Choose an object that you often interact with that is typically considered to be a ‘green’ item, or one that is better for the environment more broadly compared to conventional versions. Try to search on the internet what ‘non-green’ factors go into its production, and what happens to it at the end of its life cycle. (Do no more than 30 minutes of searching and reading, unless you want to.) Include links to your sources.
Readings for this week:
Bosler, Cayte. “Plans To Dig the Biggest Lithium Mine in the US Face Mounting Opposition.” Inside Climate News. November 7, 2021. https://insideclimatenews.org/news/07112021/lithium-mining-thacker-pass-nevada-electric-vehicles-climate/
Pellow, David N. “The Global Village Dump: Trashing the Planet.” In Resisting Global Toxics: Transnational Movements for Environmental Justice. Urban and Industrial Environments. Cambridge, Mass: MIT Press, 2007, 97-146.
Tong, Xin, and Jici Wang. “The Shadow of the Global Network: E-Waste Flows to China.” In Economies of Recycling: The Global Transformation of Materials, Values, and Social Relations, edited by Joshua Reno and Catherine Alexander. New York: Zed Books, 2012, 98–116.