Opinion
Overview In the beginning of our research, the Local Loops team was, well, in a loop. The thing was, we didn’t really have a problem. There was no direction given. We had amazing partners and plenty of resources but no clue what was going on. All we knew was
Special Interest
During the month of September, the Local Loops team carried out primary research across nine different focus areas. These included site visits, interviews, and a make method. Although not every member was a part of each area, we shared all of our research, data, and insights to form a cohesive
Numbers
This survey was sent to 179 businesses and 1,820 individuals on NDC's mailing list. We received 25+ responses but many of them ended up being unfinished. Ultimately, this data was synthesized from 6 businesses and 9 individuals. The goal of this survey was to discover unmet needs
Special Interest
I chose this specific article because I wanted to look at the circular economy with a feminist lens. In my time as a Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality major, we studied how gender impacts everything and the circular economy is no exception. It is a fact that shopping, cooking, caring,
Special Interest
When thinking specifically about plastic intimacy, I wanted to learn focus on children. UNICEF, the United Nation Children’s Fund, provides humanitarian aid to children around the world. They released this 84 page report in 2024 that documents the effects of plastic pollution on children in different parts of the
Special Interest
When thinking about my special interest in the intimacy of plastic in our everyday lives, a big portion that came up was the beauty industry. Nearly all beauty products are single-use and meant to be thrown away. This includes things like makeup, skincare, shampoo bottles, perfume, deodorant, lotions, and more.
Special Interest
This article highlights the role of psychological framing and self-efficacy in promoting pro-environmental behaviors, which is particularly relevant to my capstone work on circular economies. I found it compelling that making plastic pollution feel personally immediate—reducing psychological distance—can increase engagement and motivate action. For me, this raises both
Arts & Lifestyle
Have you ever seen Seaspiracy? It's a documentary on Netflix that details how overfishing is destroying marine ecosystems and how fishing industries contribute to plastic pollution. As someone who was born on an island and loves the ocean, when I saw this article, I immediately wanted to learn
Arts & Lifestyle
When I saw the thumbnail for this article, I was immediately reminded of our interview with Joseph from Marble Plastics. When we toured their facility, we saw how they turned colorful bread tags and white refrigerator linings into giant sheets of what can only be described as birthday cake ice
Arts & Lifestyle
When I first saw this headline, my first instinct was “Wow, this fits so perfectly with my capstone!” After all, my group is researching how plastic affects our everyday lives and how we can promote more reducing, reusing, and recycling. "Many single-use plastic water bottles are made from a
Business
Off the top of my head, a brand I could think of that somewhat engages in the circular economy would be Fresh Thyme. This is because people can bring their own containers and fill those up instead of buying more plastic bags. However, I was curious if there were other
Business
I remember in middle school when I learned where plastic comes from. My dad was like, “It’s made from oil.” And I was like, “What do you mean?” And then he told me about how plastic is made from byproducts of oil refineries. From Laura Sullivan at NPR: "