Toxic Legacies / Filtering the Truth
The concept of recycling has gained immense popularity as a sustainable approach to waste pollution and is embraced as a potential solution to our escalating environmental crisis. However, not all recycling practices – especially when it comes to plastic – are necessarily environmentally friendly. In many cases, claims to recyclability are merely greenwashing, a marketing strategy used by companies to position themselves as environ- mentally conscious without implementing actual changes in their production practices. My master project aims to investigate the greenwashing behind recycling and how the concept of recycling can tend to justify the production of waste in a consumer-based system.
The concept of recycling has gained immense popularity as a sustainable approach to waste pollution and is embraced as a potential solution to our escalating environmental crisis. However, not all recycling practices – especially when it comes to plastic – are necessarily environmentally friendly. In many cases, claims to recyclability are merely greenwashing, a marketing strategy used by companies to position themselves as environ- mentally conscious without implementing actual changes in their production practices.
My master project aims to investigate the greenwashing behind recycling and how the concept of recycling can tend to justify the production of waste in a consumer-based system.
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“
Saying no is itself an often satisfying alternative,
but it is hardly one on which to build a lasting political
movement.
”
Christine Harold, 2004
The limitations to the project are the fact that it is a lot
easier to find problems and be negative about an issue,
than to actively try to change it. We are facing great
challenges today, and there is often not one correct answer,
as many solutions offer new problems again. I realise
I do not offer a concrete solution, and definitely do
not want to criticise those who have the best of intentions
in trying to find a way out of this mess. I do intend
to criticise those that are solely trying to make a profit
from it. In my opinion, the line between greenwashing
and a genuine product that is not yet fully answering all
problems depends greatly on the intention of the person
behind it.
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