During our last day of class, our invited guest, Joshua Kogan from the EPA brought something to my attention that I had not really thought of before. What is our national government doing to reduce our plastic consumption? He briefly touched upon bills that were passing through Senate and later to the House of Representatives. However, I was curious and wanted to see what kind of measures the government was taking and how much influence big powerful corporations have when lobbying
After a simple Google news search I came across an article that seemed to confirm my suspicions. There is currently an effort by national parks to ban bottled water in the parks in order to decrease the amount of waste left behind by park visitors. By banning bottled water, the parks have proposed to add water refilling stations so that guests can refill their water containers. When reading this article, the argument made by the parks seems completely sound and logical. This new method was also another way to promote a healthier lifestyle and decrease our carbon footprint. Yet I was still waiting for big industry to interrupt this plan.
Upon reading the article further I discovered that the International Bottled Water Association was lobbying against these plans and even had Congressmen fighting for their cause. The IBWA has put confusing language and absurd economic demands in order to stop the passage of this bill. In this classic David and Goliath story, I hope David comes out on top.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/federal-eye/wp/2015/12/17/water-industry-wins-round-in-fight-against-ban-on-plastic-bottles-in-national-parks/
If you can remember, last year there were huge headlines on the outbreak of Ebola in Western Africa. The disease was widespread in the area and even infected some Americans and Europeans. From the news, I gathered that the disease was incredibly dangerous and if it were to spread to us, could create chaos. Although just a few people were infected here at home, American media created a sense of panic with little scientific backing. Therefore when I saw the Ebola poster at the session I was curious to see how the group would interpret this sensation that quickly faded in the minds of Americans like myself.
The poster itself was very attractive with helpful pictures, bright colors and little writing. I learned about its origin as it was originally found in 1976 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The 2014 outbreak was explained in pictures but also through the members of this poster group. Hosted in bushmeat (wild game) and lack of proper hygiene and knowledge on modern diseases, Ebola spread unknowingly and infected people rapidly and in high numbers. I learned that people were afraid to seek treatment causing the disease to spread further than anticipated.
Effective, concise and appealing, I think this poster was a success. Although I did not see in depth personal research or analysis, the major points were all there in a cohesive manner. Any questions I did have were answered by one of the poster members. My only critique would be the grammar and spelling of the poster. To reach the level of sophistication expected, I would hope that silly mistakes like those would be edited out of the final copy. Other than that, it was a great poster!
A Macaulay Honors College Seminar taught by Prof. Brett Branco
