Amid all the jazz-hand hype about going green, this unit begs the questions:
- What are the reasons that feminists care about the environment?
- How is oppression connected to issues connected to the environment?
- Why does how we value the environment, define safety and health connect to the liberation of women and people in general?
To answer some of these questions, we are going to do some research.
This course assignment asks you to scavenge and hunt for the answers to some basic and important questions. In order to complete this assignment you will need to research the answers to ONE of the questions below.
Then, in a comment to my blog post you will respond with your answer/research to the question you choose to look up, including your thoughts on the answer(s) you found, and a response to one of the BIG questions posed at the top. Your answer should be roughly 300 words and should site data from the websites used to generate them, along with any course texts you use.
Here is the catch; this is a scavenger hunt, and we want answers. So, you must answer a question that has not yet been answered by your classmates. There are enough research areas that everyone can research at least one question. I encourage you to look up several and to read the responses of your classmates. In particular, I suggest you all do #4, as most people use some form of cosmetic daily (deodorant, shampoo, body wash, toothpaste, make-up, hair products, shaving cream, etc.).
This activity will be graded by credit/no credit using the following rubric:
Credit
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No-Credit
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MLA and Technical Writing
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Sources are cited properly and integrated smoothly. Minor errors.
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Major errors and/or there is superficial textual inclusion and/or missing MLA
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Posting
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Student posted to the appropriate place on the blog, met the deadline, and followed posting guidelines
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Student did not post to the appropriate place on the blog and/or missed the deadline and/or did not follow posting guidelines
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Content
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Student answered the question thoroughly by synthesizing research and its implications for women/environment
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Student provided a superficial or undeveloped answer to the question and/or did not adequately address the implications for women/environment
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- What is fair trade? Go to http://www.globalexchange.org/about/ and read about it. Then, investigate fair trade in our neighborhood by looking at Ten Thousand Villages, Winter Park FL: http://orlando.tenthousandvillages.com/php/stores.festivals/store.homepage.php
- How far away do you live from the farms that produce the food you eat? http://www.foodroutes.org/ Research and determine do we have a program like that here at UCF?)
- Research community gardens (http://www.communitygarden.org/learn/). Then, go to www.localharvest.org and think about how might you buy locally grown food? Finally, check out the UCF Arboretum, where you can work in the organic garden and then take home food organic produce: http://www.arboretum.ucf.edu/
- How safe are the ingredients in your cosmetics? Go to Environmental Working Group's Skin Deep Project at www.ewg.org (under “more tools and resources” on the right and scroll down).
- What is your "ecological footprint," or, how many earth's are you using? Go to: http://www.footprintnetwork.org/index.php or http://www.myfootprint.org/.
- What sources of pollution, environmental waste, or other toxins exist in central Florida? Go to www.scorecard.org to learn about toxic producers in the Orlando area. (We are in Orange County.) Then, go here http://scorecard.goodguide.com/community/ej-index.tcl to see our environmental racism scorecard.
- What impact does the military have on the environment? Go to www.globalgreen.org and research and explore the military impact.
- How might you cut down your own consumption of the earth's resources? In what ways could you better distinguish between "want" vs. "need"? Go to www.worldwatch.org and research what you can do to curb consumption in a planet that is populated by 7 billion people.What is the simplicity movement about? You can read about one aspect, finical integrity, here: http://www.financialintegrity.org/index.php?title=About_the_Program
- Research Recycle centers in your area: http://earth911.com/ and then look at the ones that do not ship their waste to developing nations here: http://e-stewards.org/
- Research nuclear waste and environmental racism here: http://www.nirs.org/factsheets/pfsejfactsheet.htm.
- Research what the EPA says about cleaning products http://www.epa.gov/epp/pubs/products/cleaning.htm and then read here: http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/environment/green-guide/ about how to clean without the chemicals.
- Read about what students do to combat these issues: http://www.seac.org/
- Who works with the food you eat? Research Fair Food at: http://www.ciw-online.org/101.htmland then read about organizing for farm workers http://nfwm.org/. Finally see how in our area toxic dumping impacted farm workers in Apopka: http://apopkaquiltproject.blogspot.com/
- Research some of the top environmental current events: http://www.enn.com/.
- Look at issues of biodiversity at: http://www.unep-wcmc.org/about-biodiversity_133.html.
- Explore the concepts of ecofeminism and read about a feminist response to environmental problems: http://eve.enviroweb.org/ and here: http://www.wloe.org/what-is-ecofeminism.76.0.html
- How is health connected to he environment, explore this issue http://chge.med.harvard.edu/ and here: http://ehp03.niehs.nih.gov/home.action
- What is the role between businesses and chemical safety? Read about current issues by exploring here: http://www.chemsafety.gov/
- What are the environmental stats for an area? Look these up here: http://www.epa.gov/enviro/index.html and report on our Central Florida region.
- What is the state of women’s global health worldwide? Read about these environmental and health issues here: http://www.un.org/womenwatch/feature/climate_change/downloads/Women_and_Climate_Change_Factsheet.pdf or http://library.thinkquest.org/26026/Resources/resources_-_statistics.html and listen to a podcast on women’s health.
- What about our water? Look into issues of water by going here: http://www.wef.org/ and http://www.ejcw.org/. Then look at our local area here: http://www.sjrwmd.com/.
- What happened after the hurricane? Read about women’s response to Katrina: http://www.womenofthestorm.net/about.php and then read about Florida coast protection: http://flcoastalandocean.org/.
- As we have reached 7 billion people on the planet, what about the environment, population, and reproduction: http://www.unfpa.org/pds/sustainability.htm and read here: http://www.cwpe.org/
- Look up one of the Women’s Environmental Institute campaigns: http://www.w-e-i.org/policy.
- What does the government say about the connection between the environment and women’s health: http://www.womenshealth.gov/publications/our-publications/fact-sheet/environment-womens-health.cfm
- How harmful is that job, look up the scorecard of some gendered careers (like dressing hair): http://hazmap.nlm.nih.gov/hazmapadv.html
- Tampons are bad for my healthy? Oh-My! http://www.seac.org/history/past-campaigns/ and http://www.mum.org/ and http://www.thegreenmama.com/
7 comments:
Environmental Scavenger Hunt: #27
For the past year I have been talking with my good friend about the products we use for that special time of month when we are visited by our menstrual cycle. I am still a user of tampons and occasionally the pad (please tell me there’s a tampon somewhere!); however, my friend has opted to start using the DivaCup and has had nothing but positive reviews. Aware of the health risks of using tampons, I will have to make the switch to an alternative product like the DivaCup where there are environmental and economic benefits to doing so.
First, toxins that are found in commercially produced tampons include dioxin (dioxin has been linked to cancer) and rayon, an absorbent material that causes the peeling of the mucous membrane as well as ulceration. Toxic Shock Syndrome, a severe disease that is sometimes fatal, is also associated with commercial tampons (CAMPUSACTIVISM). Women’s bodies are vital to childbearing and here we are poisoning them!
Tampons and pads also pose a problem to our environment. On average a menstruator will consume between 10,000 and 16,000 pads and tampons in a lifetime (CAMPUSACTIVISM). The chemicals used to make these products, like sodium chlorite (releases toxic gases), are also harmful to the environment. The Tampaction Campaign, the youth led effort to replaces unsustainable tampons and pads with sustainable alternatives, importantly notes this movement as directly linked to environmental justice, noting that factories, incinerators, and landfills are disproportionately located in minority communities (CAMPUSACTIVISM).
An alternative to using tampons and pads is obviously the DivaCup. Other alternatives include The Keeper, organic tampons, and reusable cloths (CAMPUSACTIVISM). Still, some of these alternatives pose problems for the environment in that they are disposable and wasteful. Over all, a switch to a reusable product for our menstrual cycle needs, like the DivaCup, would result in a $615 savings over 10 years, the better choice for your wallet (CAMPUSACTIVISM).
Finally, we see the connection between feminists and the environment through this campaign by linking taboo feelings of menstruation (feelings of guilt, shame, and embarrassment over bleeding) with alternatives to pads and tampons, and ultimately connecting these issues to the bigger issue of environmental justice.
Word Count: 362
Works Cited: CAMPUSACTIVISM. CAMPUSACTIVISM. Web. 12 November 2012.
Environmental Scavenger Hunt
Tampons Are Bad For my Health? Oh my!
As our society grows more and more “green” by the day, I have to wonder how much we really know about the environment and how the products we use affect out health. One of the cliché things to do to “go green” is to drive an energy efficient car, because we all know that driving a normal car gives off harmful toxins that pollute the air, which in effect pollutes our lungs. Okay, great, we all know that. But what about some of the products we use on a daily basis?
Most women will use between 10, 000 and 16, 000 pads and tampons in her lifetime (Tampaction Campaign). We have all read the warnings about TSS that are standard on all tampon boxes, but what the boxes don’t tell you, is that these products are bleached to whiten them, using a process which results in the production of dioxin. Not familiar with dioxin? It is a type of "organochlorine,” just as is DDT, PCBs and Agent Orange (A Greener and Healthier Menstrual Cycle). Scared yet?
Everybody is entitled to their own opinions when it comes to the environment and how you want to protect yourself from the many harmful aspects of the environment. As women, we are told to use tampons and pads to prevent embarrassing leaks during our menstrual cycles. What we are not told is the harmful effects that using these products can have. “Chlorine-bleached tampons can leave minute amounts of the dioxins in the vagina” (A Greener and Healthier Menstrual Cycle). We have the right to stand up for our health and safety and use safer products during our cycles, such as the menstrual cups. The right to make these health-related decisions for ourselves connects health and safety and the way we value the environment to the liberation of women. We do not have to follow what society says, and value the environment the same ways everybody else does. And if that means finding a new product to use once a month, in order to protect myself from harmful chemicals, then so be it.
Word count: 358
Work Cited:
"A Greener and Healthier Menstrual Cycle." Welcome to the Green Mama. N.p., 09 Nov. 2009. Web. 13 Nov. 2012. .
"Tampaction Campaign." SEAC RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Nov. 2012. .
“Ecofeminism is a movement that sees a connection between the exploitation and degradation of the natural world and the subordination and oppression of women.”(Mellor) The term and its philosophy developed with the second-wave of feminism back in the late 1970s. Ecofeminism addresses the destructive practice that industrial countries and others use to collect, use, and dispose of natural resources. The domestication that is practiced over nature by humans today and in the recent past few centuries displays the destructive patriarchal principles that are exposed simultaneously with discrimination of women globally. “Ecofeminism is about the connectedness and wholeness of the theory and practice.”(King) Ecofeminism therefore is all about grassroots movements everywhere that it can occur and educating the public. Women throughout history have been the leaders in activism against pollution and destruction of nature because of being mothers who are generally the foundation in every family. Ecofeminism also addresses “the inequalities in the world structures which permit the North to dominate the South, men to dominate women, and the frantic plunder of ever more resources for ever more unequally distributed economic gain to dominate nature.”(Shiva)
There are countless responses by feminist on environmental problems and there will be even more incalculable activism to be created. But one specific feminist response to environmental problems is “The Campaign for Food Safety” founded by Jeremy Rifkin. This campaign is to “build a consumer/farmer/labor/progressive retailer boycott of genetically engineered and chemically contaminated foods.”(eve) The campaign’s website, Organicconsumers.org, is a hub for scores of information that address the problems with food people consume in industrial countries and alternative manners to change that behavior to eat healthier as an individual/consumer.
Ecofeminism is only a couple of decades old but is a movement that would be supported strongly by anyone who was educated about the problems with our environment and treatment of women. Earth is home to everyone and everything, and if people are educated & act wisely anything is possible.
Word count: 323
Works Cited Page
Eve.enviroweb.org. Ecofeminist Visions Emerging. 1991
“Feminism & Ecology” by Mary Mellor, New York University Press, 1997, p.1
Vandana Shiva. Introduction to Ecofeminism. 1993
Ynestra King. Conference on Eco-feminism. March 1980.
Environmental Scavenger Hunt #4
The ingredients in my products range from being in the zero to one “safe” category or the eight to ten “extremely hazardous” classification. Among the most toxic of the products that I use daily was my Aveeno Positivley Radiant Tinted moisturizer, which research has shown causes ecotoxicity, allergies/immunotoxicity, irritation, and organ system toxicity. The second most malignant ingredient in my daily moisturizer was the sunscreen oxybenzone, which has been linked to enhanced skin absorption, biochemical or cellular level changes, developmental/reproductive toxicity, and organ system toxicity among other side effects. In addition to my tinted moisturizer, many of the same toxic ingredients were also in my lotion that I lather myself in daily (sometimes multiple times a day). I was really disconcerted to see that my OPI nail polish which I am very rarely not wearing ranked amongst the worst products on the database, with a rating of ten. This is the same nail polish that I’ve repeatedly applied to the toes of the little girls that I babysit, and it’s incredibly disturbing to think that the chemicals that I’m putting on their sensitive skin could be contributing to developmental abnormalities as they grow or reproductive toxicity when they’re old enough to decide to have children. Frankly, I’m angry and shocked that the government allows products containing theses chemicals to be produced and marketed to the public, but my more cynical side is not surprised.
Women’s oppression is intertwined with our abuse of the environment. Government advertising, which is primarily dominated by men, creates this socially constructed beauty ideal in that all women are subjected to being judged by which in turn creates this mass consumerism of cosmetic products which promise to make women more sexually desirable, powerful, and well-liked. The chemicals in these products, which are produced by cosmetic companies primarily dominated by men, when tested to have high levels of toxicity, are not regulated or banned by the government, which is predominately composed of men. So more or less we are socially constructed to desire to consume products which slowly poison us in the name of consumerism and male domination. Moreover, the manufacturing of these products strip our environment of its natural resources, creating this parallel between the oppression of women in our society and the pillaging of our environment.
Word Count:407
" Skin Deep® Cosmetics Database | Environmental Working Group." EWG Home | Environmental Working Group. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Nov. 2012. .
It is easy to see how oppression is connected to the environment when one considers the implications of environmental racism. A term coined by Lee (1987), environmental racism is the strong correlation between the distribution of environmental pollution and race. The liberation from environmental racism relies on environmental justice, a movement that draws on concepts of civil rights, whereby all citizens have a right to healthy living and working conditions. In the example of the Skull Valley Band of Goshute Indians Reservation in Utah, we can see how Private Fuel Storage (PFS), a coalition of nuclear utility companies (formerly known as Northern States Power or Xcel Energy) has targeted the reservation being that only 25 tribal members live on the land itself. With the Skull Valley area being designated as a toxic playground for a slew of other nuclear industries: chlorine gas and hydrochloric acid clouds from the “nation’s worst air polluter”, Magnesium Corporation; “‘low level’ nuclear waste” from Envirocare; as well as the testing of VX nerve gas, “leading in 1968 to the ‘accidental’ killing of 6,400 grazing sheep” (the carcasses, of which, were buried unknowingly in the area)- PFS wants to “‘temporarily’ store 40,000 tons of commercial high-level radioactive waste (nearly the total amount that presently exists in the U.S.)” (Environmental Racism, Tribal Sovereignty and Nuclear Waste). In fact, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), in its Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS), has claimed that storing the waste was not in violation of the principle of environmental justice as tribal members were monetarily compensated for the usage of their land. Unbeknownst to the Goshute General Council, consisting of 60 members who administer the affairs of the tribe, Tribal Chairman Leon Bear, had signed a deal with PFS without revealing exactly how much the tribe was to receive. It is important to note that the actions of the Chairman is not without opposition. Margene Bullcreek of the Ohngo Gaudadeh Devia (OGD), a grassroots organization aimed at dismantling the infrastructure PFS utilizes to manipulate the Skull Valley area, claims corporations are easily able to “divide and conquer”, placing members of the Goshute tribe against one another as they easily propose hundreds of millions of dollars. Bearing in mind the spiritual connectedness Native Americans have with their land, the actions of PFS serve only to undermine the Goshute way of life.
Word Count: 389
Kirk, Gwyn, and Margo Okazawa-Rey. Women’s Lives: Multicultural Perspectives 5th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2007. 541. Print.
Kamps, Kevin. “Environmental Racism, Tribal Sovereignty and Nuclear Waste”. Nuclear Information Resource Service. 15 February 2001. Web. 20 November 2012.
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