Learning From Sustainability

 Sustainability is important to us, as it should be to everyone, because we want to protect and preserve our environment. Being Furman students, we are constantly surrounded by sustainability lifestyles.  There is a compost option in the dining hall, eco-cottages available for housing option, and solar panels on campus to name a few.  We are also surrounded by sustainability through the media.  We found that there are numerous media trends present on pollution, deforestation, organic agriculture, climate change, and consumer habits.

Trends such as branding, framing, and agenda setting all effect how the media portrays these sustainability issues.  Branding is evident when Matt Damon teamed up with PepsiCo to bring access to safe water to developing countries.  This is a good step to bringing awareness to safe water, but it could just be seen as a pitch to help build Matt’s brand. Branding tends to focuses more on profit rather than the environmental issues. Companies will also use special effects and animations in videos and advertising in order to appeal to a larger audience.  Chipotle Mexican Grill used an animated video to promote their sustainable agriculture.  They showed how they don’t use factory farming for the meat used in their restaurants. Instead, they use organic food, which makes it more appealing for consumers of Chipotle.

Framing is present in many of the cases in our previous posts.  With the issue deforestation in the Amazon rain forest, the United States has a skewed view of what is really going on the in the region.  We are aware of the Forest Codes that Brazil put into place to decrease illegal logging practices.  However, we only see what the media gives us. Since it’s not happening in our country, the average American person does not have much concern over the issue because we are not aware of how bad it really is.  This is where framing is negative in the media.

Agenda setting was mentioned multiple times throughout the previous posts on our subtopics.  If it wasn’t for the media telling us about the environmental issue in the first place, we wouldn’t have been aware it was occurring. For example, BP promoted new oil and safety precautions through social media to increase their popularity after the big oil spill. Agenda setting, such as with BP, effects the reality of what’s really going on behind the scenes of a company.

Through our research, we have learned it’s important to take care of our environment.  For instance, when buying a car, try to choose one that is more eco-friendly because car emissions have more impact on the planet than you would think.  Think twice before you take phone upgrade, because your old phone is just going into a huge pile of waste that continues to grow.  This practice could also save you money.

As consumerists we need to be aware of the different media techniques and trends uses that can cloud the reality of the environmental issues at hand. After this project, we have learned to be more aware of sustainable practices and lifestyles on Furman campus.  We will make more of an effort to preserve the planet, and we hope after reading this blog, you will too.