One of the most popular posts on this blog is Defunct Models of Pollution, which is about plastic’s challenge to conventional pollution control. While many of this blog’s followers are interested in the form and formation of concepts of pollution and the social/material/political creation of discards, the google searches that lead people to the post tend to be about how endocrine disruptors work, what plastic body burdens are, and how to keep plastics out of the ocean. Can I microwave plastic? Can I reuse disposable plastics without getting sick? Are BPA-free plastic bottles safe?

Good questions. The Citizen’s Guide to Plastic Pollution is a presentation and a manual. The presentation discusses how plastic pollutes bodies and the environment, similar to the Defunct post. It covers how to be as healthy as possible as a consumer and parent in our Very Plastic world. Yet because the issue is  larger than any individual consumer can tackle, it also discusses the political, scientific, and social changes that need to happen to deal with plastic pollution effectively. The manual outlines best practices of the politics and consumption of plastics. The website includes dates to public presentations of The Guide, a pod cast of the presentation, and the best practices manual.

If other researchers would like to share the concrete, political actions, repercussions, by-products, projects or paths of their discard studies, please let us know. We’d be happy to hear of how you deal with the very real environmental, health, and social justice politics of your studies.