Having reached a point where I am satisfied with the research I have done with Rubber Ducks and their place in society, I now seek to call that very thing into question. “Are Rubber Ducks worth what they give us?” I hope to convince people to reconsider Rubber Ducks and whether or not they are worth their impact, through this series of images. I have collected and taken pictures of Rubber Ducks in places that I hope make us reconsider them. Two of these are images I found on the internet. One of them is a picture I manipulated through Photoshop. One is a picture of the design I am working with so far. All the others are pictures I took myself.

(“Washed up Ducks” 2014)

This first image is taken from The Sun. This is meant to speak to the environmental impacts of rubber ducks. Rubber doesn’t decay, so Rubber Ducks will just end up floating in the ocean basically forever. Considering the ever-enlarging effect of plastics in our oceans, and the north pacific garbage patch.

(“Abandoned” 2014)

This image is taken from the pinterest page of Tim Long. It’s a picture from an abandoned rubber duck factory in Cleaveland, Ohio. I use this image as I think it effectively portrays the environmental effects of rubber ducks. We have so many rubber ducks that they end up breaking down slowly in an abandoned factory. This image is unique as it’s the only image of rubber ducks in a place where one would expect to find them, and abandoned rubber duck factory. What possible benefit does this surplus of bath toys serve?

This is a picture I manipulated of a Rubber Duck in a lava flow for comedic reasons. You certainly wouldn’t expect to find a rubber duck there.

Here is a picture of the current status of the rubber duck model I’m working on in the Tinkercad. I plan to do a test print soon, and hopefully I will improve it before the project ends. Most of the body was simple, as the head was where it was difficult. Because this is designed to be 3D printed, the eyes have to pop out so that they’re visible. The beak was a bit of a nightmare.

Here is the first of many photos I took of  a rubber duck. I took this photo (it is of the bottom of the duck) to point out that rubber ducks do have a part in consumerist culture. Also, I think it  strange that I spent the entire second iteration claiming they are symbols of childhood, innocence, and nostalgia, and yet this duck bears a warning against letting infants of less than 18 months use it. By purchasing this rubber duck, I have directly contributed to consumerism, and to this idea that rubber ducks are worth having. The next several pictures attempting to refute this very idea.

Here is a photo I took of the rubber duck sitting in a trash bin. Rubber ducks must end up either in piles of unused garbage, or in a landfill. The sheer immensity of the number of rubber ducks is bound to have a negative impact. It is unavoidable.

This picture I took while wondering if printing the design I’ve made is actually worth it. Obviously, I’ve spent a considerable amount of time working with rubber ducks and studying them. However, at this point, I’ve more or less decided that rubber ducks are not incredibly important, and by continuing as long as I have, I am just contributing to a pile of trash. I’m struggling at this point, because rubber ducks have pretty much only symbolic value, is that truly worth printing?

I will close with this image. I entered into the world of rubber ducks through a phenomena in the world of coding. Suffice to say, however, a computer or a workspace is still not somewhere that most people would expect to find a rubber duck. Although I began at this point, it seems that I’ve rather strayed from where I set out. I wonder if, by the end of this project, I will have come back around to finish in the world of coding and programming, or if I will end in a flurry of environmentalist rage.

Bibliography