very transparent in all the ingredients used, and it helps us better understand what we are using. Making sure you are purchasing from sustainable companies and doing your research can be very helpful. I know how to start doing more research before buying products. Hopefully, more big brands will begin to focus on sustainability because that is what will help our future one step at a time.

The Life Cycle of a Phone Case

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Purchasing plastic nowadays is inevitable for most people, due to lack of alternatives and the major push for sterile products during the COVID-19 pandemic. One plastic item that is important to me, as a consumer, is my plastic phone case. A phone case is not something that adds value to my life, because I would not die if I did not have a plastic case on my phone, but it does increase the safety of my cell phone. Having a case on my phone means that I can bring it to places and not worry about the important information on my phone disappearing if I dropped it and broke it. It also is helpful because I don’t want to have to pay hundreds of dollars on a new phone if I can buy a $50 phone case that will prevent that. 

 

The phone case that I currently have is an Otterbox iPhone 13 clear case which is made out of Polycarbonate and synthetic rubber. Polycarbonate is a thermoplastic which means that it can be melted and reshaped, which is a better trait for plastic compared to a thermoset plastic, which is permanently shaped. The Otterbox website states that the case is made out of 50% recycled plastic but it is unclear where the recycled plastic came from previously. That also means that the other half of the case is 50% new plastic, which is a point not mentioned on the website because that is not a good selling point. There are many different types of synthetic rubber but it is important to note that synthetic rubber is an elastomer and derives from petroleum. The company is based in California, but their products are made throughout the US, China, and Mexico. 

 

A single phone case can last for years, depending on how you take care of it, but personally, they last me around a year before they turn yellow and begin breaking down. I also drop my phone quite often and the Otterbox cases always prevent my phone from cracking and breaking or shattering the screen. The brand itself states on their website, “We’re at the beginning of this journey toward sustainability and we don’t have all the answers — but we’re asking the right questions to help us bring Otter innovation to better managing our environmental footprint” (Otterbox). They appear to care about their environmental footprint, as they do use recycled plastic, but they could do more as a company for the planet. The company itself is worth billions of dollars, so it is shocking that they do not have a plan in place already, but they are working on a plan currently. An important point to mention is that they do have a warranty plan so that if your case breaks within a certain amount of time, they will replace it for free. This is a nice feature from the brand, but they just send you a new one instead of taking the old one back and recycling it into a new case. After the case is broken and no longer usable, it is sent to the landfill where it will never decompose. 

 

The fact that a phone case is a very important item in my day-to-day life speaks to how times have changed drastically in the past fifty years. It is upsetting that this is an item that I need and there is nothing I can do about its afterlife, except look for a sustainable alternative. Even if there is an alternative, it might not perform at the level that my plastic phone case would, which would be a waste of money in the long run. Hopefully, Otterbox is able to find a way to incorporate more sustainable practices into their products in the future, but for now, they are the best plastic phone case on the market in my opinion. 

Patagonia Green Efforts

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Patagonia, a designer outdoor clothing cooperation, is one company in the United States that is actively working toward a greener future. Starting with an entire section on their website detailing their specific efforts toward green activism and informational infographics that detail the production line of textiles from start to finish, Patagonia has dedicated an entire section of its department to sustainable movement. They have created different programs, volunteer efforts, donation events, and more sustainable, concious efforts towards a greener future.

Patagonia’s company has reported that this season “87% of [their] line uses recycled materials” This practices encourages reducing plastic waste as well as reusing it, as well as avoids uses of fossil fuels to decrease climate change effects. Overall Patagonia’s activism section on their website encourages to keep yourself concisous when it comes to buying new clothes and textiles, and cut down on our societies desire of consumption. By encouraging the reduction of consumption of clothing items, Patagonia puts out the message that they would rather have quality over quanitiy and reduce the waste that goes directly into our enviroment. They have documented on their website all the materials put into their products, which feautre plasitic textiles such as wool and nylon, but as well as recycled versions of the materials as well.

A report and study by McKinsey & Company is placed on Patagonia’s website that showed “consumers buy 60% more items of clothing and keep them for half as long as they did 15 years ago”, and with clothing contributing to “10% of pollution as a whole” apperael companies need to start understanding their overall effect on climate change and plastic/textile pollution.

The Patagonia company has not only priotized green effrots as far as their prodcution line goes, but details on their website the exploration of the entire footprint their clothing brand creates. I think this is valuable as, although they are a major company, they are transparent and clear with their consumers of the lifespan and impact their products have on the enviroment. Patagonia has not only built a company of informative and responsible understanding of their enviroemtnal impact, but has created several programs to establish real, active efforts to improve their company’s carbon and sustainablity footpring. One program is the “Materail Traceablity Program” which strives to establish the traceability of all their materials in the supply chain and work towards only using “enviromentally sustainable materials available”. Patagonia has also created a “self-imposed Earth tax” which will put forth 1% for the planet and support different enviormental non-profits.

Although many companies use words such as “sustainable”, “green” and “conscious”, its apparent that sometimes large cooperations will market to the consumer what they want to hear, only to continue to practice unethical and polluting methods behind closed doors. I think Patagonia is one of the few major apperael companies that not only is conscious of their specific effects on the environment and informative, yet calls other companies out on their uses of ‘Greenwashing’ on their main infographic under activism.

Patagonia’s company I beleive is one of the few major companies that is truly transparent with their production line to understand the types of wastes and pollution that they may put forth in the enviorment. I think as our enviorment declines and our plastic pollution rates get higher, its these major companies responsibles to figure out the most effective way to reuse, recycle, and overall destory their plastic pollution all together.

Flying Solo-Less

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Alaskan airlines has recently announced they are going to switch from single use bottles and plastic cups to plant-based cartons and paper cups throughout 2022, starting on Thursday November 4th, 2021.  This is a big change for the company.  During a conducted study, the company looked into the products on board that carried the biggest environmental plastic footprint and found beverages to be the problem.  Alaskan airlines has worked hard to make attempts to recycle their plastic goods but this effort wasn’t always carried out by passengers or even some lazy airline workers so they decided to turn to a new alternative that should be better for the planet.

Paper Cups

Alaskan airlines has already stopped the use of all plastic straws on their flights.  Making the switch to plant-based cartons and paper cups will remove around 22 million plastic cups and 32 million plastic bottles, or ~1.8 million pounds of single-use plastic, from their flights throughout 2022.  To put this number into an image for you,  this is equivalent to how much 18 Boeing 373’s weigh.

plane

Boeing 373

This change was brought into action by Diana Birkett Rakow, the Alaskan Airlines vice president of public affairs and sustainability.  She noticed all the beautiful places the airline flies over, and decided a change needed to occur within the company to make sure these places stay beautiful and untouched by plastic for years to come. Alaskan airlines is the fifth-largest airline carrier in the United States, so hopefully after this change is set into place, other airlines will realize how beneficial the switch to plant-based cartons and paper cups can truly be for the environment and they will too be persuaded to make a change within their companies.  Alaskan airlines has also started allowing passengers to pre-order fresh made food before their flights to cut down on plastic snack packaging during their flights.

Paper cups have their pros and cons though.  Paper cups break down faster in landfills and are easier to be processed at a recycling plant when being compared to plastic cups.  They are also still single use, which helps cut down on the spread of germs and contact, which is especially important during times like now when Covid-19 is still spreading around to lots of people.  One major con of these cups is that many contain an inside plastic film layer, used so liquids cannot seep through.  They can also cost more which may just not be a reasonable switch for some smaller businesses that have to keep their expenses low.

This switch is part of Alaskan Airlines’ five step plan to reduce their environment footprint and achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2040.  Although this switch may seem like a huge step, there are still many more items that will need to be switch out and replaced over the years before this airline can claim they are 100% plastic free.  This switch only affects the materials water is served to customers and plastic cups will still be used on Alaskan airlines to serve alcohol and soda to consumers.

Sources

https://www.washingtonpost.com/travel/2021/11/03/alaska-airlines-plastic-water-bottles/

https://www.q13fox.com/news/alaska-airlines-eliminates-plastic-bottles-and-cups-for-water

Plastic Straws? Think about the Paws!

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Plastic straws are used every single day by billions of people. Now, although they are bad for the environment and harm the animals, citizens of the world seem to not care. As long as they can sip their drink without a care in the world, they’re all for plastic straws. Plastic straws are actually extremely toxic to the environment. Plastic straws are made from polypropylene. The other materials they’re made out of plastic resin, colorants, and other additives. In order to make a plastic straw, the plastic resin and other materials and mixed together, and then the mixture is made into a tube shape. After this, the straws go under specialized operations. After this, they are packaged and ready to be sold. Plastic straws are a one use item, which is why they’re so toxic to the environment. Typically when straws are thrown away they end up in landfills. After landfills, the wind usually carries them to either oceans or rivers affecting marine life. The environmental impacts of plastic straws are astonishing. Plastic straws are no biodegradable so insects and bacteria can’t consume them so they don’t go away like for example paper does. It could take straws up to 200 years to biodegrade. Plastic straws are also hard to recycle and are the seventh most collected item plastic items found. Since plastic straws are light, they fly away easily, making them go to places they’re not supposed to be. Plastic straws are also harmful to ocean wildlife. It was estimated that about 800 species in the ocean are affected by the ocean plastic pollution and that about 100,000 marine life animals die every year because of it. The social impacts of this include many people around the world taking action to ban plastic straws. We are in complete control of these impacts because ultimately we are the ones choosing to use these straws. Some assumptions I’ve made are that plastic straws aren’t that bad for the environment but in reality they are and it’s so easy for us to stop using them but we keep using them anyways.

http://www.madehow.com/Volume-4/Drinking-Straw.html

Plastic Straws

https://www.tembopaper.com/news/plastic-straws-and-the-environment-what-is-the-impact

https://www.protemgl.com/articles/the-social-impact-of-the-plastic-straw-ban-one-small-step-for-society-one-giant-leap-for-the-planet

The last straw: In N.J., single-use plastic straws to be provided by food businesses upon request only starting Nov. 4 ⋆ Princeton, NJ local news %

Sustainable businesses..

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There is almost nothing around us that is not made of plastic. It seems that plastic is involved in almost every aspect of our lives. It is everywhere you go and it’s really convenient in many ways.  However, even though these plastics can be repurposed, single-use ones harm our ecosystem. Thus, it is so unfortunate how something so small can have so much negative impact. It is especially harmful to the ocean. The ocean is dominated by marine organisms, and plastic negatively impacts their health.  While the situation is receiving much more attention there are so many businesses that have been very successful at being sustainable. Even though it cannot fix the plastic pollution overnight it is important that businesses are taking these steps in trying to make a change that can help the environment. 

 

One business that is taking these steps at being more environmentally sustainable is Lush. 

Lush is a company dedicated to creating fresh, cruelty-free, vegetarian, handmade, low-waste, and effective bath, body, skin, and hair care products that are sourced ethically and without animal testing. The company leads the way in the development of solid products, which eliminates the need for packaging. Millions of plastic bottles are saved from being produced, transported, and disposed of every year by their naked bubble bars, conditioners, and henna hair dyes. In addition, when you purchase naked products, you get the best ingredients and fragrances, so your money is spent on products that are the best for your skin and hair, rather than fancy packaging that can be discarded easily. A simple change from packaged to naked can have a profound impact. Take the shampoo bars for example. 124 million plastic bottles were prevented from ever being made due to selling 41 million shampoo bars since 2005. The amount of plastic saved is about 3417 tons, which is about the weight of 30 blue whales.

Outback Mate

Solid, naked products have been a hallmark of Lush for decades since they don’t require any synthetic preservatives – this means that they are completely self-preserving. The product recipes are designed so that there’s little to no water required for bacterial growth, and instead, we substitute honey and salt, natural preservatives that don’t contain synthetic chemicals. Offering unpackaged bath, shower, and body products encourage others to become innovative and reduce their packaging usage too by raising awareness of the overuse of disposable packaging.

When Lush can’t eliminate packaging completely (like in the case of liquid body washes or gift sets), they use materials that are recyclable, reusable, compostable, or post-consumer recycled, like their 100 percent post-consumer recycled plastic bottles and pots. In a way not every big business is going to be 100% plastic-free so in a way lush might be greenwashing some of their products. Overall they seem to be doing a good job at trying to be sustainable for the environment. It’s also cool that Lush has also been experimenting with using ocean plastics in its packaging. The removal of plastic from the ocean would be economically beneficial while supplying packaging made from post-consumer plastic. 

I think their attempted effects on trying to become more sustainable and making an impact on other businesses,  are very good, especially the fact that they try to eliminate as much waste as possible which can be very good for the environment. 

Nature, Earth, Sustainability, Leaf, Arrows, Caution

 

Everyday Plastic by Daniel Webb

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When thinking of plastic the words that often come to mind are dirty, garbage, and gross. When thinking of the word art the words that come to mind are beautiful, moving, and thought-provoking. So how can these two opposite things come together cohesively? Daniel Webb manages to do just that. Daniel is an 36 year old artist that was born and raised on the Southeast coast of England. One day while he was on the beach, he saw seaweed wrapped in plastic. He began to think if the plastic on this beach once belonged to him. This sparked Webb to start his plastic journey.

 Daniel Webb states that recycling was not easily accessible to him. He would have to take his recycling to a facility, rather than them picking it up. Webb decided to keep all of the plastic he used for a whole year. Webb began his journey on January 1, 2017 and by New Years Eve he had collected over 22,80 litres of plastic, or 4,490 items of plastic. He washed every piece of plastic and stored it in his home. With this plastic, he created a mural called, “Everyday Plastic”. 

 

The most common items Daniel Webb accumulated were hygiene, food packaging, and cleaning products. These items are all used almost everyday.  

While researching different types of art made of plastic, something about Daniel Webb’s stuck out to me. Most of the other artists I looked at, collected trash from other areas rather than use their own. Webb used his own plastic and it was very moving to me. It shows that he is not perfect, and that you don’t have to be either. The purpose of this mural is to represent the overproduction and overconsumption of plastic. Daniel Webb believes that recycling will not do much when there is this much plastic being produced every second. He describes plastic production as an “epidemic”. 

This journey was not easy for him, it took extreme willpower to not just throw the trash away. He was extremely transparent, which made the art more enticing to me. He isn’t judgemental about not fully being plastic free, he goes into detail about how hard being 100% plastic free is. Being plastic free is almost impossible in today’s way of life. Everything from food to hygiene to shoes are wrapped in plastic. It’s not about being perfect, it’s about trying your hardest. 

This mural is currently on display at Dreamland, which is located in a seaside town in England where Webb currently resides. You are able to get close to the mural and see what each piece is made of. This piece has moved me more than I thought it would have. I am beyond excited to see what else Daniel Webb will produce!

 

The Grim Future

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Plastics are all around us. Almost every aspect of our lives is surrounded by a piece of plastic. Many of these plastics are reusable, but the ones that are single-use are bringing detrimental effects to our environment. Although there are many more laws in place and much more attention on the situation, the outlook for progress does not look promising right now.

In an article written by the UN, it is predicted that “Plastic pollution in oceans and other bodies of water continues to grow sharply and could more than double by 2030…” This is quite a grim idea meaning that there is so much that is trying to be done to clean not only the oceans, but the world. The organizations like Ocean Conservancy, 4Ocean, and the newly created organization Team Seas, are all working towards cleaning our oceans, but these organizations cannot solve the problem alone. There needs to be more done by governments and us as citizens to help make the world a better place.

As previously stated, the plastic pollution can rise by double or more in the oceans by 2030, less than 9 years. By 2040, the number of plastics in the ocean is predicted to be around 50kg of plastic per meter of coastline. In similar terms, this will be triple the amounts of plastics in the oceans now.

These plastics will cause a number of problems to the environment. Not only causing destruction of the sea life and corals, the toxins in the plastics will slowly seep into the waters, further killing the marine life. These toxins can also result in the corals bleaching themselves, and we could loose all natural reefs from this. There are many more problems than meets the eye though. In the same article released by UN, plastics are also a large contributor to greenhouse gases. In 2015, greenhouse gas emissions from plastics were 1.7 gigatonnes of CO2 and by 2050, the gas emissions are predicted to be 6.5 gigatonnes. So, not only will the plastics help to add to the breaking down of the ozone layer, they will also inadvertently help speed up the rates of climate change. Luckily, the article has been written right before COP26, and will hopefully bring attention to the problem for the governments.  Finally, the article also states that recycling on its own is not enough. To fully help create change, the plastic industry as a whole needs to be targeted and there needs to be a reduction of how much plastic is made overall.

The attended audience for this article is the everyday person. It was written to bring awareness to the problem and hopefully spark change in peoples hearts to push for less plastics and a better world. This article was written just before COP26, and was written to hopefully bring more awareness to governments about the plastic problem related with climate change. The article is obviously biased to making the world a less plastic lead economy and pushing people to help fight back against the plastic industries and make the world a cleaner place.