Neither wasted nor wanted: theorising the failure to dispossess objects of ambiguous value

peer-reviewedConsumer research has traditionally presented the consumption process in three stages – acquisition, consumption and disposition (de Coverly et al. 2008; Jacoby, Berning, and Dietvorst 1977) and it is assumed that consumers will naturally move through the process (Cross, Leizerovici, and Pirouz 2017). Whereas commodity acquisition and utilisation have been researched extensively, disposition has received scant attention – a curiosity given its ubiquity and significance in consumer’s lives (Arnould and Thompson 2005). Disposition is a significant issue. Whether it is a painful process, during which individuals endure an experience akin to the death of some piece of themselves or the joyful shedding of objects imbued with an unwanted self, disposition is an integral part of modern life (Lastovicka and Fernandez 2005; Price et al. 2000). There are exceptions to this process, for example, hoarders, collectors and particularly frugal consumers retain commodities beyond their expected life cycle (Belk, Wallendorf, and Sherry 1989; Coulter and Ligas 2003; Haws et al. 2012; Lastovicka et al. 1999). Indeed, there are certain categories of goods which are retained indefinitely either due to their emotional or financial value (Belk et al. 1989; Jacoby et al. 1977). Epp and Price (2010) ask why some valued items are banished to storage while others remain in active use. Items which are no longer useful may also be kept, living indefinitely in nooks and crannies around the home. These items are particularly interesting for consumer researchers because their retention in consumer homes reveal that assumptions regarding disposition processes need to be re-examined. As such, this paper asks what happens to things when they are neither wasted nor wanted, when the little meaning they initially held was tied to another, more valuable object or when they have been replaced. This paper stems from a larger project exploring technological waste disposition. Analysis revealed a kind of object which is retained indefinitely, which does not hold special meaning, is not particularly valuable or personal. These objects are of ambiguous value to the owner (including obsolete cell phones, laptops, unused cables, lockless keys, long paid bills) – objects that seem to hover between being wanted and wasted - they hold the ghost of meaning or the possibility of (re)use.PUBLISHEDpeer-reviewe

Future e-waste scenarios

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Sustainability in the biopharmaceutical industry: seeking a holistic perspective

Biopharmaceuticals manufacturing is a critical component of the modern healthcare system, with emerging new treatments composed of increasingly complex biomolecules offering solutions to chronic and debilitating disorders. While this sector continues to grow, it strongly exhibits “boom-to-bust” performance which threatens its long-term viability. Future trends within the industry indicate a shift towards continuous production systems using single use technologies that raises sustainability issues, yet research in this area is sparse and lacks consideration of the complex interactions between environmental, social and economic concerns. The authors outline a sustainability-focused vision and propose opportunities for research to aid the development of a more integrated approach that would enhance the sustainability of the industry

Large–Scale Movement and Reef Fidelity of Grey Reef Sharks

Despite an Indo-Pacific wide distribution, the movement patterns of grey reef sharks (Carcharhinus amblyrhynchos) and fidelity to individual reef platforms has gone largely unstudied. Their wide distribution implies that some individuals have dispersed throughout tropical waters of the Indo-Pacific, but data on large-scale movements do not exist. We present data from nine C. amblyrhynchos monitored within the Great Barrier Reef and Coral Sea off the coast of Australia. Shark presence and movements were monitored via an array of acoustic receivers for a period of six months in 2008. During the course of this monitoring few individuals showed fidelity to an individual reef suggesting that current protective areas have limited utility for this species. One individual undertook a large-scale movement (134 km) between the Coral Sea and Great Barrier Reef, providing the first evidence of direct linkage of C. amblyrhynchos populations between these two regions. Results indicate limited reef fidelity and evidence of large-scale movements within northern Australian waters

E-Mining@School; A cross-curricular initiative to embed sustainability in the junior cycle curriculum

Secondary level education in Ireland is going through a major transition with the introduction of the new Junior Cycle programme. For the first time sustainability is being embedded into every subject and teachers have been given the opportunity, and flexibility to create their own curriculum. Addressing this, 8 teachers at Castletroy College worked collaboratively on the “E-Mining@School” project to incorporate sustainability into their subjects’ curriculum using an ambitious multidisciplinary approach. This approach attempted to connect sustainability to the student’s everyday lives through the product that teenagers covet the most; their smartphones.The project developed a collaborative cross- curriculum pilot that explored the common theme of ‘urban mining of e-waste for Critical Raw Materials (CRMs)’ and the teachers integrated this common theme into the curriculum of 5 subjects that included Science, Geography, Business, Technology, and Civic, Social and Political Education (CSPE) that would be delivered concurrently. The pilot ran for 4 weeks, beginning at the end of January 2019. A cohort of 220 2nd year students attended 60 lessons over all 5 subjects. 24 teachers delivered these lessons and each student received, on average, over 38 hours of lessons. The project culminated in a public WEEE collection event that recovered over 11 tonnes of WEEE that was sent for recycling. The second running took place in the Spring of 2020 and it is planned to continue it as an annual endeavour. The pilot demonstrated to students the value of the resources used in their electronic products and the challenges of finite resource scarcity. It showed them not only where their stuff came from but also where it goes when they thought it thrown it away. Through the project students became familiar with and champions of the Circular Economy which was very evident in the WEEE collection event. The project was also the first occasion for the teachers to collaborate on a cross-curricular approach to secondary education and the paper includes findings on this topic