The three issues I will be exploring are the shortcomings of recycling in consideration of cosmetics, the effect of industrialized food sources, and the attack on family planning and birth control.
The first issue in which I will be exploring is a critique of recycling. At this point in time, America’s waste is 75% recyclable material, yet only around 30% of it actually gets recycled. This has a lot to do with the societal indifference to recycling; it’s not always convenient or in our stream of consciousness, so we collectively don’t do it. But it’s not only the average person’s fault, it actually has a lot to do with the institution of waste disposal as a whole. Often it is not entirely clear what materials are recyclable, where to take certain materials to be recycled, or it ma even be that there is not a market for a certain recyclable material. It is in this last point where I find my specific issue. As a person who likes makeup (and buys a lot of it), as well as a decently environmentally conscious person, I always find myself conflicted on what to do with a cosmetics container after I finish all the product. Most plastic compacts and glass foundation bottles are made of pretty hefty material, something that to the touch is obviously is going to be in a landfill for a long time. I can concern myself however much I want over this, but it doesn’t change the fact that there is nothing on a systematic level I can do about it. I have no other choice than to throw it away to pollute the earth because there is simply no other option. While there are some recycling incentive programs from makeup companies– MAC being the only one I can think of that will give you a free product for used up packaging– they are few and far between. It has been found that women will spend an average of fifteen thousand dollars on makeup in their lifetime, making for a lot of waste that could be recycled and repurposed.
The environmental effects of industrialized food systems is the second issue I am going to explore. As with recycling, I observe that a lot of people are very passive about their food; they eat without thinking about where their food came from and how it came to be. This is concerning in effects of power, health, and the environment. In consideration of power, only 6 companies control most everything having to do with agriculture, every brand of food, thusly choking out local farmers. With so much power being controlled by so few, food production is controlled and manipulated without much intervention or say, and often without the public knowing anything about it. In consideration of health, the nutrients found in food have declined as a sacrifice for high yields in industrialized agriculture. Pesticides have been found to impose health risks, as well as the antibiotics found in meat can lead to the production of antibiotic resistant bacteria in humans. The way in which large agricultural companies are sacrificing the health of the consumers in order to produce more is a concerning issue. Additionally, it is crucial to look at the environmental impacts of industrialized food sources. With the excessive size of agriculture and the fertilizers and pesticides used in the fields, there is a disregard for soil and water quality. In factory farming, confined areas house hundreds of animals in poor conditions enable a complete disregard of animal welfare. All in all, the industrialized approach to food that has a stronghold in America imposes a large threat in multiple areas. It is not a sustainable approach to food, but the institutionalization of it makes it hard to avoid or combat– but not impossible. This, then, makes the issue of promoting sustainable food sourcing; by being aware of the institutionalization of food and choosing to buy from local sources will make for a positive impact on public health and the environment.
The third issue I will be exploring is family planning and the necessity for affordable and accessible birth control. With the era of Trump unfortunately upon us, it is a well known fact that republican politicians are determined on making abortion illegal, as already shown by Trump reinstating the “global gag rule” for abortion. This gag rule spans internationally, barring federal funding from organizations that provide or “promote” abortion as a pregnancy alternative. Basically, a federally funded doctor cannot tell a woman about abortion as an option, nor can they refer her to abortion providers. But if republicans are so adamant about ending abortion, why are they also so obsessed with the action of shutting down every preventionary birth control method? Another well known fact is that Planned Parenthood is under attack and at high risk of being defunded, but it is also the most used facility across the nation that women got to for family planning and pregnancy prevention? Not only does Planned Parenthood offer cancer screenings, STI testing, and information counseling, but they also offer affordable birth control options to millions of women across America. But to the government, none of this matters because they also perform abortions– though it is only 3% of their utilized services. Targeting Planned Parenthood is a direct attack on a womans autonomy and health, making it an immediate issue.
The issue I am choosing to delve into for the rest of the semester is the attack on birth control and the necessity for family planning. I chose to pursue this topic because it is a very immediate problem that is very personal to me and a lot of other women. This issue is related to the three P’s of sustainability as it affects people, the planet, and with better governmental logistics, will not have an effect on profit. In the first consideration, the government’s imposition on family planning is a direct attack on people. With the defunding of these programs, specifically Planned Parenthood, accessibility and affordability for contraceptives will be eliminated for a large population of women; lower income families will be most affected by this, demonstrating a classist attack on an already at-risk population. Planned Parenthood and those that provide services like them make life safer, and even save lives on a day to day basis, showing family planning and birth control’s strong effect on people. Next, the planet is already plagued by overpopulation; by not preventing and then forcing the birth of unwanted children, America’s population and resource depletion will happen at an accelerated rate. Thirdly, profit. By eliminating access to contraceptives and abortion services, you are imposing a huge financial burden on women and families, especially those who can hardly afford to live themselves. The cost of a hospital stay to give birth can be anywhere from eight- to sixteen-thousand dollars, even with insurance. That isn’t even taking in mind the prenatal services that are required, nor the ~three-hundred thousand dollars it takes to raise a child over eighteen years. On top of that, the only benefit of cutting the five-hundred million dollar federal funding of Planned Parenthood (aside from the sideways Christian-influenced position on protecting a lump of cells up until the point of birth in which the government no longer cares about your life, cough) is that the government can now use that money towards the ~six-hundred billion already invested in defense. Financially, cutting federal funding from family planning services is classist and just simply does not make sense in the broad scheme of federal budgeting.
I intend to explore this issue throughout the semester by keeping up with and researching the Trump administration’s decisions on this topic, and making sure others are informed as well. The challenges that I might experience include ethical disagreement on stances of abortion, as well as the looming reality that Trump and his administration is going to do whatever he wants with a woman’s body, whether he has the support of women or not, and how to move forward with that in mind to enact change.