Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / During the late 1960s and early 1970s, the polluted Great Lakes became a central
focus of the North American environmental movement. A majority of this pollution
stemmed from phosphate-based laundry detergent use, which had become the primary
product households used to wash fabrics after World War II. The large volume of
phosphorus in these detergents discharged into the lakes caused excess growths of algae
to form in waterways, which turned green and smelly. As the algae died off, it reduced
the oxygen in the water, making it less habitable for fish and other aquatic life, a process
known as eutrophication. As primary consumers of laundry detergents during the time
period, women, particularly white, middle-class housewives in the United States and
Canada, became involved in state/provincial, national, and international discussions
involving ecology, water pollution, and sewage treatment alongside scientists, politicians,
and government officials. Their work as volunteers, activists, and lobbyists influencing
the debate and ensuing policies on how best to abate this type of pollution, known as
eutrophication, has often been ignored. This thesis recognizes the work women
completed encouraging the enactment of key water quality regulations and popularizing
the basic tenets of environmentally-conscious consumption practices during the
environmental movement in the early 1970s.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:IUPUI/oai:scholarworks.iupui.edu:1805/17815 |
| Date | 08 1900 |
| Creators | Scherber, Annette Mary |
| Contributors | Scarpino, Philip V., Shrum, Rebecca K., Robertson, Nancy Marie |
| Source Sets | Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
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