Table of Contents
Abstract
Consumer behavior and thoughts towards plastics in the United States has become a typical conversation at the dinner table, clubs, restaurants and in our government. Some view having a band on certain plastics will help with the pollutions we have in the ocean and our lands. One of these controversial plastics in conversations is the plastic straw. If the plastic straw would be removed from the restaurants and its everyday use would curtail the polluted waters significantly and save the turtles.
Others perceive a band on straws and other plastics doesn’t address the big picture of pollutants but raises potential sales for another product, the metal straw. In this paper I will discuss the data from various researchers on how consumers react to plastic pollution and the substitutes for plastic. Understanding how consumers behavior towards plastic products and how it directly affects our economy and everyday way of life will be examined. This study will give a better understanding of consumer behavior, habits and norms towards plastic straws, metal straws and the affects on our economy.
Keywords: Consumer, behavior, conversations, pollution, economy, government, habits, norms, Theory of Planned Behavior, Social Practice Theory, Straws, Entrepreneurs, Environmentalist
127 our experts are availableright now
Introduction
Almost everywhere one can see the polluted land and ocean of plastic commonly known as “Plastic Age” (Thompson et al., 2009b). “The production of plastic has markedly increased over the last decades, currently reaching about 350 million tons per year” (Heidbreder, L. M., Bablok, I., Drews, S., & Menzel, C.,2019). (Plastics Europe, 2018). One very small solution to reduce plastics used by the consumer is using a metal straw or other substitutes in place of a plastic straw. “In addition to paper straws, the restaurant also sells stainless steel straws, along with a cleaning tool and carrying case” (McCarthy, B., 2019).
Understanding that people love to make money, special interest groups find or make up a problem for the consumer to react to, work on their personal feelings and guide them into group behavior. Entrepreneurs will seize the moment and exploit the weaknesses and behaviors of the consumer. “Into the breach have stepped canny entrepreneurs, creating a cottage industry of upscale straws and elegant carrying cases, along with such necessities as cleaning brushes, straw squeegees and dental-friendly silicone straw tips” (McCarthy, B., 2019).
Consumer Behavior
This research study investigates the behaviors of consumers when their beliefs are attacked. In this situation the issue is Plastics polluting the waters and shorelines. Having clean waters for sea life and a clean beach to walk on is a struggle that consumers of plastics have existed for a long time. “A million plastic bottles are bought every minute in the world”.
Laville and Taylor (2017). Annual plastic production reached 311million tons in 2014 and is expected to double again over the next 20 years. MacArthur Foundation (2016). Understanding as a consumer there is a problem with plastic pollution, consumers also have to attend with the entrepreneurs seizing the moment to make a quick buck. “Global consumers are willing to put their money where their heart is when it comes to goods and services from companies committed to social responsibility. Nielson (2017).
Purpose of Study
The purpose of this study was to research the behaviors of consumers dealing with plastics, primarily the plastic straw and replacing it with a metal straw. This study sought to answer the following questions: do metal straws improve the environment to the point it saves sea lives and the beach front properties or was this just another way to make money?
Literature Review
The first study centers around how much plastic straws are used in the world and the pollutants from the straw affects’ sea life and the beaches. In recent years there has been a heightened interest in the pollutants caused by the plastic straws and how it directly affects turtles and other sea life. Various studies have shown that there is a lot of plastic waste in our environment to include straws which gave a sense of urgency to resolve the problem of these pollutants starting with the plastic straw. Environmentalist, extremists, entrepreneurs and the everyday consumer reacted quickly to resolve the straw issue. The second study is focused on the concerns of how banning the plastic straw and substituting it with the metal straw truly was a plea to save the planet or just another scheme for others to take advantage of the consumer. The final study will evaluate if the pollutants of making a metal straw out ways the outlawing of the plastic straw.
Review of literary articles
According to the EPA director Mr. Wheeler states that bans on plastic straws, saying that they foster a false sense of complacency among Americans. Juliet (2019). He continues to say, “The plastic straw bans, that’s not what’s creating the problem in the oceans,” he said. “That’s a drop in the bucket, if people have in their minds that “if I get rid of my plastic straw, then that solves the problem.” Juliet (2019).
Lee (2009), discovered consumers are strongly concerned for the environment, they invest a high emotional involvement in their part in conserving the environment and instilling a strong love of their motherland.
According to Brisol and Mangleburg (2005), Peer influence is seen as the encouragement from peers to embark upon certain actions.
Groening (2018) stress that “few consumers will pay more for green products and that behavior in one environmental context does not necessarily translate into comparable behavior in another context”.
A study by Tolbert, M., & Koscielak, K. (2018), show the number of uses each straw requires before it is estimated to be neutral with a plastic straw in terms of carbon footprint needed to produce each. Bamboo 28 uses, glass is 45 uses and steel is 150 uses. (Figure 4).
Definitions
- The plastic straw bans, Reduce plastic pollution by prohibiting the distribution of plastic straws. Starting July 1, 2019, the law restricts the distribution of single-use plastic straws.
- Metal Straw, A stainless steel most basic durable material that resists oxidation and corrosion.
- Consumer Behavior, Consumer behavior is the study of consumers and the processes they use to choose, use (consume), and dispose of products and services, including consumers’ emotional, mental, and behavioral responses. Consumer behavior incorporates ideas from several sciences including psychology, biology, chemistry, and economics.
- Environment pollution, Environmental pollution is defined as ‘the contamination of the physical and biological components of the earth/atmosphere system to such an extent that normal environmental processes are adversely affected.
- Entrepreneurs, one who organizes, manages, and assumes the risks of a business or enterprise.
- Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB), TPB highlights the role of attitudes, intentions, subjective norms and perceived behavioral control, and the role of communication processes for sharing information, knowledge and experience.
- Social Practice Theory (SPT), SPT, analyzing the context of constituting and reproducing habituative everyday behavior, shows how habits, everyday routines, and social practices are deeply interwoven with societal norms and shared ideas about what are ‘normal practices’ which citizens repeat routinely without specific reflection.
Procedure/Analysis
Method
To answer the research question, peer reviewed articles were utilized from the on-line Hunt library through Embry Aeronautics University. Further information was located from the U.S. Department of Plastic waste statistics including plastic straws. The pros and cons web site furthered my research with the references that were used in their findings. The various studies that were conducted on the plastic pollutions affecting sea life and beaches and the negative results found. The data that was used to compare plastic pollutants before and after the ban on plastic straws and its results.
Analysis
The study looked at a nation-wide data provided by the Environmental Protection Agency facts and figures fact sheet. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has collected and reported data on the generation and disposition of municipal solid waste (MSW) in the United States for more than 30 years. Despite anecdotal evidence that public interest in the impacts of
plastics was increasing, a dedicated research tool for capturing these attitudes did not exist. Dilkes-Hoffman, L. S., Pratt, S., Laycock, B., Ashworth, P., & Lant, P. A. (2019). Moreover, the behavior of consumers was explored in detail through news organizations research and restaurant owners. Further analysis was conducted about the metal straw and its popularity vs the plastic straw.
Argument/findings
According to the EPA director Mr. Wheeler states that bans on plastic straws, saying that they foster a false sense of complacency among Americans. Juliet (2019). He continues to say, “The plastic straw bans, that’s not what’s creating the problem in the oceans,” he said. “That’s a drop in the bucket, if people have in their minds that “if I get rid of my plastic straw, then that solves the problem.” Juliet (2019). Pollutants of plastic straws is a very small portion of the whole picture. A video of a sea turtle getting a straw removed from its nose helped spark the idea for the straw ban. Understanding that there is a problem with plastic pollutions and not just a straw should be the main focus of the consumer.
Plastic bottle caps, for instance, account for 17% of America’s plastic trash, 10% more than plastic straws. Environmentalist and special interest groups will exploit the consumers feelings to get a quick reaction and response by showing examples of what straws do to the marine life. In 2015, the cruel reality of plastic straws harming marine animals became viral when a video showing rescuers removing a plastic straw from a sea turtle’s nose in graphic and bloody detail invaded social media. Brueck (2018). A study by Plymouth University estimates that almost 700 marine species encounter plastic pollution and are threatened by it on a daily basis. Good (2019).
Metal straws have become a popular alternative to plastic ones, but they’re not the same as plastic straws. Unlike plastic, metal straws heat up with hot liquids and need to be cleaned after each use to keep them sanitary. Another inconvenience is the consumer needs to remember to bring their reusable straw. The fanny pack for guys will have a comeback soon. There are a variety of metals that are used to make metal straws which are either aluminum, stainless steel or titanium. “The main disadvantages are its high cost at between $10 to $20 per straw, not a feasible solution for restaurants” nor a family of five on a budget.
People with motor disabilities need straws in order to drink and implementing a policy to ban them could leave these people without a way of drinking. Metal straws may act as a substitute, but some disabled people have voiced that they are too rough or do not have a bendy function that they need. “Unfortunately, stainless steel production impacts on the environment through air emissions, wastewater contaminants, hazardous wastes, and solid wastes through both the mining and manufacturing processes.” Steel production & environmental impact. (2019).
Findings
Consumer Behaviors
“Two approaches dominate the current consumer theory debate: The Theory of Planned Behavior TPB and its derivates with modified rationality definitions, and Social Practice Theory SPT.” Keller, M., Halkier, B., & Wilska, T. A. (2016, April 20). “Prominently, pro-environmental behavior has been defined as “behavior that consciously seeks to minimize the negative impact of one’s actions on the natural and built world.” Kollmuss, A., & Agyeman, J. (2002). “TPB highlights the role of attitudes, intentions, subjective norms and perceived behavioral control, and the role of communication processes for sharing information, knowledge and experience.” Ajzen, I. (1991).
“SPT, analyzing the context of constituting and reproducing habituative everyday behavior, shows how habits, everyday routines, and social practices are deeply interwoven with societal norms and shared ideas about what are ‘normal practices’ which citizens repeat routinely without specific reflection.” Kumar and Kumar (2008). “Environmental concern refers to consumers’ expression of concern about the quality of the environment for the benefit of the well-being of the nation.” Bickart and Ruth (2012). “Peer influence is seen as the encouragement from peers to embark upon certain actions.”
Brisol and Mangleburg (2005). Consumers react to situations within their community and follow peer groups even if they don’t fully agree with the group’s decisions. Overreacting to the pollution of plastic straws shows that social groups will use any situation to pursue their hidden agenda and try to persuade others to agree with them. The behaviors of these groups will attract many to follow their ideology without concern of the outcome. Playing on the hearts of environmental cautious consumers entrepreneurial businessmen will seize the moment preaching on saving the turtle while at the same time cashing in.
Environment
Because consumers are strongly concerned for the environment, they invest a high emotional involvement in their part in conserving the environment and instilling a strong love of their motherland. This was discovered in the research work of Lee (2009). Majority of consumers will react to a situation “like the get rid of plastic straws” before they research the “experts’ solution to the problem. A stainless-steel straw needs to be used 128 times to abate the emissions versus a plastic straw. The number of uses each straw requires before it is estimated to be neutral with a plastic straw in terms of carbon footprint needed to produce each are as follows, “Bamboo 28 uses, glass is 45 uses and steel is 150 uses.” Tolbert, M., & Koscielak, K. (2018).
“Forty years after the launch of the first universal recycling symbol, only 14 percent of plastic packaging is recycled. Plastic straws are only a tiny fraction of the problem – less than 1 percent. The risk is that banning straws may confer “moral license” – allowing companies and their customers to feel they have done their part.” Jordon, R. (2018). ‘Sixty percent of the world’s marine litter comes from six Asian countries,’ Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Andrew Wheeler said from the White House. Wheeling, K. (2019). The consumers of the United States understand that there is a plastic pollution problem. However, until other countries get more involved with the clean up effort, the oceans and beaches of America will continue to be polluted and sea life injured or death.
Entrepreneurs
Groening (2018) stress that “few consumers will pay more for green products and that behavior in one environmental context does not necessarily translate into comparable behavior in another context”. Entrepreneurs saw an opportunity to cash in on the frenzy to get rid of the plastic straw. Knowing that California and Seattle were just months away from implementing a straw ban, entrepreneurs raced to get funds to create and manufacture metal straws. “We raised over $200,000 with kick starter. By the end of the month we had raised $1.89 million. Our excitement quickly turned to dread—we had 5 months to design, manufacture and deliver 100,000 straws.” Cohen, E. R. (2019). “Businesses must front $1.25 to $2 per metal straw, a huge jump from 2-cent plastic straws.” Lurie, J. (2018). The growing backlash against plastic straws is generating a ton of cash for the online vendors who sell alternative options. With the movement reaching a fever pitch, people are looking to purchase more environmentally sound choices no matter what the cost.
Conclusion
Plastics in the ocean, and environmental topics relating to plastic waste production and disposal were rated as the most serious environmental issues consumers are concerned about. The concerns of the consumer are just that, “concerns”. Consumers continue to use many products that require a plastic container. As stated in the findings the plastic water bottle and the dangerous water bottle cap is higher in pollution percentage than the plastic straw. Paper straws seem to be the best substitute for plastic and is already available on the market.
Unlike the metal straw they solve some of the problems as mentioned before such as heat problems and providing a flexible straw for disabled people. However, consumers will continue to use the metal straw ill regard the use of the plastic straw regardless of the pollutants the metal straw produces. Entrepreneurs will seize the moment and exploit the weaknesses and behaviors of the consumer. “Into the breach have stepped canny entrepreneurs, creating a cottage industry of upscale straws and elegant carrying cases, along with such necessities as cleaning brushes, straw squeegees and dental-friendly silicone straw tips” (McCarthy, B., 2019).
Recommendations for Further Study
Further research is required to better understand why people continue to use products that contaminate the waters and the environment. A study needs to be established on what actions the people are willing to do to reduce their personal plastic use. More research is also needed to inform the population on the substitutes of plastics and any new pollutants they may cause and the price of those new ideas.
