Ban the K-Cup

Recycling as a concept is not new, however, the importance and effectiveness of it in relation to the long-term sustainability of the planet has become a more frequent point of discussion in a business environment and on a personal level. While I would not consider myself to be an environmental activist, I do care about doing my part to reduce the environmental footprint produced through lifestyle choices.

Bypassing the trend towards the single-serving coffee system is something I have consciously chosen to do based on the unnecessary waste and cost. This inspired my petition to educate K-Cup users and encourage a choice of sustainability rather than added convenience. The following you tube video also prompted my motivation to head in this direction.

Based on the course readings and newsworthy events, I was aware of the power of online activism. However, I was surprised to learn that change.org has more than 85 million members and realized I did not understand the extent to which digital media has accelerated this uptake. 

While the sheer volume of members is impressive, this could support the theory of clictavism as outlined by Cadwalladr (2013). 

With the rise of online protest in the networked age, it is so easy to be part of a movement and the commitment can be so negligible that you might not even remember doing it. This is true both from the people signing the petitions and, to some extent, those who are creating then. The impermanent nature of the online format certainly lessens commitment. Unless we commit more than the ability to "click" and "share", we will struggle to gain ground in building and maintaining communities of people with real world desire for that extends beyond a computer screen.

In order to create my online petition in an impactful way I included facts and data to expose the truth behind the concept. In this case, the tactic of “exploring the truth” was used in order to take an evidence-based approach and demand accountability. Simply narrating the ideologies behind why recycling is important would not have had the same impact as the startling data that was used to support the case. 

Keep the K-Cup out of the landfill - Change.org

The creation of the video above and the petition, are examples of a more intensive form of media-making. The act of signing the petition or posting to a social media site like the twitter feed below, are examples where a less intensive form of media-making sees a higher rate of engagement as identified by Costanza-Chock (2012, Figure 3). A combination of mediums creates momentum by which to share messages, however, it seems to have the most robust result when paired with face-to-face engagement and real-world activities. 

#killthekcup Tweets

References

Cadwalladr, C. (2013). Inside Avaaz – Can Online Activism Really Change the World? Retrieved March 13 http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2013/nov/17/avaaz-online-activism-can-it-change -the-world

Can action on the web lead change in the world? [digital image]. (2012). Retrieved from http://kalw.org/post/technology-and-social-causes-activism-or-clicktivism

Costanza-Chock, S. (2013). Mic Check! Media Practices in the Occupy Movement: Social Movement Studies. Retrieved March 13 http://web.mit.edu/schock/www//docs/pubs/mic-check-2012-costanza-chock.pdf. 

Kill the K-Cup. (2015, January 7). Kill the K-Cup [Video File]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uRGiGbX9lIo&sns=em

Tactical Tech, (2009, 2014). 10 Tactics for Turning Information into Action. Retrieved March 8 from http://informationactivism.org.