This artifact emerged in response to the straw movement. Many states and companies are implementing bans on plastic straws because they cannot be recycled and are often mistaken as food by marine life. Straws get stuck in sea turtles and other animals, causing some to die of asphyxiation.
The design of this civic artifact first emerged on the site Red Bubble but has since spread as a symbol of the movement.
According to an employee from Oceans Without Boarders, “Over the last 10 years, we have produced more plastic than in the whole of the last century, and 50 percent of the plastic we use is single-use and is immediately thrown away. One million seabirds and 100,000 marine mammals are killed annually from plastic in our oceans. Forty-four percent of all seabird species, 22 percent of whales and dolphins, all sea turtle species, and a growing list of fish species have been documented with plastic in or around their bodies.”
You might be wondering, why focus on straws out of all the forms of plastic sent to our oceans?
Due to straws lightweight nature they cannot be recycled. They are also a single-use product which is causing an increase in waste sent to the oceans. Additionally, they are a product that able-bodied people can easily go without.
Straws may only account for approximately .025% of the 8 million tons of plastic that flows into our oceans each year, but they are a symbol for people to rally around to eventually eliminate all single-use plastics.
And it’s working.
Look around the room right now. How many reusable water bottles do you see on people’s desks compared to single-use plastic water bottles?
Bans on straws and other single-use plastics are being implemented by a growing amount of states and companies. People are becoming more aware of the harmful impact that single-use plastics have and are making efforts to curb their consumption of them by purchasing reusable straws, water bottles, bags, and silverware. People are also making efforts to curb the consumption of others through advocating for these bans through art like this.
This artifact utilizes pathos to play on people’s sympathy towards sea turtles and other forms of marine life, while also connecting straws to a well-known movie that incited a fear of the ocean into generations.
Talk to anyone about the movie Jaws and they will immediately tell you how long it took them to go back into the water after seeing this iconic movie. The image above plays on the fear associated with the movie and brings it towards single-use plastics. In 2018, only 66 provoked shark attacks were reported worldwide, but compare that to the thousands of deaths of marine life due to plastic each year.
The artifact conveys the message that it is humans, not marine life, that is the real threat.
The artifact also used the rhetorical device of kairos by emerging at a time when environmental issues are beginning to be taken seriously. People are becoming increasingly aware of our impact on the Earth. This artifact was created at a time where it would be taken the most seriously, and thus when it would have the greatest impact.
Since this artifact emerged at a time when it would be well received, it is able to draw people’s attention to the harmful effects of single-use plastics. The variation of an iconic movie poster is attention grabbing and connects the issue of single-use plastics to a terrifying threat to society. It also plays on people’s sympathy towards innocent marine life such as the sea turtle pictured. The combination of all of these elements makes this image an effective civic artifact.