Every year Americans use approximately 50 billion plastic water bottles. A product that is well known to be harmful to the environment as well as humans. I propose that we replace plastic bottles/liquid containers with glass ones or replace the large majority of them. This would include energy drinks, all alcoholic beverages, milks, juices, etc. Any drink that is purchased in a store and is often packaged in a plastic bottle.. Glass can be recycled indefinitely and does not release any toxic chemicals or micro-pieces that plastic does. The arguments made for glass being harmful for the environment are the minerals required to make it along with the co2 emissions it produces in production as well as shipping. Already glass bottles are up to 30% made from recycled glass, if we are able to recycle all glass bottlesWith having a designated bin separate from other recyclables there could be a collection system that collects them and brings them to places to be reshaped and sent out for selling once again. If businesses, especially smaller businesses had a system where you could return bottles once you’re done (Allandale Farm in Boston, MA has this system for some products) this would bypass the outside requirements for collection for some establishments.

Plastic bottles are profitable with it costing between 15 and 65 cents to make and are sold with them costing typically around 1.50 – 2.00 USD. Glass on the other hand is more expensive, part of the reason why plastic is used much more often than glass, however the current usage of plastic bottles is not sustainable given that the vast majority are not recycled, they don’t go away, and are very harmful to the planet. Another reason glass is thought to not be as good as plastic is that it breaks easily, but considering the impacts it has on people and the environment I think it is not such a huge ask for people to just be more careful not to break them. 

So in short; replace plastic bottles with glass ones, have glass bottle collection systems so none gets wasted, be able to return used ones to stores, and businesses need to be ok with not making a bigger profit margin.

In a utopian world with little to no waste associated with clothing, there would need to be a significant de-emphasizing of production and a focus instead on repairs, alterations, and upcycling or downcycling. Clothing is one place where this could be done with perhaps less innovation than other items. Decreasing the production of new garments would be the most significant change to the current way of doing things, and also one of the most impactful. If there is less new stuff being produced, choosing to alter, mend, and pass down or acquire second-hand clothing would be much easier. The best way to encourage all of these practices is to make them the easiest option for individuals. 

Corporations are another situation. In our current capitalist system, corporations would likely be unwilling to produce significantly less, even if they could sell it for more. If the goal of businesses was instead to produce valuable and useful items rather than just make a profit, there would likely be a lot less resistance to a high-quality low quantity production approach. 

As technology continues to adapt and change, along with the accessibility of online documents and other sources to create a digital footprint, the less and less the need of graphite and ink becomes as everything has slowly gone onto the computer. Photoshop, Adobe, ArtBreeder, all are current and popular ways of creating art. So, what is the future of art? Will everything be on holographic screens where people can touch, draw and write without the need of physical utensils? If you’ve seen Iron Man (the first one with Robert Downey Jr.), Tony Stark has these interactive holograms that he uses instead of pencil and paper. Less mess, less clutter, easily stored files, the possibility of the future. But what are some of the problems? Hackers and digital issues are a constant fear, the need to try and fix before anything happens is a very large market for Cyber Security, which will only grow in the face of advancing technology. Corrupt files, lost files, anything can happen and without a physical copy. So, the question is what would happen in the dismissal of graphite and ink? Would we thrive? Or would we fall? How expensive and luxurious will pencils and markers become? Or will they become completely obsolete?

The readings for this week speculate on waste in futuristic or utopian societies.  In doing so, they force us to reflect on current waste practices.  Following on this theme, choose some form of waste, and briefly speculate on how, in a more socially just society, it could be organized or managed differently.  If that’s too general, here are some more focused prompts to help with brainstorming: