Materialism and the Environment

This week in class we explored the relationship between materialism and the environment. Jennifer Good's study "explores whether materialism may be mediating the relationship between television viewing and environmental attitudes as well as the possible implications for such mediation," suggesting that the more TV one watches, the less apathy or concern one feels for the environment (Good, 2007). It was also found that within every hour of TV broadcasting, approximately 7-21 minutes are dedicated to sales pitches for a variety of goods and services. In reading this, it occurred to me that environmental activism in advertising is almost non-existant when it comes to materialistic desires of our capitalist society. I am not an environmental activist by any means, but as I was applying my makeup the morning after reading this, I began thinking that my seemingly harmless cosmetics are probably tested on animals, and that a sacrifice is being made for me to enhance my appearance every morning; a superficial practice that takes place in many women's lives on a daily basis. Although I would never give up my daily makeup routine, I would consider purchasing makeup that is cruelty free. Youths are especially susceptible to media messages. Churchill & Moschis found a positive correlation between adolescence' TV viewing and their materialism according to Good (2007), therefore, it is important to introduce rookie makeup artists to cruelty free cosmetics, so they too can make educated decisions when purchasing makeup. It is nearly impossible to be materialistic and consumed with environmental awareness. Schumacher argues that "an attitude of life which seeks fulfillment in the single-minded pursuit of wealth - in short, materialism - does not fit into this world, because it contains within itself no limiting principle, while the environment in which it is placed is strictly limited" (Good, 2007). In response to this, I've provided a link to PETA's list of cosmetic companies that test on animals, so myself and others can make better assumptions when buying our next favourite lip gloss or eye shadow!

http://www.peta.org/living/beauty-and-personal-care/companies/162.aspx?SearchUrl=%2Fliving%2Fbeauty-and-personal-care%2Fcompanies%2Fsearch.aspx%3FTesting%3D1%26Range%3D5

Happy purchasing!
Marlee

How is the Environment Communicated?

For my first project I analyzed three environmental organization's homepages and identified differences between Canadian, European, and international methods of communicating about the environment. I looked at the David Suzuki Foundation for my Canadian analysis, the Northern Ireland Environment Agency for European analysis, and Greenpeace International to explore communication towards a global community. I found that the David Suzuki Foundation and the NIEA utilize a much less "in your face," method of communicating about the environment than Greenpeace does. The Canadian and European sites communicated about the environment using positive words, insinuating a sense of optimism for the future of our environment, whereas Greenpeace used negative words that attempted to scare individuals into donating and helping a cause that is ultimately going to doom our society. With social networking on the rise, it is evident that all three organizations associated with either Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, Pinterest, or a mixture. There are lots of interesting comparisons to explore, so I've invited you to investigate on your own! The links below will take you to each site...


http://www.davidsuzuki.org

http://www.doeni.gov.uk/niea//

http://www.greenpeace.org/international/en/

Happy hunting!
Marlee

Protesting Ecotourism

No thanks was given to Marineland this Thanksgiving Sunday! The Toronto Star featured a story today about angry protesters crowding Marineland on its last open day of the season. This location of ecotourism has received plenty of negative publicity this summer. Milstein looks at how Western zoo institutions structure and frame the natural environment and animals. She explores three "dialects" in the traditional Western zoo setting. First she determines there is an inherent "mastery over nature" that is somehow linked to progress in society (Milstein, 2009). Second, she relates North American ideology to the idea that humans see themselves as the "dominant" species, with animals and other beings in nature being subordinate (Milstein, 2009). Third, she explores exploitation of nature, suggesting that the environment is "something that exists to be appropriated and commodified for ever-increasing accumulation and profits within global political economic frameworks." Due to these predominant dialects surrounding the zoo industry, there exists a tension, considering zoos and other institutions that house foreign animals are often illustrated as educational and conservational establishments. Ecotourism, therefore, may be seen as a facilitation of education for learning children, or an exploitive and unfortunate invention that is harming the most amazing species this world has to offer.

Check out the story here:
http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/article/1267987--marineland-stormed-by-protesters

Cheers!
Marlee