FINALPROJECTPARTB (1)

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Final Project Part B 1 Final Project Part B ATH 101 SNHU

2 I. Cultural Diversity A1. Although it is not their fault, it’s important to understand that women have a bigger impact on the war on plastic that we are dealing with. I came to this conclusion because sanitary products and makeup alone make up for 165 billion plastic products every year. The makeup industry accounts for 120 billion units of packaging every year, and a majority is not truly recyclable (Plastic Pollution Coalition, 2022). And about 45 billion sanitary products are produced every year, the majority is plastic (Barth, 2019). Makeup is usually in a plastic container, and also wrapped in plastic, and sanitary products are also wrapped in plastic, and even the applicator is usually made of plastic. It seems like businesses have an ongoing problem of wrapping plastic in more plastic when we think about it. Also, the media has this stigma against using paper, so I find that cardboard tampon applicators are becoming harder to find even though plastic applicators are no better for the environment. In fact, there are plenty of activists trying to put an end to plastic tampons, and there are biochemical companies trying to formulate a compostable applicator that would be safe to insert, and better for the environment (Cappiello et al., 2022, p.344). And ultimately, there are tampons without applicators that are the best option for the environment, but they are not advertised enough. A2. As we have seen through the years, humans don’t know how to recycle properly because they’ve been told to just look for the triangle and that’s all. Their attitude towards recycling is that maybe it's too much to understand, and they think every plastic is recyclable because that is what the media tells us. They don’t have the patience to learn about recycling. I know that with my recycling bin there is a small list of items that are recyclable, but from what we know about human behavior is that most people don’t read the small print. They see the 3 rotating arrows and just throw it in the bin. Fun fact, this arrow symbol is called a mobius loop

3 (Creative Review, 2007, p.39). A3. Unfortunately we aren’t the only ones dealing with the war on plastic. There is so much plastic that is being dumped at different sites, or in the ocean which is harming wildlife. There was this video circling the internet for a long time, and still does, about the turtle who had a plastic straw stuck up his nose, or another video of the plastic holders that the soda cans are in, and it managed to wrap around a fish, or other marine life. They say that 18 billion pounds of plastic end up in the ocean every year because there is no way to actually recycle it (Frontline PBS, 2020, 0:49:16), and 60% of this plastic comes from Asia (Frontline PBS, 2020, 0:32:55). And it’s not only marine life that is being harmed. Large mammals have also been found eating plastic, and birds are constantly eating all types of plastic. Microplastics have even been found inside more than 100 different marine species (Parker, 2019). Because our animals are consuming microplastics, that means that this is also harming humans because they are consuming microplastics as well. B1. The only thing that we can do is to inform the public about plastics and what is truly recyclable. People think they are helping the environment because they see that the packaging is recyclable when it really is not. The plastics industry is tricking the public into buying more plastic because it is a cheaper option for most companies to wrap their items in plastic. They say that it’s recyclable so that the public will think that the environment is improving, but in reality this crisis is harming ourselves and our whole environment. The public isn’t concerned about the environment because they think that recycling is working (Sullivan, 2020). Our job as anthropologists is to inform the public on what plastic is doing to our earth, and what that means for us humans. And as for being sensitive towards others beliefs, I don’t believe that there is any extra caution that we need to take to be sensitive towards people's beliefs because this is ruining

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4 our planet. As long as we can get everyone on board with understanding the real process of recycling plastics then we can continue our mission to make the world better for the future. II. Anthropological Methods A1. Ethnography would be an appropriate way to assess the crisis. An ethnographic method is to focus and analyze and observe a community for a long time to get the data that we need (Welsch et al., 2019, p.16). We need to collect data to see who is actually recycling, and who isn’t. Then inform the public on what can actually be properly recycled since only 10% of plastic has ever been recycled (Frontline PBS, 2020, 0:42:12). There needs to be a new system, and in order to do this new system we need to completely start from scratch and drop the mobius loop. I have faith that we can fix this problem with plastic. B1. We try to be as invisible as possible while observing the communities. I let them know that this is a way of saving our planet. Of course people are upset and annoyed, but mostly because they've been lied to this whole time about plastic recycling. The community is very upset to learn that they have been sorting out recycling and garbage all of these years when in reality it ends up in the same place because most of the plastic can’t be recycled. They were convinced that the environment was improving because of recycling, and now that more people know the truth, we can work on stopping plastic production. B2. An objective lens is important because you need to reassure the public that we still have a chance to stop this excess pollution. The key is staying confident about what our mission will accomplish with the stopping of plastic production. We need to have confidence that people will understand the severity of the crisis and that they will help as much as they can. III. Cultural Connections

5 A1. The crisis is already happening. Culturally, there are many people who only use organic, reusable things, and they are preventing the crisis from getting any worse, but in order to see a real change, then we need more people to follow this kind of lifestyle. Single use items are the worst kind of waste. We need people to switch to using only glass containers, or fabric bags that you can wash and reuse every time you go to the grocery store. In fact, 40% of plastic waste is from single use containers and bags (Parker, 2019). A2. Biological factors that could affect my family is how the pollution is affecting the water. They have found microplastics in our drinking water, and it can cause many health problems including, but not limited to inflammatory and cardiovascular problems (Vethaak, 2021, p.673). These health problems are very serious, and so I think my family would take this more seriously in order to stop plastic production. So, I believe knowing the biological factors would help end the crisis. A3. Environmentally, there are some factors that could prevent us from doing what we need to do. Even though the world is a huge place, there is not as much physical space as we need in order to sort out the recycling. Because of the space issue, people, mostly factory workers, are dumping the non recyclable plastic into random fields because they don’t know what else to do with the plastic (Frontline PBS, 2020, 0:28:47). They cannot get money for it, so they find a remote area and just leave it there. They don’t want it to be their problem anymore. Also, we had originally switched from paper to plastic because we were cutting down too many trees in our forests. Once we stop the production of plastic the goal is to go back to an organic material that we can reuse. IV. Predictions

6 A1. Unfortunately the public was wrongfully informed by advertisements for decades. These false advertisements have our society to believe that plastic is always recyclable and reusable, but the plastics industry has been trying to “recycle” plastic for years, and has yet to be successful. The plastic is just building up now with nowhere to go. There is still time to inform the public about the codes on the plastic, and what can be reused again. As of now plastic bottles seem to be the only thing really recyclable, and you can even receive money for recycling plastic bottles. B1. Again, there needs to be classes, and free information on what can be recycled. We have seen through a stable and consistent education we can teach kids to learn from a young age. People should know that the best kind of packaging is no packaging, and turning to more biodegradable options is what will save our planet. Our planet is being destroyed by plastic. I think if we show photos of the dumping sites, or advertise more about the plastic in the ocean, then more people will start to care, and realize how this is affecting everyone in the society as a whole. Another prevention action is to start fining people and businesses for not recycling correctly. Businesses that make billions in profit from plastic making are making more and more plastic that is not recyclable, and they will be harmed if we stop the plastic making process (Sulivan, 2020). It’s important to keep an objective lens through the preventative process. The public needs to know why stopping the production of plastic is beneficial to ourselves and our environment. We need to keep positive and ensure that preventing plastic will be very beneficial. There would be less waste everywhere, and less pollution because they will not have to burn all of this plastic. C1. It’s very rewarding to be an anthropologist. The study of anthropology is vast and has many subfields. I know about different cultures from different communities which helps me

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7 understand human behavior a lot more now than I did before. Personally, I have a better understanding about crises, like the war on plastics, because I see first hand what it is doing to our society and environment. As an anthropologist and human, it is my duty to inform others about the truth. I have learned about different successes and failures throughout history, so to apply this knowledge to everyday life is amazing. We can learn a lot from our ancestors. Overall, my personal life has a positive impact from understanding the human condition.

8 References Barth, T. (2021). Making Menstruation Products Eco Friendly . Plastic Oceans. Retrieved 24 November 2022 from https://plasticoceans.org/making-menstruation- products -eco- friendly/ Birth of the recycling logo. (2007, April 1). Creative Review , 39. Cappiello, G., Aversa, C., & Barletta, M. (2022). Design of compostable materials for the manufacturing of flexible tampon applicators. Procedia CIRP , 110 , 342–347. Retrieved 10 December 2022 from https://doi-org.ezproxy.snhu.edu/10.1016/j.procir. 2022.06.061 Frontline PBS. (2020, March 31). Plastic Wars [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dk3NOEgX7o Parker, L. (2019). Plastic Pollution . National Geographic. Retrieved 24 November 2022 from https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/article/plastic-pollution Plastic Pollution Coalition (2022). The Ugly Side of Beauty: The Cosmetics Industry’s Plastic Packaging Problem . Retrieved 25 November 2022 from https://www.plasticpollution coalition.org/blog/2022/1/25/the-ugly-side-of-beauty-the-cosmetics-industrys-plastic- packaging-problem Sullivan, L. (2020). Plastic Wars: Industry Spent Millions Selling Recycling — To Sell More Plastic . NPR. Retrieved 25 November 2022 from https://www.npr.org/2020/03/31/8225 97631/plastic-wars-three-takeaways-from-the-fight-over-the-future-of-plastics Vethaak, A. D., & Legler, J. (2021). Microplastics and human health. Science (New York, N.Y.) , 371 (6530), 672–674. Retrieved 10 December 2022 from https://doi-org.ezproxy.snhu.edu /10.1126/science.abe5041

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