Anabel Davis

Annotated Bibliography 1

After researching American attitudes about environmental problems I found the Gallup website.  This organization assesses public opinion on a wide range of political, social, and economic issues, including the hopes and fears of people around the globe, their leisure-time activities, their morals and manners, and their religious beliefs.  In an April 2013 survey, Gallup reported that most Americans still prioritize the economic over the environment.  For the 5th consecutive year, more Americans are interested in protecting economic growth than in protecting the environment. This year's 48% to 43% split represents a relatively narrow advantage for the economy and was similar to previous reports (April 2013).

 

This national survey also looked at party affiliation, age, and gender and found differences in each groups views.  For example, democrats show majority support for environmental protection.  Women and people aged less than 50 are evenly divided in their views on whether the environment or the economy is more important.  In contrast, men, Republicans, and older adults favor the economic growth over environmental protections.

 

In another Gallup poll reported in April 2012, worry about U.S. water and air pollution was at historical lows.   In this 2012 national poll Americans expressed record-low concern about both air pollution and pollution of drinking water. Thirty-six percent said they worry a great deal about air pollution and 48% about pollution of drinking water. These statistics are down more than 20 percentage points from the year 2000.  This poll charts about level of concern about 7 key environmental issues such as contamination of soil and water by toxic waste, pollution of drinking water, and pollution of rivers, lakes, and reservoirs, loss of tropical rain forests, extinction of plant and animals, climate change, and air pollution.  The data is compared by year. There seems to be the greatest deal of concern for contamination of soil and water by toxic waste and pollution of drinking water are the biggest concerns by Americans but only around 50 percent show a great deal of concern in 2012.  Surprisingly, the lowest concern was climate change with only 30 percent showing a great deal of concern.

 

These national polls are interesting to me because there are many serious environmental issues on our planet.  These polls gave me some ideas about looking at environmental issues and concerns by gender, age, and politics.  Women, younger people and Democrats seem to care more about these issues.  I would also like to know if people are concerned about plastic pollution and electronic waste.  I am curious if college students recycle their electronics, how many cell phones they have owned, if they purchase single use plastic bottles every day.  I would like to see if they have any concern about the pollution they create and if students are motivated to refuse, reuse, and recycle or even bike or bus to school instead of driving.

 

Works Cited

 

Saad, Lydia. More Americans Still Prioritize Economy Over Environment.  Gallop.  3 Apr. 2013.

http://www.gallup.com/poll/161594/americans-prioritize-economy-environment.aspx  retrieved Oct. 17, 2013     

 

Jones. Jeffrey M.   Worry About U.S. Water, Air Pollution at Historical Lows.  Gallop. 13 Apr. 2012.

http://www.gallup.com/poll/153875/Worry-Water-Air-Pollution-Historical-Lows.aspx retrieved Oct. 17, 2013

 

 

Annotated Bibliography 2

I have been exploring Internet addiction and problems associated with it. As a consequence of Internet addiction and excessive consumption patterns we have created a mountain of electronic waste.  I am curious if people are aware of or concerned about the toxic pollution generated by electronics like cell phones, computers, and anything with a circuit board. Through my Internet research I came across a 7 minute video by Annie Leonard called The Story of Electronics.  She made this video in 2011 to promote the manufacturing of safer, recyclable electronics.                                   

 

In her Story of Electronics video she uses her signature butcher paper and stick figures to make it easier to understand the complicated subject of e-waste (this was her 3rd video production). In her educational video she describes all the different factors of how electronic wastes even starts. There are companies that build all the pieces then are sent to the main one to be put all together. Then they are shipped off to the stores around the world.  She argues that the big companies who make these electronics create products that are “designed for the dump.”   Electronic products are designed to quickly become obsolete and hard to upgrade.  This design strategy causes us to keep buying new products and cultivates our addiction to cutting edge technology.  Our old products end up in landfills, recycle centers, or dumped on third world countries.  She claims that every year 25 tons of ewaste gets dumped burned or recycled. Leonard describes how toxic ewaste is to the poor people who try to dismantle it and how horrible ewaste is to the communities that become polluted from it. What I like most about Annie Leonard’s short film is that she sheds light on the electronics industry’s role in pollution creation and not just the consumers.  I don’t ever see a world without cell phones or computers or flat screen TVs, but I would hope that cleaner, longer lasting, and fixable products would be promoted.  It would be interesting to find out how much people know about e-waste or if they are concerned about disposal.  Are people frustrated about the short life and the expense of consumer electronics.  Are people aware of the impact of e-waste India, Nigeria, and China?

 

Worked Cited                                        

Leonard, Annie. The Story of Electronics. November 2011 http://storyofstuff.org/movies/story-of-electronics.

 

Annotated Bibliography 3

After watching Annie Leonard’s The Story of Electronics, I decided to read a little more about the creator. Leonard has a long history of environmental activism before she created the animated documentary about the life cycle of material goods, The Story of Stuff (2007). She served on numerous environmental justice boards and held positions with Greenpeace International and Health Care Without Harm. In 2008 she was named one of Time Magazine's Heroes of the Environment. She is an investigative reporter and works to find sustainable ways to meet our material needs. While researching electronic waste I came across the interesting title The iPhone and Consumer Guilt written in March 2012. I read the article first and thought it raised very important points and was pleasantly surprised that is was written by Annie Leonard.                                       

 

Even though I’m aware of the tremendous burden of electronics have on the planet, I want the latest iPhone. In Leonards Huffington Post article she teaches the reader/consumer “that companies target consumers by creating desires we didn't know we had and meeting them with cheap shiny gadgets we didn't know we needed. And when the companies get caught trashing the environment or mistreating their workers, everyone blames the customers -- that's us -- for demanding cheap shiny gadgets.” This makes sense to me. I feel guilty that I want these things but have been unaware how manipulative these companies are. For example $130 billion was spent on advertising in the United States in 2010. Apple alone spent almost $1 billion on advertising to get us to upgrade or purchase that the latest ipod, ipad, macbook, or iphone version. They add new features and “tweak the designs just enough that the hippest users can tell at a glance if you're a loser who's still using last year's model.”  According to Leonard, “that's not just planned obsolescence, it's perceived obsolescence.”  The author gives a few examples where people claim consumers are responsible child labor, poor working conditions, and pollution.  We have all heard that we should vote with our pocketbook and make smart consumer choices like fair trade and green products.                    

 

Leonard does not say we are powerless to make ethical choices with our purchases or that our choices can't influence the marketplace. She does claim “the problem with believing the best way to make change is by voting with our pocketbooks is that it defines us as consumers, not citizens. It implies that the most important choices are made in the supermarket aisles rather than in the halls of government and corporate towers.”  I agree with Leonard that “the most important ethical choice is not the decision to buy an iPhone, but the decision made on how to make, market and sell it.”

 

She challenges us to  stop thinking like consumers and think like citizens. She says we should shun products from companies whose behavior offends us but also “realize we can work to change not just the way they act but the way they're allowed to act. Only when every manufacturer of Stuff is required to make it safely and fairly will we know that no matter what we buy, the important choices have already been made.”            

 

Her article made me think about how to find greener electronics and to find out who the most toxic companies are.  She also challenged me to find ways to donate or recycle my products.  My biggest challenge will be to resist the advertising machine that pushes me to want more, bigger, and better.

 

Work Cited

Annie Leonard. The Story of Stuff. 2007. http://storyofstuff.org/movies/story-of-stuff/

 

Annotated Bibliography 4

As noted above, I have been researching internet addiction and the many social and environmental problems associated with it. In a recent article Docs to Parents: Limit Kids’ Texts, Tweets, Online Lindsey Tanner describes the new American Academy of Pediatrics policy recommendations on media limits. This policy was recently published in the journal Pediatrics. Under the new policy parents are encouraged to limit the Internet for entertainment, including Facebook, Twitter, TV and movies; but online homework is the exception. This policy also recommends that television should be banned from children's bedrooms and teens bedrooms. Some research shows that U.S. children aged 8 to 18 spend an average of more than seven hours daily using some kind of entertainment media. It is estimated that 75% of youth aged 12 to 17 own cell phones most with texting and many with Internet access. According to the report young people now spend time more time with media than they do in school.

 

I agree that heavy Internet exposure can influence young people with less maturity. I’m am not sure what the appropriate limits should be. I think its important to add that much of the time spent with tablets and computers and cell phones is sedentary. Young and old all need to move more and get more exercise. We have a serious overweight and obesity epidemic in the U.S. Also important to note is the lack of concern in these discussions about child safety is the impact of wifi and 4g on brain development and cancer risk. I have also noticed that electronic waste is rarely discussed and needs to be a part of media literacy.

 

Work Cited

Lindsey Tanner. Docs to Parents: Limit Kids’ Texts, Tweets, Online. October 2013. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/28/doctors-kids-media-use_n_4170182.html

 

Annotated Bibliography 5

While conducting research for my memo I found a news report on the Effects of Gender on Climate Change Knowledge and Concern in the American Public by Aaron M. McCright. McCright looked at eight years of Gallup data on climate change knowledge and concern in the U.S. general public and separated the data by gender. Overall i was surprised that in general most Americans express a low level of concern about climate change. More surprising was women convey greater scientific knowledge of climate change than men yet they underestimate their climate change knowledge more than men. McCright believes this gender divide is explained by “gender socialization” and that boys in the United States learn that masculinity emphasizes detachment, control and mastery. He argues a feminine identity, on the other hand, stresses attachment, empathy and care – traits that may make it easier to feel concern about the potential dire consequences of global warming.

 

When I think of famous people for their role in computer development and technology I think of Bill Gates Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerberg, and Ev Williams. In the technology world there are many men in positions of power and I wonder about their level of concern about environmental issues and more specifically their role in reducing electronic waste. This information is disturbing because everyone has a role to play in protecting the environment and there should not be a gender divide on environmental issues. This study also show the more educated you are on a topic the more you care. The big question is how do we teach men to care when woman bare the effects of climate change much more than men on a global level.

 

Work Cited

Aaron McCright. Effects of Gender on Climate Change Knowledge and Concern in the American Public. 4 September 2010 http://msutoday.msu.edu/news/2010/study-women-mor e-likely-than-men-to-accept-global-warming/