Fast Fashion Turns to Fast Trash

Fast Fashion Turns to Fast Trash

April 10, 2020
Lisa M. Spencer

Ghana imports large amounts of secondhand clothing from the UK and other countries, but poor quality makes much of it unsaleable.  Over 50 tons a day, representing about forty percent of the items coming into Kantamanto, the main market, end up being thrown away.

Landfill sites in Ghana are overflowing with the debris.  Low quality fast fashion items, cheap single use t-shirts from marathons or other special events, and unclean items have little to no value in the resale market.  Vendors gamble, buying their bales of used clothing sight unseen, and hope for the best.  Sadly, much of what they purchase will be thrown away, making Ghana and other African countries a dumping ground for other countries’ unwanted textile waste.

Video Spotlight: How fast fashion choices in the the UK are causing an environmental catastrophe in Ghana (Feb 18, 2020, ITV News)

This post is based on the Daily Mail article, The fast fashion trash mountain: Shocking report reveals today’s cheap clothes are so badly made they often can’t be resold—and end up rotting into a toxic soup in Africa, by Barbara Davies, February 25, 2020, and the YouTube video featured in Continue reading →

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Sizzling Airplane Food in Phoenix

Sizzling Airplane Food in Phoenix

January 11, 2020
Corinne M. Karuppan, Ph.D.

Unsafe temperatures in the transport of airline food are even more reasons to dislike it.

During the summer months, the temperature on the tarmac of Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport is often well above 100 degrees. As food is transported from catering facilities to airplanes, it may reach unsafe temperatures. LSG Sky Chefs’ management and the union representing the catering company’s workers offer different perspectives on the issue and, in the absence of recent FDA inspections, it is difficult to determine whether passengers are actually at risk of food poisoning.

Video Spotlight: Grave Concerns About Airline Food Safety

This post is based on the NBC News article, Airline Catering Workers in Phoenix Say Food Is Getting Too Hot on the Tarmac, by A. Kaplan, L. Bomnin, and V. Nguyen, December 28, 2019, and the YouTube video, Is Airline Food Safe to Eat? What You Need to Know, by NBC News/TODAY, December 27, 2019. Image source: Kasto/123RF.

Discussion Questions:

1. What factors contribute to potentially unsafe temperatures before the food is loaded on a plane?

Guidance: Temperatures in the air and on the tarmac are very high during the summer months. According to some workers, the delivery Continue reading →

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Disrupting the Truck Industry with Tough, Electric, Luxury Vehicles

Disrupting the Truck Industry with Tough, Electric, Luxury Vehicles

July 17, 2019
Corinne M. Karuppan, Ph.D.

Amazon and Ford Motor Company have invested heavily in Rivian, a new start-up aiming to do for pickup trucks and sports utility vehicles (SUVs) what Tesla did for cars.

Rivian focuses on combining power, electrification, and fun. The vehicle designs are slick, but the challenge of manufacturing them looms over the company.

Video Spotlight: see the video on Rivian vs. Tesla

This post is based on the New York Times article, Meet the Man Quietly Building the Tesla of Trucks, with Jeff Bezos Aboard, by N.D. Schwartz, July 2, 2019, and the YouTube video, What EV Start-Up Rivian Is Doing That Tesla Isn’t, by Business Insider, June 11, 2019. Image source: Images by Victoria J Baxter/Getty Images

Discussion Questions:

1. On what market opportunities does Rivian want to capitalize?

Guidance: It is actually quite unclear. On one hand, the article mentions that the trucks are meant to be “lifestyle,” rather than work vehicles; on the other, Amazon’s interest in the company seems targeted at its distribution network. What is certain is that it is attempting to carve a niche in the expanding pickup and SUV markets.

2. What are the external threats to the company’s future Continue reading →

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