7A- Testing the Hypothesis, Part 1

1)
I believe there is an opportunity for supermarkets to rethink their use of plastic shopping bags. For example they could give an incentive for customers to bring their own reusable shopping bags such as making them to pay for plastic bags. This is a very important topic, since plastic waste is mostly not degradable and puts our planet at a risk.


2)
The who: Supermarkets in the US who hand out plastic bags for their customers.

The what: The plastic bags that are given out to customers are harmful for the environment.

The why: Plastic is a synthetic material that is not biodegradable, meaning that it is not capable of being decomposed. Therefore it will stay somewhere in the atmosphere and harm wildlife, nature and the environment in general.

3)
My hypothesis: Reducing the use of plastic bags in supermarkets by rethinking the policy in regards to those will significantly benefit our environment.

Testing the who: Definitely not only supermarkets are the ones affected/responsible of this opportunity. More broadly everyone who uses plastic in an inefficient way or where it is actually not needed is a potential "who". Therefore, all other shops and people responsible for the amount of wasteful plastic is a "who".

The what: Not only plastic bags but more broadly all plastic packaging or inefficient use of plastic is in the scope of the "what".

The why: In general I think that this opportunity is surely not questionable. However, managers or people behind supermarkets might have a different opinion because they think that it is a way of customer support or to make the life of customers easier.


4)
First respondent (Student, 19 years old from America, Business):
This respondent agreed with the who. He also thinks that the way people think of plastic bags are distributed and most importantly the amount of them is a huge concern. Additionally he mentioned, that also customers are part of the problem, since they could just as well bring their own reusable shopping bag. However, no one does that. He also agreed with the what and even added additional points to deal with environmental concerns, such as riding a bike instead of using the car.
Since he is a business student he says that he thinks customer satisfaction is the most important thing for a company. That is why he thinks most supermarkets will not make customers pay for plastic bags. Nevertheless, with a good marketing campaign that will give the company a good image he thinks that it might be possible.

Second respondent (Student, 21 years old from America, Civil engineering):
This respondent also mostly agrees with the first two points and adds that he has also thought about the same opportunity. He thinks that the government should intervene, since it is such an important topic. So this would be part of the "who".
To the "why" he adds that managers and supermarkets should not only act in their best interest but show some corporate social responsibility.

Third respondent (Student, 21 years old from America, Law):
The third respondent mostly thinks that the "what" aspect is most important, since plastic bags are a rather small part of a larger picture. Packaging for fast food and especially straws should also be a similar concern. Moreover, as a law student he also thinks that people who violate rules such as throwing away plastic irresponsibly should be given harsher fines or even jail if they do it continuously.

Fourth respondent (Student, 20 years old, from Germany, Business):
He said that the way that it works back home with the plastic bags (supermarkets charge for it) is way better and in general people in America should overthink their behaviour in terms of disposables, since for examples in dorms (room waste) they do not separate between different types of wastes which would be a big step toward a better environment. Therefore the "who" gets more broad here.

Fifth respondent (Working adult, 58 years old, from the US, works for an oil company):
He agrees with most of the aspects. However, he as a manager in an oil company thinks that oil is a scarce resource which runs out at some point and that people use it without even thinking if there is an alternative. Therefore the "why" becomes larger, because it does not only harm the environment but also take away important natural resources that could be used somewhere else where is is more needed.

5) Most generally I absolutely agree and I am happy with the interviews. They added value to my opportunity and I liked the different perspectives such as the different way of thinking about the problem between a law and business student. Moreover, the working adult added a whole different insight that I did not think of beforehand.