From the plastic utensils provided with take-out meals to the water bottles we purchase when we’re thirsty and dispose of once we’re done with them. Single-use plastic is everywhere, deeply ingrained into our daily routines, and yet they are so quickly disposed of that it hardly even crosses our minds. Single-use plastic products are primarily composed of petrochemicals, which are derived from fossil fuels, and are intended for immediate disposal after use. These plastics are typically utilized in disposable items such as bottles, wrappers, straws, and bags. Single-use plastics highlight our society’s tendency to opt for convenience, disregarding the long-term consequences. Instead of investing in quality products that can be repeatedly used and are made to last, our dependency on disposable plastic products has resulted in an alarming accumulation of waste. The United Nations Environment Program reports that globally, we generate 300 million tons of plastic annually, half of which can be attributed to single-use plastic products. 

 

Reducing plastic consumption is the most effective way to reduce this waste and the carbon footprint associated with plastic production. As a result, an influx of single-use plastic bans are being enacted all over the country and the world. Cities like Malibu, Seattle, and Miami Beach have outlawed plastic straws, while Connecticut, California, New York, and Vermont are among the states that have banned plastic bags. California has seen a 70% reduction in plastic bag usage since implementing its plastic bag ban in 2014. These single-use plastic bans help to significantly cut down on the amount of waste that reaches landfills each year and reduce the need for plastic production that contributes to global climate change. Additionally, it compels companies to reconsider their product designs and opt for more sustainable materials. Consumers are also encouraged to rethink their daily habits and abandon the throwaway culture our society is so accustomed to. 

 

The adoption of single-use plastic bans are a crucial step towards moderating environmental impact and promoting sustainability. With the potential to prevent tons of plastic waste annually, reduce pollution, and shift societal attitudes toward responsible consumption, implementing these strategies at Penn State is imperative. Single-use plastic is everywhere in our community, from the take-out boxes from the dining hall to the plastic straws in our drinks from downtown. By taking a proactive approach to this pressing issue, Penn State has the opportunity to enact positive change in our community and contribute to a more sustainable planet for future generations. 

 

Outline:

• Introduction
• 1st paragraph
  • More about the issue and why it’s a problem
  • More data/statistics and such
• 2nd paragraph
  • Places/businesses that have implemented single-use plastic bans
  • What worked well and what were the issues posed by this
• 3rd paragraph
  • Alternative solutions to single-use plastic products
  • New technology/innovations that can remedy this issue
• 4th paragraph
  • The recommendation for what Penn State should do
• Conclusion

Issue Brief: What Penn State Can Learn From Single-Use Plastic Bans.

 

From the plastic utensils provided with take-out meals to the water bottles we purchase when we’re thirsty and dispose of once we’re done with them. Single-use plastic is everywhere, deeply ingrained into our daily routines, and yet they are so quickly disposed of that it hardly even crosses our minds. Single-use plastic products are primarily composed of petrochemicals, which are derived from fossil fuels, and are intended for immediate disposal after use. These plastics are typically utilized in disposable items such as bottles, wrappers, straws, and bags. Single-use plastics highlight our society’s tendency to opt for convenience, disregarding the long-term consequences. Instead of investing in quality products that can be repeatedly used and are made to last, our dependency on disposable plastic products has resulted in an alarming accumulation of waste. The United Nations Environment Program reports that globally, we generate 300 million tons of plastic annually, half of which can be attributed to single-use plastic products. 

 

Reducing plastic consumption is the most effective way to reduce this waste and the carbon footprint associated with plastic production. As a result, an influx of single-use plastic bans are being enacted all over the country and the world. Cities like Malibu, Seattle, and Miami Beach have outlawed plastic straws, while Connecticut, California, New York, and Vermont are among the states that have banned plastic bags. California has seen a 70% reduction in plastic bag usage since implementing its plastic bag ban in 2014. These single-use plastic bans help to significantly cut down on the amount of waste that reaches landfills each year and reduce the need for plastic production that contributes to global climate change. Additionally, it compels companies to reconsider their product designs and opt for more sustainable materials. Consumers are also encouraged to rethink their daily habits and abandon the throwaway culture our society is so accustomed to. 

 

The adoption of single-use plastic bans are crucial step towards moderating environmental impact and promoting sustainability. With the potential to prevent tons of plastic waste annually, reduce pollution, and shift societal attitudes toward responsible consumption, implementing these strategies at Penn State is imperative. Single-use plastic is everywhere in our community, from the take-out boxes from the dining hall to the plastic straws in our drinks from downtown. By taking a proactive approach to this pressing issue, Penn State has the opportunity to enact positive change in our community and contribute to a more sustainable planet for future generations. 

 

Sources:

https://www.nrdc.org/stories/single-use-plastics-101#ban

https://www.seasidesustainability.org/post/the-u-s-progress-with-single-use-plastic-bans

I am overall happy with how my This I Believe essay turned out. My original ideas were pretty broad and I really wanted to narrow it down, and for whatever the title “two is not always better than one” popped into my head and I thought of the story with my brother. I was unsure if the story had enough substance to continue with the idea, but I ended up finding a good moral of the story at the end. It’s usually a pretty funny story that I like to tell my friends and I refer to it as “my cheating scandal”, but I think the humor didn’t transfer as well in the essay. The most challenging part was trying to recite the audio essay in the same way I read the story in my head. It took me many tries and I ended up going with the first take I did, but it still wasn’t quite the way I wanted it.

Personal is Political: For this blog, I plan to use the free-ranging style and focus on different stories and topics from week to week. Some ideas I have for future blogs include my friend’s parents’ immigration story, my friend’s coming out story, and older women I look up to’s experience in the workplace. 

 

Civic Issues Blog: I plan to focus my Civics Issues Blog on sustainability specifically related to the fast-fashion industry and how it negatively impacts our environment.

I believe that two is not always better than one. As a twin, these words may sound harsh and unusual, seeing as most refer to their twin as their “other half”. While I love my brother dearly, this just isn’t the case for us. I learned this lesson, however, my sophomore year of high school when my brother and I were placed in the same math class. It was the year of covid and hybrid classes, and our first math test was scheduled to be taken at home. I was always a a rule follower and had never cheated on anything before, but when my brother asked if we could help each other out on the at-home test, I rationalized it in my head as it being completely fine. I wanted to help my brother out, and thought it might be nice to get some help for once, too. However, the next day in class when our tests were given back, I looked down at the grade and a pit immediately formed in my stomach. We both nearly failed our tests. 

 

We both had to stay after class and talk with our teacher, who knew that we had cheated since we both made the same unusual mistakes. We admitted that we worked together on our tests and apologized, but I couldn’t shake the awful feeling of what I had done. I felt so stupid. I probably could have done much better if I had just done the work on my own, but instead I allowed myself to doubt my abilities and believe I needed the help from my brother, which wasn’t much help at all. This situation taught me the importance of academic integrity and to trust your own capabilities without deferring to the help of others. (Sorry this ending is weak but its just a draft!)

One idea for my “This I Believe” podcast is the importance of mental health and well-being. In my psychology classes, I have learned a lot about the impact mental health challenges can have on people and their communities, and I think it is very important to remove the stigma around mental health issues in society. Especially as college students, many of us tend to prioritize other aspects of our lives over our mental health, and it can have a big negative impact on our well-being. Another idea I have is how college rejection can be difficult, but it leads students to find the place they are meant to be at. In my high school, I know a lot of people who had dream colleges they got rejected from, and while it can be very tough to experience, the rejection can be a necessary evil to finding the college that is right for you. Especially seeing everyone from high school over break and how well they are doing at the places they ended up, it really shows how everyone ends up where they are meant to be and it all works out in the end. 

 

For my Personal is Political blog, I have a friend who has parents who are undocumented immigrants, which I had never known about until recently. In Massachusetts, certain laws are changing so that undocumented immigrants can do more things in this country, such as obtaining a driver’s license, but there are also certain things that limit them, such as how they can’t travel outside of the country. I think it could be interesting to get some more information on their situation, including the issues they face now and why they chose to leave their country in the first place. I also have a friend who recently came out as bisexual in college, and I think it could be an interesting story to tell in a blog post. I could get more information about what coming out was like for her and if she thinks her experience was impacted by the fact that she came out in a very liberal area in a very liberal college, versus what it would be like to come out at home in our suburban town. 

 

For my Civics Issues blog, I think it would be interesting to focus on sustainability around the clothing industry and fast fashion. It’s not a topic I know very much about, but I would love to research it more and get a deeper understanding of the ways it impacts our environment. Another topic that fascinates me is the student debt issue in our country. I truly believe that something needs to be done about the rising costs of higher education and the growing debt issue that plagues many students today. I would love to find out more about proposed solutions to this issue and what can be done to lower the costs of college tuition in the future. 

One idea for the History of a Public Controversy Project that our group came up with was the Electoral College. The Electoral College is the process by which we elect the president of the United States every four years, requiring an allotment of at least 270 electoral votes out of a total of 538 to win the presidency. The controversy of this system stems from the fact that the winner of the electoral college vote can differ from the winner of the popular vote, occurring most recently in the 2016 election of Clinton vs. Trump and the 2000 election of Bush vs. Gore. Many people believe that the Electoral College system is unfair in this way and that the person who wins the most votes should be the president. The system was created centuries ago and was originally formed because leaders believed that regular voters weren’t informed enough to give them the full power to pick the president. Nowadays, however, many argue that voters have much more resources and knowledge to be informed about the candidates and that we should switch to a system of having the popular vote decide the president. I think this topic is super interesting and there is so much more to say about its controversy if we do decide to pick this as our topic.

 

Another idea our group had for the project was the controversy of teaching foreign languages in schools. More and more we are seeing foreign language classes in schools declining. Colleges are dropping foreign language requirements for students or even dropping full language departments, which schools like West Virginia University and the University of Wisconsin recently did in an effort to cut costs. Personally, I see great value in learning another language, and I think it should be a part of the curriculum at all schools. Some simply don’t see the benefits of receiving a foreign language education, and with teacher shortages and budget limitations in schools, it is an uphill battle for foreign language departments around the country.

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1l1_hf5AA3M9OR541wzBGELyir-cd0TOVsMo65vWQx9c/edit?usp=sharing

 

https://psu.voicethread.com/myvoice/thread/25175564/149779546/135840566

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie: The danger of a single story

 

The danger of a single story, by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, is one of my favorite TED Talks. I feel like it perfectly encapsulates why stereotypes are so harmful and how they confine and limit people to a single narrative. Adichie articulates this well in one of my favorite lines from the speech where she argues, “the single story creates stereotypes, and the problem with stereotypes is not that they are untrue, but that they are incomplete. They make one story become the only story”. Not only does she recount times when other people have confined her to a single story, she reflects on times where she too has misjudged and reduced others to a single story as well. I think this TED Talk is an important lesson for everyone about why we should look past stereotypes and preconceived notions, and reject the single stories we hear in our daily lives.

 

One idea for a topic for my Unit Two Project is the evolving attitudes in the way society reacts to and handles sexual assault cases, especially on college campuses. When I think of this topic, I am reminded of my one of my favorite books, Missoula: Rape and The Justice System in a College Town by John Krakauer, which is an investigation on campus rapes occuring in the college town of the University of Montana. These cases occured from the years of 2008-2012, and I think even in this past decade so much has changed in the way society, colleges, and the justice system manage these situations, and I think it would be interesting to research this topic further for my Unit Two Project. 

 

Another idea for my Unit Two Project is the changing attitudes about diet and health in society over time. In my biobehavioral health class, we’ve touched on obesity and how rates across the country have increased dramatically over the past few decades. I find this topic super interesting, because on one hand, I feel like there has collectively been a hyperfocus created on body image and being thinner recent years thanks to social media, but on the other hand there must be some shift in society and culture that has lead to the increase in overweight and obesity in our population over these past decades. This is something that I would be interested in exploring more for my Unit Two Project.