Primark on the Racks 30-09-14

Primark on the Rack

September 30, 2014

• A short summary of the documentary:
• Primark sells its products at extremely low prices. It claims that it treats its workers well and that all of its goods are made in factories. However, this is not the case:
• Primark's products have been found to be made on the streets of India, by both children and adults who are being payed far less than what they should be earning. Primark denied any knowledge of this happening.
• The documentary also brought up the following concerns:
• How is Primark able to sell its clothing at such inexpensive prices?
• It doesn't pay its workers enough, and doesn't treat them properly.
• Just because you buys products that cost more from other companies, are the items that you purchase any more likely to have been produced ethically?
• The less you pay for something, the more likely it is that the people who made it were payed enough (e.g. if something is worth $10, but is sold for only $3, then it is likely that that the workers were payed too little, so that the company could make a greater profit)

• Before the watching the documentary:
• I didn't know many details about this topic, especially in regards to Primark before I watched this documentary. I was vaguely aware that people aren't always treated well or payed enough when they make our stuff. I didn't really know many details about this, and hadn't given it much thought. I especially hadn't thought that stores that I buy things at may not actually treat their workers well, even if they claim to.

• After watching the documentary:
• I am now more aware and conscious of how my stuff was made, who made it, how they made it, and under what conditions. I have no idea how much of stuff has been made under unfair conditions, and it disturbs me to think that there is no good way of knowing for sure. I am also now more aware of how prices correlate with production of a product, I used to think it mainly to do with quality and material, and hadn't really thought about other factors that allow items to be sold at inexpensive prices.

People protesting against Primark:

• Questions that arose after watching the documentary:
• If there are other companies like Primark that lie about the treatment of their workers, then how can you be sure that what you buy was created by people working under good conditions? 
• How many companies are making false claims like Primark's?
• How much of what we purchase has actually been made ethically?
• How I can answer my questions:
• I don't think there is any easy way to find the answers to my questions. there is always the option of doing what the people in the documentary did: Tracking down where your products come from and how they were made. However, this isn't something that I can easily find time or money to do. Therefore it isn't the most realistic solution for me. There is always the option of researching and finding out more about a company, unfortunately you really have no way of knowing if the claims they make are true unless you- or someone else- can find out for yourself. It really all boils down to your own judgment of the company and the products you buy. I think avoiding products that are being sold at prices that don't seem to accurately reflect the item's worth will at least help somewhat. 

The documentary

Images

http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/44770000/jpg/_44770602_shirt_composite2_466.jpg 

http://metrouk2.files.wordpress.com/2014/03/wpid-article-1308297217697-0c987c9d00000578-734485_466x310.jpg

https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/378800000697567092/3a370b29d5393058aede8cc017d2c3ee.jpeg

http://static3.demotix.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/a_scale_large/2000-9/photos/1367690131-may-day-protesters-target-primark_2021899.jpg

Video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OWio7NVOnaI

Addicted to Plastic 23-09-2014

Addicted to Plastic

September 23, 2014

• In the film "Addicted to Plastic", two men talk about their experiences and what they have learned about plastic by tracking it down in our lives. Plastic is a great material, it can be changed to fit our needs, it can light, heavy, strong, colorful, clear, thick, or thin, depending on what we use it for... And we use it for almost everything. Two of the things people love about plastic is that it's disposable and relatively cheap. Even though plastic is such a versatile, adaptable, convenient, and seemingly foolproof material to use. But, as we all know, few things are so perfect that they don't have a catch... And what's the catch with plastic? It doesn't go away. A hundred years from now, the plastic you are using could still be around. This doesn't play out well for the environment, because it is toxic to many organisms and simply isn't a part of the environment that they evolved in. 
• All the plastic that has ever been made still exists, except for the plastic that has been incinerated.
• 80% of the debris found in the ocean, originated from land.
• There is no organism (that we know of) that is capable of degrading plastic. 

• Before watching the movie, I actually knew quite a bit about plastic and its negative affects on the environment because I had seen some TED Talks about related issues. For example, I knew that our oceans are full of plastic, and that the plastic is not going anywhere anytime soon. I also was aware of the extremely negative affects on organisms and our environment that it has. I knew that plastics can't be degraded, but also that there is a huge industry in alternative materials that we can use in the future.

The TED Talk I watched: 

(If you go to TED.com you can find many more videos related to this subject, I just didn't have to include them all) 

• Though I didn't find this documentary quite as engaging as "The Story of Stuff" that we previously watched, it still provoked lots of questions. For example: How can we clean plastic out of the ocean without disrupting the environment? Is it actually realistic to try to clean plastic out of the ocean and still expect to make a difference? I also began to wonder about the availability of plastic. If plastic is usually made from petroleum, and we use it at such a fast rate, how soon will we run out of petroleum? And though it isn't an ideal solution to our world's plastic situation, I found a little hope in the fact that eventually we would not be able to continue making plastics from petroleum products, and we would be forced to make bio-plastics. We always have the option of recycling the plastic we have, but if we do that, we still aren't disposing of the plastic into our environment. I also began to wonder what would happen once we ran out of petroleum. We always have alternatives, but maybe once the problem with natural resources becomes more real, maybe people will make bigger steps to using them more sustainably. Perhaps we would also start using more of the bio-degradable plastics that are made from plant products.

• Because I chose not to finish watching the film, I think that I might be able to find the answers to many of my questions later in the documentary itself. I could also research on the website "American Chemistry Council", because it includes a section devoted to plastics and sustainability, though it doesn't go into much detail. Another website I found that I think seems more useful is:
• http://www.sustainableplastics.org 
• I also found another website which states the complete opposite of what the documentary was about. However, I'm only sharing this to show more perspectives on plastic use, and I think their argument isn't actually valid based on the information they showed and lack of evidence for certain statements:
• http://www.curtec.com/en/sustainability-plastics 

The documentary: 

Images:

http://images.moviepostershop.com/addicted-to-plastic-movie-poster-2008-1020544792.jpg 

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0vu-n5VIR5h4fvNTBLQQh6hJdj98igr2b_X2ylYWeedBhE5UXl8FNc0cwpHSqEUbiFH75NbADJFpZFlAcNNVEArSXzt077QMfaVCystLBnybkA9N3aGukbJMiAnvNZeBqrYcnqLetdOw/s1600/How+long+until+its+gone.jpg

http://oceanicexplorer.files.wordpress.com/2012/09/ocean-plastic.png 

http://blog.wegowise.com/static/images/content/v1/recycling%20plastic%20statistics-resized-600.jpg

Videos:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tZnw-d_Axy8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fddYApFEWfY

The Story of Stuff 13-09-14

The Story Of Stuff

September 9, 2014

• A very short summary: The documentary told you about how things were produced and how our consumerist society works. Basically: 

1) The government needs to keep the economy running.
2) It makes sure that we, being the people, keep BUYING and CONSUMING. 

3) Unfortunately, production is carried out in an extremely unsustainable, inhumane, and unsafe (for workers especially) way.

A few other points- The stuff we by is designed to break (see the diagram below of a quote next to a man)! That way we keep BUYING! Production of goods goes through a "cycle" that doesn't connect the beginning and ends: Basically we take as much as we can from the Earth and return it as toxic waste. Most of what we buy ends up being thrown away within only six months.

• Before watching the video I had thought that our society was very material and "stuff" oriented, but was absolutely blown away by both the extent of it and the U.S. government's role (I'm assuming that many other countries are like this, but perhaps not be to the same extent) in making it this way. I'd never really thought about the government's direct interference with our consumption of products or that they interfered with it to such any large extent. I was aware that the rate we consume things and how they are produced is very unsustainable, but I was alarmed by how MUCH we consume and the impact this will have on the future. I was also extremely unsettled by corporations ability to turn a blind eye on the way they treated people at all points in the production model and the way they could completely disregard the necessity of our planet's upkeep.

Yikes... This part was quite astounding and perturbing.

• My reaction to the video can basically be summed up as: How can people be so STUPID? Our entire structure of life -extreme consumerism- is flawed. We take more from people and the earth than we can give, yet ignore the implications and obvious debacle and disastrous future we are setting up for ourselves and future generations. Why aren't we doing more to change our way of living? Some people are doing things to help, but unless everyone tries to change things, nothing will happen... And the government having less power than corporations? That's extremely disturbing. How can that actually be changed if the one thing that should be able to make a difference easily -the government- cannot do so? People could try to change this, but how would we go about doing that? What can be done to make a major positive impact on the world? What would need to be done? How would you get enough people involved? And finally: How much can we actually change? Some things we can't fix -loss of natural recourses- and some things we can only prevent. If we do everything we can to protect our future, our people, and our planet, will we actually have enough natural resources to survive in the future? 

The video:

And finally:

Images:

http://thesociallyconsciousblog.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/StoryofStuff_poster1.png 

http://www.brainpickings.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/quote1.png

 http://www.priceofzero.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/The-Story-of-Stuff-Act-Now.png

http://rootsinquicksand.files.wordpress.com/2012/08/sochange_equation1.png

http://divergentmba.files.wordpress.com/2011/04/screen-shot-2011-04-11-at-10-08-24-am1.png

Video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9GorqroigqM