Allen Brice Bunting

Nature, Environment and Consumption

I began this Senior Integrative Project with high aspirations of analyzing the concept of environmentalism in the United States . I soon realized how great a task this actually is. As an Anthropology major, I understand that the answer to this question is only possible through observing the economic, political, gender and age influences on what environmentalism means to consumers in our culture. However you have to start somewhere, and my research and analysis became situated in the basic conceptions of ‘nature' and what ‘natural' means in a consumer culture.

The view that nature can be separated from man and increasingly produced through labor was initially brought about through capitalism and modernity. While brainstorming about the concept of nature, words that came to my head included pristine , untouched , and wilderness . Further, this language becomes solely figurative when one observes the reality of anthropogenic impacts on our ‘natural' world.

My research progressed by my gathering of different print advertisements that utilized the concept of nature in placing meaningful and persuasive contexts to products. I then played Ad-Buster and researched just how natural these products actually were. My results show that not only are very few of the ingredients in these products were natural, but they were, in fact, harmful or toxic.

The following digitally designed piece displays my research, analysis, and offered alternatives for my Senior Integrative Project. I begin with an analysis of the concept of nature, move into the truth behind common household products then into a breakdown of adds I selected for my research, and finally I offer both at-home and consumer alternatives to everyday products that may otherwise be harmful or toxic.

This project is a visual culmination of my time, energy, thought and analysis of the difficult breakdown of nature and environmentalism in consumer culture. More importantly, this is just the beginning. Future research will take into consideration economics, eco-racism, gender, and/or age variations in the concept of nature and environmentalism.