About & Background

About This Course:
This website was created as an assignment for a Boston University course titled The Secret Lives of Corporations. Over the course of the semester, we have learned about how the corporate system forces externalization of costs and about the hosts of problems that this causes. We’ve also discussed both theoretical and practical solutions to these problems. I personally learned a lot of new information over the course of the semester, but more importantly I learned that I am affected personally by the issue of corporate greed as is pretty much everyone else in the world. Please check out the Links tab to see my classmates’ websites.

Background About This Project:
This website offers information and solutions on one small tip of the iceberg of the problems caused by corporate greed. I decided to focus my efforts on plastics in part because of an industry report on cosmetics that I did for this class. In researching the cosmetics industry, I learned a lot about phthalates and other chemical hazards which are often present in cosmetics. I was really surprised to learn that these everyday things that I had assumed were safe were really not, and that the government that I had assumed was protecting me was really controlled by corporate greed. I noticed that a lot of the product hazards were found in plastics, so I decided to focus my work on plastics product hazards.

However, when I was thinking about specific topics to write about, I realized that there aren’t very many sources that talk about the range of issues which plastics involves. I therefore decided to incorporate an environmental aspect to the site. What makes this site unique is the holistic view of plastics issues from recycling to phthalates to product hazard legislation.

My goal in creating this site is to inform people of the different issues that plastics are involved in, and to provide some basic everyday suggestions of things people can do to solve these problems. I especially want to educate people about how corporations play a role in inhibiting product hazard legislation (because this is one of the things that I had no idea about myself, and because I was really upset by this issue). I want to motivate people to make small (or big) changes in their lifestyle by showing them that these problems are real and are affecting us. In short, my goals are to 1. Inform and 2. To inspire people to act.

Commenting Procedure:
In order to leave a comment, you are required to enter your name and email address. This is a measure against spam. Comments are not moderated, and you do not need a wordpress account or a previously approved comment to post a new comment, so any feedback will appear as soon as you post it. Comments, questions, and suggestions are greatly appreciated! (But spam, and irrelevant or inappropriate comments are not).

About Me:
My name is Lauren, and I’m from Kaneohe, Hawaii. I am a freshman at Boston University, double majoring in Biology and Japanese. You can contact me with questions, comments, and suggestions for this site at lamakish@bu.edu. Thanks for stopping by!