Nohr 1

Emily Nohr
Professor Cynthia Hamlet
English 102 Section 15
15 November 2015
Annotated Bibliography
American Molds: The First Plastic." National Geographic 100 Events That Changed the World
2015: 67. Print.
According to National Geographic, the invention of plastic is the 59th event to change the
world. This small half page excerpt gives a very brief background to how the first plastic,
celluloid came into existence. An American printer and inventor by the name of John Wesley
Hyatt accidentally created the plastic while searching for an alternative to ivory for making
billiard balls. Celluloid was able to be molded into anything, but was highly flammable.
Scientists have since created cellulose, a less flammable version of celluloid. Other inventors
have come up with polymer based plastics such as PVS, nylon, and polyethylene. Today plastic
dominates the market because of its versatility. Used in clothes, pipes, squeeze bottles and
adhesives there is very little that plastic cannot be turned into. Since polymers do not break
down, plastics are heavily contributing to environmental waste, where current solutions such as
recycling and biodegradable plastics are slightly helping the situation. I chose this magazine
because National Geographic has a solid reputation behind it. The passage is an objective look at
the creation of plastic and is very factual in its statements. While it applauses the versatility of
plastic, it also mentions the down side of using the material. This popular source offers
something that my others do not, which is how plastic came about. I wanted to introduce plastic
by giving this type of information, so it was perfect when I found it on the Barnes and Noble
magazine shelf. I want to convey how incredible plastic is, because that is also the opposition of
my paper, yet show while the many uses of it is great, the negative side effects are much larger
and more important than the convenience factor.
Freinkel, Susan. Plastic: A Toxic Love Story. New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing
Company, 2011. eBook.
Plastic: A Toxic Love Story is an in-depth look at our love affair with, you guessed, it,
plastic. The author has a well-developed story of how plastic has come to build the modern
world, where within a three foot radius, plastic is present. Throughout the book, Freinkel focuses
on a few specific items made of plastic: the Frisbee, hair comb, IV bag, grocery bag, soda bottle,
credit card, chair, and disposable lighter. Beginning with celluloid and the opportunities that
arose from it, including a cheap commodity that was now easier to make and cost mere pennies,
the comb, products were now cheaper than ever to produce and purchase. This was perfect for

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growing middle class that wanted to continue purchasing more and more stuff. As the plastic
industry grew and other types were created such as Bakelite, the possibilities were endless. The
plasticity and durability of plastic made it perfect for making chairs that would provide comfort
for all shapes and sizes and with beautiful designs. Since then, plastic has become our new
medium of play. The majority of toys are made from plastic, sold in eye-catching colors with
the purpose of attracting the eyes of the little ones. Such cheap, lightweight and pliable attributes
made it the perfect material for the Frisbee. As the toy demand grew with pressure to keep prices
under twenty dollars, factories in other countries sprang up, and the immigrant workers who
make and package these products make very little wages and do not have the best working
conditions. Then there is the issue of the toxicity of the chemicals used to produce plastic. While
there have been many benefits of the synthetic material, especially in the medical field, doctors
have also been faced with the toxic compounds that leak from the plastic in many tools, such as
the IV bags and tubing, which contain high levels of DEHP. Other chemicals found in all types
of plastic which we use to store food and drinks (like soda bottles) contain BPA and other
compounds proven to cause cancer and effect our hormone balance, yet we still continue to
produce more plastic every year than the previous. The throwaway mentality that has taken form
is also aided by plastic, yet it never actually goes away. A prime example is the disposable
lighter and grocery bag. These items and other like it are wreaking havoc on the environment. To
fix the problem, no individual or piece of legislation will work. We must reinvent our
relationship with plastic, and see it for what it is. While is a material that can help create positive,
long lasting structures, we are currently using it in the wrong manner. Susan Freinkel, a science
writer, has appeared in national publications such as the Smithsonian and the New York Times.
While she has a broad variety of topics she writes about, not focusing solely on plastic, her own
knowledge and her sources strengthen the book. The end of the book is full of notes, giving
credit to her information and where she got it from. Not only did she write the story using
information she could have found in her office at home, she did real investigative reporting,
going to the factories where the immigrants worked and seeing firsthand what was happening in
the world of plastic. Freinkel does not spend the entirety of her book bashing plastic, in fact most
of the book tells of how amazing it is and what advancements have come from it. I really like
how she doesnt believe plastic should go away, because that will never happen, but she
discusses the ways in which we could use it more wisely. I would to use that as part of my policy
claim, because it is something that we do not really think about. Because there is such a variety
throughout the book about plastic, there are a lot of sections that can add to my argument. She
takes about how plastic and consumerism coincide with one another as well as the side effects of
plastic, both of which are key points in my paper.
Kilbourne, Jean. "Jesus Is a Brand of Jeans." Language Awareness: Readings for College
Writers. Ed. Karen S. Henry. 10. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2006. 466-471. Print.
In Jesus Is a Brand Jeans, Jean Kilbourne discusses advertisings giant propaganda
effort. This effort she speaks of pulls at human emotions just to sell a product. Ads proclaim a
positive, trustworthy relationship with the item being sold, something which will not betray us
and will last a lifetime (until the new model comes out). Kilbourne stresses that advertisements

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are not necessarily creating artificial needs but instead exploiting real human desires, like the
committed relationship. The objectification and exploitation that promises happiness and
acceptance only perpetuates narcissism and solipsism. Advertising is so powerful yet the
danger is that people believe they are immune to it. There are reason why every year billions are
spent on advertising; it works. Another issue Jean argues about advertising is how it turns people
and individuals into objects, especially a womans body. This effects self-esteem and mental
health. Men are also portrays as ruthless and even brutal, influencing how men believe they are
supposed to act in society. The culture of consuming also encourages buying more in order to
find or express our identities. This is a slippery slope that can easily turn into addiction, an
advertisers favorite disease. As we continuously look for happiness and acceptance through our
possessions, a promise that advertisements make but never keep, we become obsessed with the
undeliverable promises made, because we never find this reciprocated love. Jean Kilbourne is an
excellent intellectual to dissect consumerism and advertisements because she is so familiar with
it. She has been studying the impact of advertising (mainly on women) since she was young.
With a doctorate and many books and films under her belt, few have the experience and
knowledge and understanding which she does on the subject. It is a valid source, as it comes
from a previous version of our textbook, and was originally published in the New
Internationalist, an award-winning and independent activist magazine. I plan to use this and one
other essay as the backbone of my paper. I want to use to explain how advertisers participate in
getting customers to overconsume, and how that effects the amount of plastic being discarded
and wasted every day. It has really made me think about how advertisers really play into our
insecurities and desires, and how the result effects society and the environment. Overall, the
essay with really support by own paper.
Leonard, Annie. "Story of Stuff." Online video clip. Youtube, 22 April 2009. Web. 8 November
2015.
The Story of Stuff is an amazing animated video clip narrated by Annie Leonard about
the materials economy. The materials economy is the cycle of consumerism, beginning with
extraction and ending in disposal. Extraction refers to the exploitation of natural resources,
including chopping down trees, blowing up mountains and using up natural water resources. One
third of the planets resources have been consumed already, and are completely gone. Only 4% of
the original forest are left in the United States and 40% percent of the waterways have been
contaminated. We are using more than our share of the resources on the planet at an
unprecedented rate. After the extraction process comes production, where energy is used with
toxic chemicals and natural resources to produce the toxic products that are put on shelves to
buy. 100,000 synthetic chemicals are in commerce today, and only a handful of them have
actually been tested on human health. Because many are fairly new to the market, it is unknown
what the full impact of these chemicals will be on us and the environment. Once products have
been made in the production process, next is distribution. Distribution involves selling the
products as quick as possible, where the goal is to have low prices to keep the inventory moving.
Low prices comes at a toll. Workers within the extraction and production process are not always
paid fairly and many costs are externalized, leaving another entity to deal with the costs. After

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products have been distributed and reached the consumer, this is called consumption.
Consumption is the golden arrow and heart of the system. We are now a nation of
consumers, it has become our primary identity. In order to keep consuming, a system has been
designed to keep us wanting more and new products. 99% of what is run through the system is
trashed within six months. Advertisements keep our juices flowing, after all, we are targets with
over 3,000 of them every day. Media also helps by hiding the processes which may make us
double think our shopping, the extraction, production and disposal. When we throw out all our
junk on the curb and the trash man picks it up, it doesnt just disappear. Most of it goes into a
landfill, and some of it is incinerated first, which produces really terrible toxins into the air such
as dioxin. Some waste is recycled, which really helps as it can be reused and made into another
product. But recycling alone is not enough. We must create a new more sustainable way to create
products and deal with waste. Again, the three Rs are very important. Annie Leonard does an
awesome job of explaining the unsustainable practices that America and other countries are
involved in. As a former Greenpeace activist, Leonard is very passionate about the topic. She
spent ten years traveling the world following the disposal of waste and where it ends up at. While
this is a bias video, she has the evidence to back her claims. There is an annotated script for the
video which includes the 85 sources that were used in gathering all of the information, which is
really impressive. It shows the commitment and dedication she has for creating a reputable and
well documented piece of work. I believe this to be one of the most powerful sources in my
works cited because of how detailed it is, giving a lot of examples as to how consumerism is
ruining the planet. There is not necessarily a focus on plastic but I dont believe that matters too
much because I can discuss waste in general and how much we toss because the big guys at the
top want us to continue to buy more. I also want to use her idea of how media avoids showing
the entire story, only highlighting the products and not what was depleted to make the product.
McLendon, Russell. BPA: Is plastic poisoning our food? Mother Nature Network. n.p., 9
December 2009. Web. 2015 November 5.
This article talks about the possible disruption that BPA could be having on our bodies
and why. BPA, or bisphenol-A, is a chemical which seeps out of plastic products and into our
food and beverages. One CDC study stated that 90% of Americans have the compound in their
urine. The manmade compound belongs to a group called endocrine disruptors which research
has linked it to early puberty in mice and sex changes in fish, along with a wide range of other
animal ailments. While studies show these terrible effects are linked to BPA in lab animals,
there is not enough evidence involving humans to prove any similar connection, which is
currently their main dilemma. Companies do not have to disclose if their products contain BPA
or not right now, and even some do even when they claim not to, so this makes it increasing
difficult to avoid the chemical. Even cash-register receipts contain alarming amounts of the stuff,
which can wife off and be absorbed into our skin. One of the scariest problems with BPA is that
it is a synthetic female hormone, which bonds with animal estrogen receptors, tricking them to
produce estrogen-like reactions, like starting puberty in females or shrinking male reproductive
organs. The chemical only stays in the human body for a few hours, but the concern is how it can
effect young and developing children or fetuses. Essentially it can affect the programming of a

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child, causing much more detrimental effects than it would in adults. It has also been directly
linked to female teen aggression and male sexual dysfunction. If it causes early puberty and
breast development in humans as it does in mice, both are precursors to breast cancer, which has
been on the rise in the last century. You can find BPA lurking in epoxy resins like the coatings
inside tin cans or aluminum water bottle, or in hard polycarbonate plastics such as baby bottles
and water-cooler jugs. Finding products with epoxy resins can be difficult, leaving consumers in
the dark about how to avoid coming into contact with the synthetic compound. Recycling codes
have helped, as #7, #3, and #6 contain BPA or phthalates, believed to also have the ability to
disrupt hormones. While humans are being exposed to much higher amounts of BPA than
originally thought, they are not quite sure where exactly it is all coming from. Maybe it is just
from the large amounts of plastic found in almost all goods. The Mother Nature Network does a
good job with this story because while it does link BPA to these negative health effects in lab
studies, it also states that the evidence is lacking for humans. Many articles would leave this
information out and be inaccurate in their reporting but McLendon covers all bases. As a science
editor for the website I think he understand the importance in keeping the objectivity and
truthfulness in the article. This article also hyperlinks the studies and other articles he references
in the article to make it very easy to see where the information is coming from. As the only
article I have that is specifically about health effects for animals and humans, it will support my
value claim very well.
Trimarchi, Maria and Vicki M. Giuggio. Top 10 Eco-friendly Substitutes for Plastic. How Stuff
Works: Science. n.p., n.d. Web. 7 November 2015.
Plastic is a durable and long-lasting material, but it is everywhere. Fortunately there are
more ecofriendly alternatives that can change the way we use plastic and help create less waste
and more biodegradable materials. Glass is one easy alternative. Unlike plastic, which is made
from derived fossil fuels, glass is made from sand, a renewable resource. Recycling glass is also
much simpler and more effective, for glass is re-cycled, whereas plastic is down cycled.
Reusable shopping bags can replace plastic bags, which end up in the ocean and landfills,
harming wildlife in the surrounding areas. The bags are made from a variety of materials
including recycled plastic and can last forever to fill the purpose of plastic bags, which leave a
negative imprint on our planet and are normally only used once. Plastic additives can also help
make conventional thermoplastics biodegradable. By incorporating prodegradant concentrates,
which are normally metal compounds, oxidations processes take place to break down the plastic
where microorganisms then finish the job leaving no harmful residues left behind. Casein-based
plastic is a biodegradable material made from milk protein. The durability matches that of
polystyrene yet would completely degrade in a dump environment. Another animal product that
can be turned into a biodegradable plastic are chicken feathers. Annually more than three billion
pounds of chicken feathers are disposed of, which is a problem in itself. The protein keratin gives
strength and durability to the plastic, and not only helps the plastic issue but also gives purpose
to another material which is normally disposed of anyways. Another up and coming bioplastic is
liquid wood. The material looks, feels and acts just like plastic but is biodegradable. PCL
polyesters and PHA polyesters are also on the list but are not quite as versatile. PCLs completely

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degrades after six weeks of composting but isnt completely made from renewable resources.
PHA polyesters are biodegradable and closely resemble polypropylene, but are put aside because
petroleum-based plastics are cheaper to produce. This is changing though as new ways are being
thought of to make it with corn based products. PLA polyesters are made from lactic acid, which
is produced through starch fermentation. Made mainly from corn, wheat and sugarcane can also
be used. With a decomposition rate of just 47 days, no production of toxic fumes when burned,
and 20-50 percent less fossil fuels being used in production, its a wonder why we are not using
it more. At the top of the list of alternatives is starch-based polymers, a totally biodegradable and
low cost polymer which is also renewable and natural. The only problem is that it has poor
mechanical properties leaving it with limited uses for sturdy products which petroleum-based
plastics are able to make. All of these alternatives will form the policy part of paper, where I
discuss alternatives to plastic. I do not plan on using all of them, just the main ones that seem to
be the useful and plausible, or most beneficial.
Twitchell, James B. "Lead Us Into Temptation." Language Awareness: Readings for College
Writers. Ed. Karen S. Henry. 10. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2006. 453-463. Print.
James Twitchell writes a surprising piece about materialism and what a prominent part of
modern society it has become in Lead Us into Temptation. While most people condemn
advertisers and what has been created, few stop and come to terms with why commercialism has
invaded every aspect of our lives. Consumerism has really taken root in the States more than
anywhere else in world, where we spend three to four times the amount of hours shopping than
any other country. Houses are twice the size they were in the 1950s, and we are consuming twice
the amount of goods, which cannot be a coincidence. Twitchell argues that the reason we
continue to buy more and more stuff is simply because humans love things. We live
vicariously and express ourselves through things; they become a part of our identity. His best
example of this is how people tend to buy souvenirs and other items to represent the places they
have been, things that they have seen. We like to showoff such things in our homes or even on
our cars, where we loudly showcase bumper stickers announcing where our children go to
school, what good students they are, or places we have been to. While I think that Jean Kilbourne
believes we are victims of commercialism and advertising, Twitchell disagrees, saying that we
are not victims but instead create it ourselves. He believes buying gives us happiness and our
lives purpose. A famous quotes of this essay is commercialism is more a mirror than a lamp.
While commercialism contributes to eating disorders and depression, the real issue is much more
complex and cannot solely be blamed on one aspect that only contributes to the entire picture.
While I do not entirely agree with the authors point of view, he is still a reliable source. As an
advertising historian and teacher of English and advertising, Twitchell definitely knows his way
around the subject. This scholarly source is a bit bias but James does a good job of expressing
the many facets of commercialism. He does not deny the fact that there can be a negative
influence on society, but he defends commercialism is saying it is not the root cause, for it is
more complex than that. Even though it seems that James Twitchell is in defense of
commercialism, his paper will still aide in the development of my paper. He discusses how
important commercialism is in our country, and how prevalent it has become. We base our entire

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lives and cities on the mall-condo philosophy, only concerned with purchasing more and more.
This will help my argument that we are consuming too much, not thinking about the impact of it
all.
What's Wrong With Plastic? Unpackage Me. n.p, n.d. Web. November 8 2015.
Unpackage Me is a small website that focuses on the issues which surround plastic. The
page titled Whats Wrong With Plastic? is full of statistics and information on the negative
impacts of the ever-lasting material. The focus is on how plastics are petroleum based, leaving
them unable to biodegrade. While other organic materials such as wood and grass are broken
down by bacteria, these bacteria cannot recognize plastic. Because of this, the impact on wildlife
is detrimental, as plastic debris leaves hundreds of thousands of seabirds and other marine
mammals dead each year. Small plastic items meant for momentary purposes are mistaken for
food and eaten, eventually killing them. Because the majority of plastics are petroleum based,
they come from crude oil. An estimated 8% of the annual oil production is consumed for the
production of plastic, leaving an increased demand for oil which pressures companies to drill in
places like the Artic. Plastic pollution also costs millions of dollars annually, with an estimated
$75 billion in environmental damage from the plastic used in consumer goods. While we can
continue to recycle and use bioplastics, it is not enough to keep up with how much is being
produced. The three Rs, Reduce, reuse and recycle is the best initiative to help partake in
limiting our impact on the world. While Unpackage Me seems to more of a blog, with no authors
listed or anything, the source is still reputable. At first I wasnt going to use it because they did
not cite where the information was coming from, but then I realized that the statistics themselves
are hyperlinked to where they found the information. Their sources include Plastics Europe
(Association of Plastic Manufacturers), reports from WRAP, a UK based charity dedicated to
supporting sustainable economies and society, and other UK based government and organization
websites. The goal of the site is to educate readers and open their eyes to the relationship
between consumerism and plastic. It gives sources to find out more information, become
involved in the movement, and how to help lessen an individuals plastic footprint. This is all
what I also hope to accomplish in my own research paper, so it helps guide me in the right
direction with my paper.