Practicing Anthropology: Volume 45, Issue 2

The Spring 2023 edition of Practicing Anthropology, a publication of the Society for Applied Anthropology, is dedicated to plastic waste and features the work of USAID’s Clean Cities, Blue Ocean—the Agency’s flagship program to address ocean plastic pollution—and several of its research partners. Social scientists have not traditionally focused on…

The Spring 2023 edition of Practicing Anthropology, a publication of the Society for Applied Anthropology, is dedicated to plastic waste and features the work of USAID’s Clean Cities, Blue Ocean—the Agency’s flagship program to address ocean plastic pollution—and several of its research partners. Social scientists have not traditionally focused on the topic of solid waste management and plastic waste research. However, waste presents enormous opportunities for interdisciplinary study and action—to protect our environment and address social inequalities related to the collection and treatment of waste. 

USAID Clean Cities, Blue Ocean employs a holistic approach to addressing ocean plastic pollution, acknowledging that there is no single solution to prevent environmental leakage. An essential part of that approach involves social and behavior change research to reduce, reuse, and recycle plastic waste. Social and behavior change research helps policy makers understand which behaviors a population can and is willing to do—and what is difficult for people to do—in order to support their efforts strengthening waste management systems. Learn more about how this research is helping social and behavior change programmers to identify very specifically what issues must be addressed and how. 

Table of Contents

Introduction to “One Word: Plastics”

Laurie Krieger

Introduction to the Issue from the United States Agency for International Development

Gillian Caldwell

Conversations with Clare Romanik

Clare Romanik

Postcard Motifs and Littered Landscapes: How the Inglorious Relationship between Tourism and Waste (Re)shapes Phu Quoc Island’s Appearance

Heide Kerber

The Wastescapes of Samaná

Kathleen Skoczen, Natividad Pantaleón, and Daniel Abreu

Trials of Improved Practices (TIPs) in the Dominican Republic to Develop a Solid Waste Management System and Social and Behavior Change

Laurie Krieger, Natividad Pantaleón, and Daniel Abreu

Trialing Household Waste Segregation in Island Communities of the Maldives

Mizna Mohamed, Katarzyna Izydorczyk, Azhoora Ahmed, Mohamed Ibrahim, and Gordon Jackson

Sustainability begins at HOME: Challenges in Replacing Plastic Bags in Urban Households in the Maldives

Mizna Mohamed and Ahmed Jameel

Buzo or Recycler: Waste Collecting as Gift Exchange in the Context of a New Waste Regime

Kathleen Skoczen and Maria Caram Ibarra

Helping Eco Warriors Find Their Own Voices

Raul Caceres, John Vincent Gastanes, and Shellemai Roa

Reflections

Laurie Krieger