Environmental Communication Fall 2022

Plastic consumption is increasing and wreaking havoc on the environment as it breaks down in ecosystems and spreads microplastics all over the world. Microplastics are defined as pieces of plastic debris that are less than five millimeters long. These tiny plastic particles are often found in the guts of marine animals and there are major concerns about human consumption of these microplastics when we eat seafood. We know little about the potential harm of microplastics in our bodies and research is still being done to analyze the effects of microplastic consumption.  Plastic generation in 2018 was 35.7 million tons in the United States alone with 4.20 million tons being attributed to just plastic bags. Plastic is shockingly unrecyclable as most materials are made out of mixed plastics, rather than just one type, making it nearly impossible for recycling facilities to break them down; less than 10 percent of plastics are actually recycled. Most plastic waste goes to landfills where...

Plant blindness , an inability to see or notice plants in one's environment. This deficit in plant recognition was first coined in 1998 by American botanists, James Wandersee and Elisabeth Schussler. Despite making up about 80% of the biomass on Earth, forces such as our increasing time spent behind screens and urbanization have continued to push this trend. People are often overlooking plants as living organisms, alongside animals, leading to an underappreciation of plants. They're underrepresented in education, even in bio-heavy majors, and limit the future interest in the plant sciences and conservation efforts. Why should we care about plants? They're an important connection to the environment and provide people with our basics needs and numerous ecosystem services. They provide the oxygen that we breath, act as sources of natural products to household products and medicines that we use, and give us nutrition. The bread and cereal we consume daily are made from grains, ...

  Tackling Clothing Waste on Eckerd College's Campus Tori Mullaney  Did you know that every year, nearly 90 million tons of clothing ends up in landfills across the globe? To put this in perspective, it is said the average American consumer throws away 70 pounds of clothing  a year.  This number is staggering, especially knowing that clothing is easy to recycle. In order to truly grasp this number, it is important to note the process of making clothing, what resources it uses, and how quickly clothing is being made. Then, we can grasp at why this waste is  detrimental   to our environment.  How is clothing made? The process of making clothing is a process that happens every second of everyday around the globe. With our global population so high, there is a strong need for clothing.  Clothing production can take place in factories, which contributes to our global CO2 emissions every year; this has a direct negative impact on our environment and can...

The Issue:❌❓❗ A lack of policy and boating restrictions for preventative strike devices has led to an increase in environmental harm and many marine life deaths.  Design/Methods:💭 I created an educational pamphlet that was distributed on social media in an effort to educate the public on the issue of boat propellers. I also created a survey for people to take after they read and look over the pamphlet which encourages pubic participation. The survey is a quantitative way to measure my success.   Results: 🔍 87.5 % of people think propeller guards would help protect the environment 68.8 % of people think boat propellers damage the environment 93.8% of people think preventative strike devices should be required 87.5 of people think that boat propellers harm marine life More Results : 🔍💥 81.3 % of people think boat owners would benefit from preventative strike devices such as propeller guards 93.8 % of people think that propeller guards would help protect marine life 81.3 % of...

  About 30% of food gets wasted every year in the US & as a result, affects the livelihood of millions of Americans and the health of the environment. The massive amount of food wasted each year is unlike the number of people who struggle to gain access to food just to survive. Not to mention, large amounts of food waste have led to negative environmental impacts through poor waste management like landfills. Trash, plastic, and other harmful materials have a tendency to seep into the ground and contaminate local waterways. However, in contrast, composting breaks down organic nutrients from food waste and contributes back by preventing soil erosion, promoting plant growth, conserving water, and reducing waste. Thus, without a proper system like composting put into place, the degradation of our environmental and societal health will continue. With that being said, Durbin and I created an advocacy campaign with goals to help encourage Eckerd College students to compost and increas...

  Over the past couple months, my team and I on the Current, Eckerd’s school newspaper, have worked to create a magazine to communicate stories revolving around the theme of ‘life.’ In its nature it is a broad and large concept, one up for interpretation to the storyteller. For me, meditation on the concept of life holds a similar weight and breadth as ‘environment’ does. It is complex. It is dynamic. It can only exist if things are in relationship and conversation with others. Thus, when I think of life, I think of the environment, I think about death, I think about a frontier of living things existing for and through one another. A story emerged that presented a complex relationship between human and nature, life and death and how we perceive different ways of living. The piece, which was published in the Current’s first ever issue of the ‘Cat. 5’ magazine, was entitled ‘A Hunt for Life.’  The article manifested in a narrative of a weekend duck hunting trip to the Everglad...

The Environmental Impact of our Traditional Deathcare Practices (and the legalization of new alternatives) By Hannah-Grace Perry

Grocery stores are responsible for 40% of the waste in landfills (RTS). Landfills are a big contributor to carbon dioxide and methane emissions increasing the greenhouse gas footprint of the United States (USDA). If grocery stores were able to cut back on the amount of food they throw away, those emissions would decrease significantly and help cut back on climate change. So… The Bill Emerson Act is a bill that was passed in 1996 by President Clinton to try and encourage food donation and food non-profit organizations. Not only would this help decrease the amount of food waste going to landfills, but it would also help the 34 million people in the US who face food insecurity (Feeding America). However, many parts of this bill are made unclear, leaving grocery stores afraid of legal liability, and therefore throwing away their food instead of donating it. If the bill was made more clear with drawn-out rules and regulations, on the legal protection for food donation, there would be more o...

Biodiversity is a hallmark to our existence. Our ecosystems contain all the food we need for our survival. However, with that comes great responsibility. It is our job to become everyday stewards, and respect the wilderness whether it's hundreds of miles away, in your backyard, out in the sea; it's all interconnected.  Spotted Sea Trout, Spanish Mackerel, and Mangrove Snapper Ceramic pieces created in their minimum legal harvest sizes For my project, I created a visual aid for the Wallace Boathouse at Eckerd College. Since me and many other anglers use the kayaks to fish out on the Boca Ciega Bay, I thought this would be a good space for it. On my display I discuss the importance of sustainable harvest, as well as promote stewardship out on the water. I picked three species that are commonly caught in the bay. I attempted to incentivize cleaning up trash by hosting a raffle for a $10 "Gator Jim's" gift card. The display also discussed chemicals found in micro plas...

Japan is known to be one of the major fishing countries. They are the 5th largest fishery country in the world. The seafood there is amazing, such as tunas and porgies as it is also where the sushi originated. However, they also have a problem. Due to such a large industry size and loose regulation on fishery gears, such as bottom trawling and stationary net, bycatch is still happening among them, and it is killing so many different species of marine organisms, such as sharks and dolphins. And worse is that they don't do any actions to make a change for the sake of reducing bycatch and saving these animals, which are significant potentially for marine ecosystems as apex predators. Because of that, it is not rare to see those marine organisms dying from fishery bycatch, ranging from Hammerheads, Makos, and even Dall’s porpoise. Japan is my home country, and because I felt like I should make a move about this ignored issue, I determined that posting on Instagram and talking about thi...