Research Evaluation - RESEARCH PROJECT
EVALUATION576358RIs Zero Waste living worthwhile when financial, environmental and lifestyle aspects are taken into consideration?SummaryThroughout my Research Project I investigated Zero Waste living and attempted to determine whether it is a worthwhile lifestyle. My topic question, “Is Zero Waste living worthwhile when financial, environmental and lifestyle aspects are taken into consideration?” focused on Zero Waste living within the home on a personal level, and provided a scaffold to define ‘worthwhile.’ I chose to present my Outcome as a video talk to convey information to my targeted audience, the general public, in a visually engaging and interactive format. Given the subjective nature of this topic, formats such as a scientific article would have been less accessible to the intended audience and consequently less appropriate. After completing extensive research, I concluded that Zero Waste living was indeed worthwhile, as it provided financial benefits, potentially improved physical health and contributed positively to the environment. Further benefits included better mental health, more conscious resource use and enhanced home aesthetic.Word Count: 150Evaluation of the research processesA variety of research processes were utilised throughout my Research Project, including books, online blogs, articles, reports, email correspondence, websites, YouTube videos, and a videoconference. Due to the modern and constantly evolving nature of Zero Waste, a vast majority of sources were accessed online. By accessing blogs written by people practicing Zero Waste lifestyles including Colleen Doyle’s No Trash Project and Bea Johnson’s Zero Waste Home, I was able to gain insight into what a Zero Waste lifestyle involved. This process enabled me to identify significant aspects such as financial, environmental, time and health impacts for further focus and investigation, as I had little knowledge of this lifestyle before conducting my Research Project. Online blogs were readily accessible, easy to read, and surprisingly abundant, allowing me to canvass a range of opinions. I did note, however, that most blogs advocated Zero Waste living and focused largely on the perceived benefits of this lifestyle. While this was useful in crosschecking sources to validate their reliability, it also posed the potential challenge of skewed data, as the blogs tended to be biased toward Zero Waste and were written from similar viewpoints. I was only able to find one blog that presented a more balanced view of Zero Waste living, posted by Cordgrass, “Living Simply: Zero waste is a pain in the butt.” Cordgrass, although still predominantly supportive of Zero Waste living, acknowledged the potential challenges posed by this lifestyle. Although relevant to the topic, the blogs’ reliability was questionable, as it was difficult to verify that the authors were legitimate as the sources were found on the Internet.In an effort to address the bias evident in the online blogs, I questioned the information provided by personally communicating with blogger Colleen Doyle (New York) using the platforms of both email and Skype interview. It was challenging to organize this interview as, although Colleen was relatively prompt in her email replies, there was a significant time zone difference and numerous attempts were required before finding a mutually suitable date and time. From this experience, I realized that the most efficient way of obtaining a wide range of opinions was to create a generalized question sheet. Once I had created an appropriate contact list of people affiliated with Zero Waste living from Internet searches and discussion, I personalized and emailed these questions. This provided me with the opportunity to rapidly develop my skills in communication, as I had to ensure that the language that I used was appropriate, that my questions were worded in such a way as to encourage thoughtful, detailed responses, and that permission to use any information provided was obtained. I was unable to conduct any interviews face-to-face, as Zero Waste is not a widely recognized or adopted lifestyle in Australia at this time, and almost all advocates and correspondents currently reside overseas. My mass email requests elicited a number of responses, largely from Zero Waste bloggers, that were highly relevant to my research and comprehensively addressed the aspects of Zero Waste that I was focusing on. On the other hand, in retrospect the extent and detail of responses that I could have received may have been somewhat restricted due to the generic nature of the email that I sent. I was personally challenged when I received some seemingly terse feedback from one recipient about the lack of personalization within my email. This taught me important research skills, as more specific and potentially relevant results may have been obtained had I personalized questions to specific contacts by reading and studying the websites of contacts more thoroughly beforehand. Overall, each response was highly relevant and solidified the key findings about health benefits, time consumption and savings within the lifestyle and financial aspects of Zero Waste found in blogs and other websites of Zero Waste organisations. Both blogs and personal communication were highly valid information sources, as my Outcome was reliant on personal opinion and experience. Sources provided relevant, supportive evidence for key findings, indicating financial savings when buying food in bulk and reducing total purchases, physical health is improved by buying fresh, healthy foods, and mental health and happiness is increased by the additional time available to spend with family and friends. Experienced correspondents familiar with the topic of Zero Waste, such as famous Zero Waste blogger Bea Johnson who has had extensive contact with media as an advocator for Zero Waste, provided me with well-considered and reliable information about the personal ramifications of a Zero Waste lifestyle. One noticeable characteristic shared by almost all correspondents was a lack of detailed knowledge about the environmental effects of waste and the subsequent potential impact of Zero Waste living on reducing these harmful effects. Feedback such as this challenged my initial assumptions that Zero Waste would require a lot of work and effort that would negate its benefits, and illustrated that many people choose to live Zero Waste irrespective of its environmental benefits. Correspondence with Sharon Ede, a representative from Zero Waste SA was pivotal in my research, as she provided me with extra questions and sources to consider within my research. This gave me the opportunity to further investigate areas within Zero Waste that I had previously not thought of such as the effect of waste in the economy and the environment in production and distribution rather than just the effects of waste disposal.To fulfill the environmental findings section of my research, I utilized books and websites of organisations dedicated specifically to reducing or recycling waste. Books from the Issues in Society series, sourced from my school library, were particularly helpful in describing the ways in which waste affects the environment and humans. These written texts provided evidence-based and quantitative information which, in turn, allowed me to achieve a deeper understanding of the effects Zero Waste living had on the environment. Conversely, published resources did not specifically address Zero Waste living. Although still valid and relevant, the written texts I was able to source were not published recently, with books from the Issues in Society series written in 2008 and 2010 respectively. The lack of currency somewhat reduced the reliability of the sources, as the information may have been outdated therefore; I ensured that the information I included was validated by other sources. I consolidated my research by conducting further checks on the Internet for current statistical evidence to substantiate my findings.Online reports such as Zero Waste by Robin Murray provided extensive information about how Zero Waste living is achieved, and the economical and environmental benefits associated with it. Whilst these findings were not as relevant on a personal level, they were highly reliable sources of information, as they not only provided non-biased, in-depth information, but they were also well referenced, validating their credibility and backing up information sourced from personal communication and blogs. Evaluation of the research OutcomeI believe that my Outcome was successful in providing reasoned and logical information to allow viewers to reach their own conclusion about whether Zero Waste living is in fact worthwhile. Due to the subjective nature of this topic, it was impossible to reach a definitive answer to the research question. Subsequently, my intent was to present my findings in a non-biased, informative and engaging format with only a suggested conclusion, allowing the viewer to reach their own decision. The subject of waste and waste reduction are topical but broad. Consequently, I limited my Outcome focus to the personal impact of living Zero Waste as an individual, as it would relate directly to any member of the general public, irrespective of their knowledge or concern about the wider picture. It was also very difficult to account for the opinions of those who may have attempted Zero Waste lifestyle but decided that it was not worthwhile, as online posts were limited to supportive viewpoints.Whilst my final conclusion does not specifically contribute any new information to the field, it succinctly collates the opinions of many to provide the general public with a ‘highlight reel’ about Zero Waste as a personal lifestyle. As I intended for my Outcome to appeal to the general public, not only were my language skills developed, but I also learnt how to create an appealing, easy to follow video through developing skills in creating a script, storyboard, recording both video and audio, and finally editing using computer software. Word Count: 1500 ................
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