Watch “The Story of Plastic” film for Earth Day 2021

Here is it almost Earth Day (April 22, 2021), and there is sooo much plastic waste, it is beginning to overwhelm us.  Watch this gripping documentary about the immense amount of plastic still being produced and consumed all over the world, and what communities are doing to fight back:

“THE STORY OF PLASTIC is a searing expose revealing the ugly truth behind plastic pollution and the false solution of plastic recycling. Different from every other plastic documentary you’ve seen, THE STORY OF PLASTIC presents a cohesive timeline of how we got to our current global plastic pollution crisis and how the oil and gas industry has successfully manipulated the narrative around it. From the extraction of fossil fuels and plastic disposal to the global resistance fighting back, THE STORY OF PLASTIC is a life-changing film depicting one of the world’s most pressing environmental issues.

THE STORY OF PLASTIC is presented by The Story of Stuff Project, a nonprofit dedicated to changing the way that we make, use, and throw away Stuff so that it is more sustainable, healthy, and fair. Since 2007 the nonprofit’s nine award-winning animated movies have garnered more than 50 million online views around the world and inspired a million-member global community to take action for systemic change. To learn more, visit storyofstuff.org

The Story of Stuff Project is a member of #breakfreefromplastic, a global movement envisioning a future free from plastic pollution. To learn more about the push for lasting solutions to the plastic pollution crisis, visit breakfreefromplastic.org.“

I was able to see the film free via a program that my son (M.S. in Tropical Conservation Biology & Env. Science and works in Sustainability at Cascadia College in WA) is participating in, but here’s what the website has to offer:

https://www.storyofplastic.org/watch

Since this pandemic began in March 2020, my husband and I (due to boredom) have been picking up trash in our neighborhood on a weekly (or more often) basis. Most of the trash in the streets and alleys is just that — plastic bottles, containers, straws, packaging for food items.  The movie makes the point that we need to stop buying these single use products, because even trashing them in containers still doesn’t solve the problem of what happens to that plastic thereafter. Most of it is not recyclable and is definitely not biodegradable, so then it has to be incinerated, but that only leads to air pollution.  Refuse/Repair/Reuse is the new mantra.

The movie does have a few hopeful solutions and ideas at the end, so it’s not totally hopeless yet.  Be aware and do your part to reduce/reuse/recycle plastic in the blue bins.

If in doubt, check here:  www.tucsonaz.gov/recycle.