18.0 Conclusion on Reserch
It has come to my attention that despite all current efforts such as Reverse Vending machines, recycling schemes, encouraging house holds to use less plastic and all these other means of fighting this global battle, this is currently a war that we are losing, and as a direct result we are harming both our planet and our selves in the long run.
I realised after my first solution failed to materialise with the reverse vending machines that it is not good enough to just encourage users to recycle their plastic bottles to earn money off of their shop, to then go and buy more plastic which would then not be recycled, this wasn't the only issue, locating these machines was the hardest part of my project, having taken time my self to go out an locate these machines, I even got my girlfriend to search around central London, to no prevail.
In order to actually provide a solution for the plastic pollution problem, legislation needs to be enforced and a ban on plastics production to be brought about or a biodegradable alternative, however seeing as we live in a capitalist economy where large corporations thrive from using plastic packaging I do not see this happening and it is not something that is within my power.
It is undeniable that the amount of plastic we produce and waste is incomprehensible as we don't even have a number on it. Therefore I feel that with the research I have undergone I have discovered many new facts which even I previously was oblivious too. It is clear that there is a lot of open data regarding the issue, but how well this is communicated to the average person is not so great, this is where my website will come into action, by presenting open data regarding plastic bottles and plastic waste in a visual form I believe I can finalise a project which will hold value and meet the brief by analysing the life cycle of a plastic bottle, from manufacturing, transportation, distribution and disposal, and then finally presenting a solution by allowing the user to build and add to the open database on plastic pollution by incorporating the OpenLitterMap on my web-page at the end of the life cycle analysis of the plastic bottle. By earning Littercoints it will also give the user an incentive to use the OpenLitterMap service.
I realised after my first solution failed to materialise with the reverse vending machines that it is not good enough to just encourage users to recycle their plastic bottles to earn money off of their shop, to then go and buy more plastic which would then not be recycled, this wasn't the only issue, locating these machines was the hardest part of my project, having taken time my self to go out an locate these machines, I even got my girlfriend to search around central London, to no prevail.
In order to actually provide a solution for the plastic pollution problem, legislation needs to be enforced and a ban on plastics production to be brought about or a biodegradable alternative, however seeing as we live in a capitalist economy where large corporations thrive from using plastic packaging I do not see this happening and it is not something that is within my power.
It is undeniable that the amount of plastic we produce and waste is incomprehensible as we don't even have a number on it. Therefore I feel that with the research I have undergone I have discovered many new facts which even I previously was oblivious too. It is clear that there is a lot of open data regarding the issue, but how well this is communicated to the average person is not so great, this is where my website will come into action, by presenting open data regarding plastic bottles and plastic waste in a visual form I believe I can finalise a project which will hold value and meet the brief by analysing the life cycle of a plastic bottle, from manufacturing, transportation, distribution and disposal, and then finally presenting a solution by allowing the user to build and add to the open database on plastic pollution by incorporating the OpenLitterMap on my web-page at the end of the life cycle analysis of the plastic bottle. By earning Littercoints it will also give the user an incentive to use the OpenLitterMap service.
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