Associate Professor David Kinkela of the Department of History presented a paper, “Packaging the Six-Pack: The Business and Ecological History of Plastic Six-Pack Rings,” at Food Packaging: Uncovering the History, an international symposium held Dec. 1 and 2 in Tokyo.
In his paper, Dr. Kinkela, whose primary research is devoted to the history of U.S. environmental politics, examined the ecological consequences of disposal plastic six-pack rings from the 1960s to the present.
Jointly organized by Leiden University and Kobe University, the symposium was the first of its kind that brought together scholars and industry experts with the goal to map an agenda to investigate this largely uncharted topic. Anthropologists, economists, geographers, historians and sociologists engaged in discussions devoted to various aspects of food packaging history dating back to 1900.
Kinkela has begun work on a new book, “An Island of Plastic: A History of Waste, Water and Petrochemicals,” that will examine the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, the largest environmental wasteland in the world. In the spring semester, Kinkela is co-teaching an honors seminar, “Ecology of Waste,” with Chemistry Professor Sherri (Sam) Mason, a pioneer in Great Lakes plastics pollution research.
The Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research funded the symposium as part of activities under the framework of the Garbage Matters Project.
