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Waste Journeys
Summary
This multidisciplinary study examined plastic waste as a material of the Anthropocene by tracing the journeys of plastic objects across cultural, natural, marine, and terrestrial landscapes, exploring how plastic's resilience makes it a defining and problematic artifact of modern civilization.
Plastics, as supermodern artefacts of the Anthropocene, form a significant part of waste landscapes. But they also pollute landscapes – cultural and natural, marine and terrestrial – across the globe, including in the most isolated of places. The material’s resilience meansthat plastic pollution is one of the biggest global challenges facing contemporary society. Taking a multidisciplinary approach, this paper demonstrates how archaeological methods can help address the issue of plastic pollution in Galapagos, which is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site for its “Outstanding Universal Value” to humanity. Studied archaeologically, plastics are artefacts that through careful observation can yield precious information about their journey to this archipelago. As objects of story writing and the focus of object itineraries, they can also be used as a window into perceptions of plastic litter locally, as well as providing an opportunity to engage students in the topic.