Centering on waste and consumption, this unit will empower students to connect their personal role in waste production to an understanding of their social responsibility. Using magazine images as the starting point for a long- term project, students will draw deep connections to objects and images that contemporary media construes as “disposable.” The process of slowing down, observing closely, and re-evaluating pop culture images enables students to meditate on the overlooked and generate new meaning. As a counterpoint to this meditative process, students will later explore media that are inherently tied to waste and disposability, such as printing, photography, and stamping. The fast pace and efficiency that these media allow resonate with the theme of waste by mimicking our wasteful habits. Students will devise final projects on an individual basis that synthesize their discoveries, choosing media that strengthen their messages. Ultimately, they will learn to use their art as a political tool to address the social implications of their consumption and that of society at large.