scholarly journals From troublesome materials to fluid technologies: making and playing with plastic-bag footballs

2017 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 301-318 ◽  
Author(s):  
Natascha Klocker ◽  
Paul Mbenna ◽  
Chris Gibson
Keyword(s):  
Developing World ◽  
Environmental Concern ◽  
Young Men ◽  
Plastic Bags ◽  
Local Contexts ◽  
Plastic Bag ◽  
Made In

The material recalcitrance of plastic bags – evident in their refusal to decompose and their capacity to evade neat disposal – is a widespread source of environmental concern and frustration. Yet throughout the Majority (developing) World, the incessant materiality of plastic affords boys and young men an opportunity to make footballs (soccer balls) out of waste. Made in situ, plastic-bag footballs are uniquely suited to local contexts and landscapes – a resourceful technology assembled from otherwise troublesome materials. Plastic-bag footballs are also fluid: perpetually in-the-making and characterized by diverse states of working order. Insights garnered from discussions with young Tanzanian football-makers and players position plastic-bag footballs against neocolonial discourses of poverty and precarity. Meanwhile attentiveness to the socio-material relations of plastic-bag footballs makes plain that they are not inferior technologies. Plastic-bag footballs invite consideration of how humans live, materially, in the Anthropocene. Plastic bags typify the ecological crises of throwaway consumerism and malignant toxicity. Yet, we ask: could it be that plastic-bag footballs exemplify the material resourcefulness, skill, care for things – and even playfulness – needed to cope with these very crises?

Problem and Countermeasure on Promoting the Plastic Bag Ban of USA

2015 ◽  
Vol 768 ◽  
pp. 787-796 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhong Guo Li ◽  
Justin S. Richter
Keyword(s):  
Policy Implementation ◽  
Environmental Concern ◽  
Impact Categories ◽  
Coastal Cities ◽  
Plastic Bags ◽  
Global Environmental ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Plastic Bag ◽  
Problem And Countermeasure ◽  
Global Environmental Concern

Plastic bag pollution is a growing global environmental concern. Several countries have recently approved bans on the use and distribution of plastic bags. In the USA, 22 of the 50 states have adopted multiple city/county ordinances. Most of these bans are introduced in coastal cities/counties. The local drivers, i.e. economy, geography, benefit, life-style, cost of living, and educational attainment, all impact the level and commitment to plastic bag bans. Currently, battles between support and opposition to these bans are typically financially driven; jobs and environmental health being main impact categories. This paper identifies several problems affecting the complete adoption of plastic bag bans in the USA, and gives some corresponding strategies to enhance the effectiveness and success of policy implementation.

3. Plastic Bag Suffocation

1993 ◽  
Vol 33 (1) ◽  
pp. 71-75 ◽  
Author(s):  
A L Perez Martinez ◽  
P Chui ◽  
J. M Cameron
Keyword(s):  
Cause Of Death ◽  
Volatile Substances ◽  
Plastic Bags ◽  
Plastic Bag ◽  
Plastic Bag Suffocation

Suffocation by plastic bag is not common. The finding of a body at the scene of death with a plastic bag in situ could be diagnostically valuable to the pathologist. Otherwise the pathologist may be hard put to arrive at a firm opinion as to how the deceased met his/her death; in fact, in three of the cases reported in this paper, the local pathologist could not give a cause of death when the initial autopsy was performed. Plastic bags could be accidentally placed over the head; put there to help in the inhalation of volatile substances; with homicidal intention; or simply as an effective suicidal method. The object of this paper is to study the cases where bodies were found with a plastic bag over the head, and in particular the cases where the cause of death was due to plastic bag suffocation.

scholarly journals Considerations, benefits and unintended consequences of banning plastic shopping bags for environmental sustainability: A systematic literature review

2021 ◽  
pp. 0734242X2110039
Author(s):  
Asphat Muposhi ◽  
Mercy Mpinganjira ◽  
Marius Wait
Keyword(s):  
Literature Review ◽  
Systematic Literature Review ◽  
Environmental Sustainability ◽  
Self Regulation ◽  
Policy Option ◽  
Unintended Consequences ◽  
Transient Nature ◽  
Plastic Bags ◽  
Plastic Bag ◽  
Foamed Plastics

Although the ban on plastic bags is gaining in prominence as a policy option to manage plastic bag litter, there are mixed views on its rationale and effectiveness. This study employs a systematic literature review to understand considerations, benefits and unintended consequences of banning plastic bags. The review’s results pointed to the limited success of a plastic bag ban owing to lack of suitable alternatives, limited state capacity to monitor and enforce the ban, thriving black market, structural and instrumental power of the plastic industry. The power of the industry was manifested by the covert practice of deflecting accountability to consumers by focusing on business-oriented solutions, including an inclination towards self-regulation. The findings of this study underscored the need for a global treaty to address the transient nature of plastic bag litter and moving away from the symbolic gesture of targeting only plastic shopping bags but considering the environmental impact of all forms of plastic such as straws, foamed plastics, plastic bottles and caps. There is a general consensus in literature that the end of plastic shopping bags is not nigh due to their utilitarian benefits. This study therefore recommends the promotion of a circular economy focusing on ecological modernisation, sustainable plastic bag manufacturing and recovery strategies such as recycling as a long-term strategy. A significant strand of literature reviewed also recommends the adoption of community-driven approaches such as voluntary initiatives as opposed to a plastic bag ban as they proved to be effective in promoting environmental citizenship behaviours in countries such as Finland.

scholarly journals Effectiveness of intervention on behaviour change against use of non-biodegradable plastic bags: a systematic review

2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Gbadebo Collins Adeyanju ◽  
Teslin Maria Augustine ◽  
Stefan Volkmann ◽  
Usman Adetunji Oyebamiji ◽  
Sonia Ran ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Behaviour Change ◽  
Methodological Quality ◽  
Journal Articles ◽  
Inclusion Criteria ◽  
Government Regulations ◽  
Plastic Bags ◽  
Regulatory Strategy ◽  
Plastic Bag ◽  
Single Use ◽  
Biological Decomposition

AbstractThe devastating impacts that bio-degradable products such as plastic bags are having on human health, wildlife, and the environment is enormous, especially single-use once. Single-use plastics are non-biodegradable products and does not undergo biological decomposition nor degenerate. This review examines various government regulations targeted at changing behaviour against plastic bags consumption and their effectiveness. Following a rigorous search in 13 databases, including PubMed, Science Direct, Springer Nature, etc. only 17 peer-reviewed journal articles that are published between 2000 and 2019 and met the inclusion criteria were included in the study. Each study’s methodological quality was assessed using the GRADE system, and data were extracted using a uniquely designed form. The results revealed that regulations based solely on the thickness of plastic bags does not reduce plastic bags consumption. However, regulations focused on banning ‘single-use’ plastic bag usage, imposing higher taxes and levies on consumers, significantly reduce plastic bags consumption. Overall, the latter is considered the most effective. Also, the results show that attitude, perception and behaviour change toward bio-degradable products or climate-friendly behaviour can be significantly influenced by public policy or regulations. Although the behaviour seems short-lived in some countries, therefore further studies need to probe on why. Also, the absence of a national regulatory strategy in North America reduced the inclusion of studies from the region, hence need for more research focusing on sub-national regulations.

Engaging with the science and politics of biodiversity futures: a literature review

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-8
Author(s):  
Carina Wyborn ◽  
Elena Louder ◽  
Mike Harfoot ◽  
Samantha Hill
Keyword(s):  
Human Life ◽  
Global Environmental Change ◽  
Life Forms ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Global Environmental ◽  
Science And Politics ◽  
Science Community ◽  
Impact On Biodiversity ◽  
Made In

Summary Future global environmental change will have a significant impact on biodiversity through the intersecting forces of climate change, urbanization, human population growth, overexploitation, and pollution. This presents a fundamental challenge to conservation approaches, which seek to conserve past or current assemblages of species or ecosystems in situ. This review canvases diverse approaches to biodiversity futures, including social science scholarship on the Anthropocene and futures thinking alongside models and scenarios from the biophysical science community. It argues that charting biodiversity futures requires processes that must include broad sections of academia and the conservation community to ask what desirable futures look like, and for whom. These efforts confront political and philosophical questions about levels of acceptable loss, and how trade-offs can be made in ways that address the injustices in the distribution of costs and benefits across and within human and non-human life forms. As such, this review proposes that charting biodiversity futures is inherently normative and political. Drawing on diverse scholarship united under a banner of ‘futures thinking’ this review presents an array of methods, approaches and concepts that provide a foundation from which to consider research and decision-making that enables action in the context of contested and uncertain biodiversity futures.

scholarly journals Bacteriostatic Effect of a Calcined Waste Clamshell-Activated Plastic Film for Food Packaging

Materials ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 11 (8) ◽  
pp. 1370 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chien-Ya Kao ◽  
Yen-Chieh Huang ◽  
Sheng-Yi Chiu ◽  
Ko-Liang Kuo ◽  
Pai-An Hwang
Keyword(s):  
Food Packaging ◽  
Antibacterial Properties ◽  
Viable Count ◽  
Migration Test ◽  
Bacteriostatic Effect ◽  
Fish Fillet ◽  
Plastic Bags ◽  
Plastic Bag ◽  
Raw Fish ◽  
Metal Migration

The addition of calcined waste clamshells (CCS) into polyethylene (PE) plastic bags imparts antibacterial properties due to the presence of CaO. In this study, different proportions of calcined waste clamshells were added to PE to explore its bacteriostatic effects. The PE plastic bags with 9% and 11% of CCS exhibited antibacterial efficacy. Further, total aerobic viable count (TVC) values for raw fish fillet packaging in 9% and 11% CCS-PE plastic bags for five days were similar to the 0% CCS-PE plastic bag group after three days of incubation. In addition, the CCS-PE plastic bag demonstrated stability against solvents when examined using the metal migration test under heptane, ethanol, and acetic acid treatments. The results revealed that the CCS-PE bag retains its CaO bacteriostatic efficacy and that the addition of CCS powder to PE prolongs the shelf life of raw fish fillets, as well as mitigating safety concerns from metal leakage.

Public Policy Evaluation on Limitation of The Use of Plastics Bags based on Social Marketing Perspective

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 190-207
Author(s):  
Cheryl Pricilla Bensa
Keyword(s):  
Private Sector ◽  
Social Marketing ◽  
Plastic Waste ◽  
Outreach Programs ◽  
Target Behavior ◽  
Plastic Bags ◽  
Change Behavior ◽  
Plastic Bag ◽  
The Government ◽  
Quota Sampling

The plastic bag diet campaign has been carried out by many parties including government agencies, but the campaign is feared to only reach the cognitive stage, not a meaningful change in attitude. Many campaigns on the problem of plastic waste have been carried out from NGOs, the private sector, and the government, but what is wrong so as to the problem of plastic waste continues to occur? Why does the problem of plastic waste still stop at the campaign without a comprehensive behavior implementation of the community? The research method was a survey using quota sampling and descriptive. The population people in Balikpapan, Jakarta and Surabaya. The campaign to limit plastic bags can be successful if there is a synergy of the regulators; the government and NGOs, the private sector such as retailers, and the community. The related parties are expected to design a campaign in accordance with the social marketing model. Moreover, the related parties must also conduct formative research of the target behavior: the community about plastic waste and the extent to which the related parties must endeavor so that it can be known what audience benefits are most appropriate in formulating a campaign. In the implementation of social marketing, related parties have to clearly formulate the target behavior that exists so that people are not confused and have one voice. In addition, policies must also be upheld to support and maintain the results of social marketing to be sustainable. Moreover, educational and outreach programs that can change behavior about the environment will also help future generations to reduce pollution of plastic waste.

scholarly journals THE STUDYOF IN-SITU MARINE PHOTOSYNTHESIS USING A LARGE PLASTIC BAG

1961 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 93-96 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. D. H. STRICKLAND ◽  
L.D.B. TERHUNE
Keyword(s):  
Plastic Bag

scholarly journals Sources and sinks of acetone, methanol, and acetaldehyde in North Atlantic marine air

2005 ◽  
Vol 5 (7) ◽  
pp. 1963-1974 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. C. Lewis ◽  
J. R. Hopkins ◽  
L. J. Carpenter ◽  
J. Stanton ◽  
K. A. Read ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
North Atlantic ◽  
Degradation Mechanism ◽  
Chemical Degradation ◽  
Oh Radical ◽  
Detailed Model ◽  
Atmospheric Lifetime ◽  
Sources And Sinks ◽  
Marine Air ◽  
Made In

Abstract. Measurements of acetone, methanol, acetaldehyde and a range of non-methane hydrocarbons have been made in North Atlantic marine air at the Mace Head observatory. Under maritime conditions the combination of OVOCs (acetone, methanol and acetaldehyde) contributed up to 85% of the total mass of measured non methane organics in air and up to 80% of the OH radical organic sink, when compared with the sum of all other organic compounds including non-methane hydrocarbons, DMS and OH-reactive halocarbons (trichloromethane and tetrachloroethylene). The observations showed anomalies in the variance and abundance of acetaldehyde and acetone over that expected for species with a remote terrestrial emission source and OH controlled chemical lifetime. A detailed model incorporating an explicit chemical degradation mechanism indicated in situ formation during air mass transport was on timescales longer than the atmospheric lifetime of precursor hydrocarbons or primary emission. The period over which this process was significant was similar to that of airmass motion on intercontinental scales, and formation via this route may reproduce that of a widespread diffuse source. The model indicates that continued short chain OVOC formation occurs many days from the point of emission, via longer lived intermediates of oxidation such as organic peroxides and long chain alcohols.

scholarly journals Progress on Coronal, Interplanetary, Foreshock, and Outer Heliospheric Radio Emissions

2000 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 22-34 ◽  
Author(s):  
Iver H. Cairns ◽  
P. A. Robinson ◽  
G. P. Zank
Keyword(s):  
Solar Wind ◽  
Plasma Waves ◽  
Recent Theory ◽  
Type Ii ◽  
Solar Radio Bursts ◽  
Radio Emissions ◽  
Source Regions ◽  
Earth’S Bow Shock ◽  
Made In

AbstractType II and III solar radio bursts are associated with shock waves and streams of energetic electrons, respectively, which drive plasma waves and radio emission at multiples of the electron plasma frequency as they move out from the corona into the interplanetary medium. Analogous plasma waves and radiation are observed from the foreshock region upstream of Earth's bow shock. In situ spacecraft observations in the solar wind have enabled major progress to be made in developing quantitative theories for these phenomena that are consistent with available data. Similar processes are believed responsible for radio emissions at 2–3 kHz that originate in the distant heliosphere, from where the solar wind interacts with the local interstellar medium. The primary goal of this paper is to review the observations and theories for these four classes of emissions, focusing on recent progress in developing detailed theories for the plasma waves and radiation in the source regions. The secondary goal is to introduce and review stochastic growth theory, a recent theory which appears quantitatively able to explain the wave observations in type III bursts and Earth's foreshock and is a natural theory to apply to type II bursts, the outer heliospheric emissions, and perhaps astrophysicalemissions.

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