Why Are Plastic Straws Being Pushed to be the Main Concern When It Comes To Waste?
Dilkes-Hoffman, Leela Sarena, et al. “Public Attitudes towards Plastics.” Resources, Conservation & Recycling, vol. 147, Aug. 2019, pp. 227–235. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1016/j.resconrec.2019.05.005.
This article shares the results of a poll of the public’s opinion on environmental issues. Results show that plastic waste was the biggest concern, and there are mostly negative associations with plastic. This article gives me an idea of how willing the public can be when it comes to plastic use reform.
Gaviola, Anna. “The Four Most Important Things You Can Do For The Environment.” Vice, Vice Media LLC, 2 May 2019, www.vice.com/en_in/article/kzmbaw/the-four-most-important-things-you-can-do-for-the-environment.
As the title suggests, this news article offers some tips on how to help combat climate change. There is one point in the article that discusses alternatives to single-use plastics, however, interestingly, they also state that not all products that are marketed as eco-friendly are actually helping the cause. Though this small section does not discuss the use of single-use plastic in-depth, it provides a different perspective on its’ alternatives.
“Point: Banning Plastic Straws Would Raise Environmental Awareness in Order to Protect Marine Life and Reduce Plastic Waste.” Canadian Points of View: Plastic Straws, Dec. 2018, p. 1. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=p3h&AN=134161999&site=eds-live&scope=site.
Reyes, Therese. “Stop Blaming Developing Countries for the World’s Plastic Problem.” Vice, Vice Media LLC, 17 Oct. 2019, www.vice.com/en_in/article/ne8kb8/stop-blaming-developing-countries-worlds-plastic-problem-asia.
This article does not touch on anything about single-use plastic, but instead, it talks about waste in general, and how Western countries send their waste to third world countries. There was a study that claimed that Eastern countries were the leading sources of plastic waste where in reality, it’s the companies that are based in the West that were creating all this waste. I may reference this source if I were to talk about the narratives people want to push onto other people and countries to seem innocent in this climate change ordeal.
Wong, Alice. “The Rise and Fall of the Plastic Straw: Sucking in Crip Defiance.” Catalyst: Feminism, Theory, Technoscience, no. 1, 2019. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=edsgao&AN=edsgcl.584600234&site=eds-live&scope=site.
This article highlights the importance of keeping plastic straws for people with disabilities or those who have mobility issues. It not only presents evidence as to why it is necessary but also shows the responses to the idea, some of which are surprisingly negative. I found this article useful as it articulated clearly why there should not be such a strong ban against plastic straws.
Viswanathan, Radhika. “Why Starbucks, Disney, and the EU are all shunning plastic straws.” Vox, VoxMedia, 21 Dec. 2019, www.vox.com/2018/6/25/17488336/plastic-straw-ban-ocean-pollution.
This article discusses the ban on plastic straws and their impact on the environment and businesses. It covers unique topics such as why straws seem to be a key topic in discussions about plastic waste. It references many studies to back their points and make their article strong and credible. Even though the main topic of this write-up was about plastic straws, they managed to touch on other plastics as well. I like this news site because it gives context and background information before diving into the news so that it is understandable.