00:00:01.100 --> 00:00:03.700
[insects chirping]

00:00:03.733 --> 00:00:07.267
(Connacher) That's the world's largest
PLA manufacturing plant

00:00:07.300 --> 00:00:13.300
making pellets to go
and make bags and water bottles,

00:00:13.333 --> 00:00:14.833
food packaging.

00:00:14.867 --> 00:00:16.867
I've tried for six months
to get an interview,

00:00:16.900 --> 00:00:22.333
and ending up in Nebraska,
they finally said no.

00:00:22.367 --> 00:00:24.367
Well, we had to see it.

00:00:24.400 --> 00:00:28.433
I was addicted to plastic.

00:00:28.467 --> 00:00:30.800
Everything in my life
had become disposable,

00:00:30.833 --> 00:00:32.633
my food, my furniture,

00:00:32.667 --> 00:00:36.600
and as it turned out,
my girlfriend and job.

00:00:36.633 --> 00:00:39.833
I followed a trail of plastic
out to the deep ocean,

00:00:39.867 --> 00:00:43.067
and it led me on a two-year odyssey
around the world.

00:00:45.267 --> 00:00:48.167
I risked my life
on a Delhi dump.

00:00:48.200 --> 00:00:50.400
I lugged 200 pounds
of camera equipment

00:00:50.433 --> 00:00:53.000
through the Tokyo subway.

00:00:53.033 --> 00:00:57.467
I dodged exploding aerosol cans
in the Australian outback.

00:00:57.500 --> 00:01:00.967
In Holland,
I witnessed an avian autopsy.

00:01:01.000 --> 00:01:03.167
I toured the dirtiest places
on the planet

00:01:03.200 --> 00:01:05.833
and the cleanest labs
in the world.

00:01:05.867 --> 00:01:07.733
A professor of toxicology told me

00:01:07.767 --> 00:01:11.200
he and his family
have sworn off plastic bottles.

00:01:15.267 --> 00:01:18.867
The guy from a plastics PR firm
showed me a magic trick.

00:01:18.900 --> 00:01:21.400
I met a guy that lives
in a foam castle

00:01:21.433 --> 00:01:25.067
and a CEO who eats
his own plastic product.

00:01:25.100 --> 00:01:26.867
It doesn't taste
particularly attractive,

00:01:26.900 --> 00:01:27.900
but it's high-fiber.

00:01:27.933 --> 00:01:29.567
It's good for you.

00:01:29.600 --> 00:01:31.733
(Connacher) The Roman empire
may have been defeated

00:01:31.767 --> 00:01:33.633
by lead in their water pipes.

00:01:33.667 --> 00:01:34.800
And I learned that we, too,

00:01:34.833 --> 00:01:37.867
might be risking future
generations with the cheapest,

00:01:37.900 --> 00:01:41.700
strongest, most ubiquitous
material ever invented.

00:01:41.733 --> 00:01:45.233
Plastic might be
quietly poisoning us.

00:01:45.267 --> 00:01:49.000
This is my wake-up call.

00:01:56.700 --> 00:01:58.433
[laughing]

00:02:53.767 --> 00:02:56.033
I never used to think
about plastic,

00:02:56.067 --> 00:02:58.467
how much it surrounded me.

00:02:58.500 --> 00:03:02.033
But it is in everything,

00:03:02.067 --> 00:03:05.567
from my polyester sheets
to my foam flip-flops

00:03:05.600 --> 00:03:08.233
to all my toiletries.

00:03:08.267 --> 00:03:09.467
When I woke up

00:03:09.500 --> 00:03:13.767
and realized just how much
plastic I touched in a day,

00:03:13.800 --> 00:03:15.733
I knew I had to do something.

00:03:19.567 --> 00:03:22.367
Sure it's convenient,
keeps my food fresh,

00:03:22.400 --> 00:03:25.633
but what happens
beyond the recycle box?

00:03:27.800 --> 00:03:28.800
The closer I looked,

00:03:28.833 --> 00:03:32.600
the more I saw plastic
being used once and flushed

00:03:32.633 --> 00:03:36.100
like these exfoliating beads
in my soap.

00:03:40.700 --> 00:03:42.967
We absolutely need
this material.

00:03:43.000 --> 00:03:44.867
I couldn't make a film
without it.

00:03:44.900 --> 00:03:49.633
But I began to worry about
the cost of my disposable lifestyle,

00:03:49.667 --> 00:03:54.367
and I discovered virtually
no organism can degrade plastic.

00:03:54.400 --> 00:03:57.767
That means every piece that's
ever been made,

00:03:57.800 --> 00:04:00.533
except for a small amount
that's been incinerated,

00:04:00.567 --> 00:04:02.667
still exists.

00:04:04.167 --> 00:04:06.000
First stop on my journey,

00:04:06.033 --> 00:04:08.900
the place that is downhill
from everything:

00:04:08.933 --> 00:04:11.133
the deep ocean.

00:04:11.167 --> 00:04:14.100
(Moore) Plastics have become a plague
for our oceans.

00:04:14.133 --> 00:04:17.700
Our oceans are now
a plastic soup.

00:04:17.733 --> 00:04:20.433
(Connacher) For the past seven years,
Captain Charles Moore

00:04:20.467 --> 00:04:23.167
at the Algalita Marine Research Foundation

00:04:23.200 --> 00:04:26.867
has been sampling large
concentration zones of plastic

00:04:26.900 --> 00:04:29.267
in the middle
of the Pacific ocean.

00:04:29.300 --> 00:04:34.233
I was invited aboard to see this
so-called garbage patch for myself.

00:04:34.267 --> 00:04:38.433
(Moore) We're headed out to
the North Pacific Central Gyre,

00:04:38.467 --> 00:04:43.033
the Eastern Garbage Patch
as it's called.

00:04:43.067 --> 00:04:44.907
(Connacher) It took us a week
to get out there,

00:04:44.933 --> 00:04:47.567
and it's really way outside
the shipping lanes.

00:04:47.600 --> 00:04:48.600
If something happened,

00:04:48.633 --> 00:04:51.367
be it a fire
or someone went overboard,

00:04:51.400 --> 00:04:53.700
no one would help.

00:05:00.733 --> 00:05:05.100
I felt really insignificant
and very much alone.

00:05:05.133 --> 00:05:08.033
We were 1,000 miles
from the U.S. mainland

00:05:08.067 --> 00:05:13.867
in the center of something about the size
of Western Europe called a gyre.

00:05:16.033 --> 00:05:17.400
There are five gyres
in the world:

00:05:17.433 --> 00:05:19.567
North and South Atlantic,
North and South Pacific,

00:05:19.600 --> 00:05:20.800
and the Indian Ocean.

00:05:20.833 --> 00:05:25.200
These high-pressure gyres
are created by weather systems

00:05:25.233 --> 00:05:28.567
where atmosphere actually
builds up in, like, a mountain

00:05:28.600 --> 00:05:32.167
and that heavier weight of atmosphere
pushes down on the ocean's surface

00:05:32.200 --> 00:05:34.433
and actually creates
a depression near the center

00:05:34.467 --> 00:05:36.333
so that you have
a kind of a toilet bowl effect

00:05:36.367 --> 00:05:40.567
where you have swirling water
bringing debris into this central area

00:05:40.600 --> 00:05:44.567
which has a bit of downwelling -
causes an accumulation zone.

00:05:46.933 --> 00:05:50.800
(Connacher) Our destination was
the North Pacific Central Gyre

00:05:50.833 --> 00:05:53.267
or Eastern Garbage Patch,
as it's called.

00:05:57.300 --> 00:06:01.433
It didn't take long to start
to spot large plastic pieces.

00:06:13.367 --> 00:06:16.467
[laughs]

00:06:16.500 --> 00:06:18.733
(Moore)
Bucket lid.

00:06:26.867 --> 00:06:28.100
We don't shop anymore, you know.

00:06:28.133 --> 00:06:32.200
All we do is wait for things to float by.

00:06:44.667 --> 00:06:46.300
What you see
is a plastic bottle.

00:06:46.333 --> 00:06:51.233
This is easily 4,000 miles
from the Asian coast.

00:06:51.267 --> 00:06:55.767
This is the new designer
light switch cover from the gyre,

00:06:55.800 --> 00:06:59.867
gyre-style light switch cover.

00:06:59.900 --> 00:07:03.700
(man) It's quite amazing,
a fluorescent tube intact.

00:07:03.733 --> 00:07:05.767
All the barnacles
hang on that sucker.

00:07:08.367 --> 00:07:09.767
(Connacher)
We didn't sleep much.

00:07:09.800 --> 00:07:11.800
We were out here to hunt for plastic,

00:07:11.833 --> 00:07:14.267
and I immediately became hooked.

00:07:14.300 --> 00:07:16.900
It felt as if
I was cleaning the ocean.

00:07:16.933 --> 00:07:18.067
When I wasn't filming,

00:07:18.100 --> 00:07:20.600
I was on the bow
with a net in my hand

00:07:20.633 --> 00:07:26.033
and eyes scanning the horizon.

00:07:26.067 --> 00:07:30.033
I was pulling out nets, bottles,
buckets, fishing floats,

00:07:30.067 --> 00:07:34.167
a fluorescent light tube,
paint roller, plastic wrapping,

00:07:34.200 --> 00:07:35.700
all kinds of crap.

00:07:35.733 --> 00:07:39.400
In my mind, I had an image
of a floating landfill out here.

00:07:39.433 --> 00:07:40.433
But it's not that.

00:07:40.467 --> 00:07:43.267
It's a chunk here,
a piece there.

00:07:43.300 --> 00:07:45.067
When you do it for an hour

00:07:45.100 --> 00:07:48.900
and realize just now small the
section is you're able to search

00:07:48.933 --> 00:07:52.233
and the fact that only half
of all plastics float,

00:07:52.267 --> 00:07:53.667
you begin to get a sense

00:07:53.700 --> 00:07:57.167
of just how much plastic
must be out here.

00:08:01.733 --> 00:08:03.533
(Moore) The amounts
that we find of debris

00:08:03.567 --> 00:08:06.700
have to be multiplied
by the millions

00:08:06.733 --> 00:08:10.400
to get any kind of an idea
of what's actually out there.

00:08:17.067 --> 00:08:20.800
Bet this is brittle.

00:08:20.833 --> 00:08:26.300
Oh, yeah, very brittle,
just very, very brittle.

00:08:27.500 --> 00:08:29.067
(Connacher)
According to Charlie,

00:08:29.100 --> 00:08:31.633
larger pieces
like this styrofoam

00:08:31.667 --> 00:08:33.633
are able to stay afloat
for decades

00:08:33.667 --> 00:08:37.100
and accumulate barnacles, crabs,
and other marine life.

00:08:41.367 --> 00:08:44.100
How serious does
the plastic industry

00:08:44.133 --> 00:08:47.833
take this problem
of ocean debris?

00:08:47.867 --> 00:08:49.333
Well, it's a huge problem,

00:08:49.367 --> 00:08:51.633
and we take it
very, very seriously.

00:08:51.667 --> 00:08:54.567
I firmly believe that
it has to do with education.

00:08:54.600 --> 00:08:57.433
It has to do
with getting them to see

00:08:57.467 --> 00:09:04.300
that their behavior is resulting
in these dead albatrosses.

00:09:04.333 --> 00:09:07.233
Their behavior is resulting
in this ugly beach

00:09:07.267 --> 00:09:08.767
that I don't want to go to.

00:09:08.800 --> 00:09:13.300
Their behavior is - I mean, it -
and that comes in our -

00:09:13.333 --> 00:09:14.867
you know,
it comes from our families,

00:09:14.900 --> 00:09:16.933
it comes from our schools,
comes from our churches,

00:09:16.967 --> 00:09:20.933
comes from everywhere where we can be
exposed to the idea that we can't be a pig.

00:09:23.067 --> 00:09:26.600
(Connacher) While a lot of the debris does
come from the fishing industry,

00:09:26.633 --> 00:09:29.833
80% actually originates
from land,

00:09:29.867 --> 00:09:32.300
gets in our gutters,
blows in our rivers,

00:09:32.333 --> 00:09:34.133
and eventually reaches the ocean.

00:09:38.167 --> 00:09:41.300
But not everything
could be scooped up in my net.

00:09:41.333 --> 00:09:42.333
When I went swimming

00:09:42.367 --> 00:09:44.833
or every time
I looked over the side,

00:09:44.867 --> 00:09:48.800
I saw small plastic bits
like confetti in the water.

00:09:48.833 --> 00:09:51.067
Sunlight and waves
break up plastic

00:09:51.100 --> 00:09:53.267
but only into smaller bits,

00:09:53.300 --> 00:09:56.433
bits that remain plastic.

00:10:00.867 --> 00:10:03.367
Captain Moore had a device
called a Manta Trawl,

00:10:03.400 --> 00:10:06.500
which could collect
these smaller pieces.

00:10:09.967 --> 00:10:12.733
And when he emptied
the trawls into jars,

00:10:12.767 --> 00:10:16.667
I could see why Charlie called
the ocean a plastic soup.

00:10:22.533 --> 00:10:25.733
Some plastic can resemble food
for marine life

00:10:25.767 --> 00:10:29.000
like these small red chunks
that resemble shrimp

00:10:29.033 --> 00:10:31.967
or little pellets
that look like fish eggs.

00:10:32.000 --> 00:10:33.400
(Moore)
These are the things that -

00:10:33.433 --> 00:10:35.233
all plastic objects
starts their life

00:10:35.267 --> 00:10:39.500
as one of these nurdles
or pellets or plastic resin beads.

00:10:51.633 --> 00:10:54.033
(Connacher)
This is Nelly the nurdle.

00:10:54.067 --> 00:10:58.067
She, like the rest of her family,
are resin beads.

00:10:58.100 --> 00:10:59.867
They're the building blocks for plastic,

00:10:59.900 --> 00:11:02.833
the DNA of bottles,
bags, and bumpers.

00:11:02.867 --> 00:11:03.867
(all)
Whee!

00:11:03.900 --> 00:11:04.900
Woo-hoo!

00:11:04.933 --> 00:11:08.333
(Connacher) The nurdles are vacuum hosed
into railcars

00:11:08.367 --> 00:11:10.700
and shipped
to plastic factories.

00:11:10.733 --> 00:11:12.300
At this point
in their life cycle,

00:11:12.333 --> 00:11:15.433
nurdles have the potential
to become anything.

00:11:17.667 --> 00:11:19.233
What are you gonna be?

00:11:19.267 --> 00:11:20.733
I'm gonna be part of a computer.

00:11:20.767 --> 00:11:22.133
I'm gonna be a lunch box.

00:11:22.167 --> 00:11:23.400
I'm gonna be a fire engine.

00:11:23.433 --> 00:11:25.633
I'm gonna be part of a guitar.

00:11:25.667 --> 00:11:26.667
I'm gonna be a race car.

00:11:26.700 --> 00:11:28.400
I'm gonna be a cell phone.

00:11:28.433 --> 00:11:29.433
(all)
Woo-hoo!

00:11:29.467 --> 00:11:30.467
Whee!

00:11:30.500 --> 00:11:33.633
(Connacher) Sadly, Ned won't have
the chance.

00:11:33.667 --> 00:11:35.933
Oh, no, Ned!

00:11:35.967 --> 00:11:37.800
Nelly, Nelly!

00:11:37.833 --> 00:11:38.933
Nelly.

00:11:44.933 --> 00:11:48.000
[shouting]

00:12:03.700 --> 00:12:06.300
(Moore) We're gonna use this to
calculate the ratio

00:12:06.333 --> 00:12:08.867
of plastic to plankton
by weight,

00:12:08.900 --> 00:12:12.267
which is the way that we compare
the available food

00:12:12.300 --> 00:12:14.900
to the amount of plastic
that's in the sample.

00:12:14.933 --> 00:12:16.373
In this one,
I think we're gonna find

00:12:16.400 --> 00:12:21.167
that the ratio is greater
than 10 to 1 of plastic to plankton.

00:12:22.933 --> 00:12:27.767
(Connacher) Ten times more plastic
than naturally occurring food.

00:12:27.800 --> 00:12:29.133
Disgusting.

00:12:29.167 --> 00:12:30.433
How could we come here,

00:12:30.467 --> 00:12:32.600
to one of the most
remote places on Earth,

00:12:32.633 --> 00:12:35.267
and find more plastic
than organisms?

00:12:35.300 --> 00:12:37.800
How did all this plastic
get out here?

00:12:37.833 --> 00:12:41.600
Well, turns out
it was 100 years in the making.

00:12:46.667 --> 00:12:50.333
In the late 1800s
and early 20th century,

00:12:50.367 --> 00:12:52.100
a variety of plastics,

00:12:52.133 --> 00:12:54.267
many of which
we still use today,

00:12:54.300 --> 00:12:55.400
were developed to address

00:12:55.433 --> 00:12:58.333
the depletion
of natural resource stocks.

00:12:58.367 --> 00:13:02.400
Chemists were looking
for alternatives to ivory, horn,

00:13:02.433 --> 00:13:04.933
shellac, rubber, cork, silk,

00:13:04.967 --> 00:13:08.767
and many other natural materials
that were becoming scarce.

00:13:08.800 --> 00:13:12.433
They discovered how to transform
the by-products of oil refining

00:13:12.467 --> 00:13:15.633
and coal distillation
into a synthetic material

00:13:15.667 --> 00:13:19.267
that could be shaped
into objects, films, coatings,

00:13:19.300 --> 00:13:21.067
textiles, adhesives,

00:13:21.100 --> 00:13:24.467
and that malleability
is what makes plastic...

00:13:24.500 --> 00:13:25.767
[together]
Plastic!

00:13:25.800 --> 00:13:26.800
Plastic.

00:13:26.933 --> 00:13:28.800
- Plastic.
- Plastic.

00:13:28.833 --> 00:13:30.067
Plastic, man, come on.

00:13:30.100 --> 00:13:31.667
[together]
Plastic.

00:13:31.700 --> 00:13:34.000
Plastic, plastic,
plastic, plastic.

00:13:34.033 --> 00:13:35.467
So what's it known for?

00:13:35.500 --> 00:13:39.400
It's known for its durability.

00:13:39.433 --> 00:13:40.633
It's acid resistant.

00:13:40.667 --> 00:13:43.767
You know, as I say, it's made
from the molecular level up.

00:13:43.800 --> 00:13:48.133
So every particular application
is made -

00:13:48.167 --> 00:13:51.233
tailor-made for that
particular application.

00:13:51.267 --> 00:13:53.900
(Sullivan) I think plastic
is a fabulous material

00:13:53.933 --> 00:13:56.800
that can do all kinds of things
from heart valves

00:13:56.833 --> 00:14:00.767
to plastic bags to bottles.

00:14:00.800 --> 00:14:04.233
(man) You can design plastics
to be adhesive, to be degradable,

00:14:04.267 --> 00:14:07.200
to release drugs,
to grow cells on.

00:14:12.267 --> 00:14:15.667
(Krebs) The plastics of today
are not the plastics of your grandfather.

00:14:21.500 --> 00:14:23.033
(woman)
It's beautiful.

00:14:23.067 --> 00:14:25.567
You know, you can buy everything
you can find

00:14:25.600 --> 00:14:28.300
for almost everything in plastic,

00:14:28.333 --> 00:14:30.900
and you say, "Oh, this is nice."

00:14:30.933 --> 00:14:35.733
(Walters) I feel it's probably been
very important for humanity

00:14:35.767 --> 00:14:37.033
over the last 50 years
in terms -

00:14:37.067 --> 00:14:40.967
it's allowed us to achieve
incredible things.

00:14:41.000 --> 00:14:45.133
(Krebs) It can change with our styles
and with our civilization.

00:14:45.167 --> 00:14:46.533
It can change with tastes.

00:14:46.567 --> 00:14:47.967
It can change its color.

00:14:48.000 --> 00:14:52.033
It's the modern clay.

00:14:52.067 --> 00:14:56.033
(Connacher) World War II increased the
demand for plastics around the world,

00:14:56.067 --> 00:15:00.767
bringing these early materials
into mainstream production.

00:15:00.800 --> 00:15:02.900
(Moore)
That productivity,

00:15:02.933 --> 00:15:06.767
which had to be high
to supply all the war needs,

00:15:06.800 --> 00:15:09.967
then when the war ended,
needed to have a civilian outlet

00:15:10.000 --> 00:15:11.700
to keep those factories in business.

00:15:15.067 --> 00:15:19.033
(Connacher) Postwar, Buicks replaced tanks
on assembly lines,

00:15:19.067 --> 00:15:23.267
and plastic output was aimed
at the optimistic postwar consumer,

00:15:23.300 --> 00:15:25.767
who didn't want
to conserve and ration anymore

00:15:25.800 --> 00:15:29.233
and was happy to buy into
a lifestyle being sold to them:

00:15:29.267 --> 00:15:33.033
variety, leisure time,
freedom from drudgery,

00:15:33.067 --> 00:15:36.667
consumption, disposability.

00:15:36.700 --> 00:15:39.967
A stream of colorful
and inexpensive plastic items

00:15:40.000 --> 00:15:43.967
were pouring
into the new suburban home.

00:15:44.000 --> 00:15:45.000
(woman)
Hear that?

00:15:45.033 --> 00:15:47.067
That's Tupperware's
airtight promise

00:15:47.100 --> 00:15:49.367
to lock in flavor
and lock out air.

00:15:52.767 --> 00:15:54.700
(Krebs)
They rushed to market with it.

00:15:54.733 --> 00:15:57.000
So, you know, there would be
somebody who rushed to market

00:15:57.033 --> 00:15:59.200
with pink flamingos
or with a hula hoop.

00:15:59.233 --> 00:16:01.333
Animal, vegetable, or mineral?

00:16:01.367 --> 00:16:03.333
I hadn't thought of that before.

00:16:03.367 --> 00:16:08.033
Maybe this little thimble
belongs to a kingdom all of its own,

00:16:08.067 --> 00:16:11.633
the fourth kingdom,
the kingdom of plastics.

00:16:11.667 --> 00:16:15.067
In 1955, Life magazine
published an article

00:16:15.100 --> 00:16:16.400
called Throwaway Living,

00:16:16.433 --> 00:16:19.500
and it had a picture
of a nuclear family,

00:16:19.533 --> 00:16:21.367
the mother, the father,
and the child.

00:16:21.400 --> 00:16:24.333
The thesis of the article was,
if we just use once and toss,

00:16:24.367 --> 00:16:25.933
Mom won't have to
clean up the dishes.

00:16:25.967 --> 00:16:28.567
She can be liberated to have
a more fulfilling life,

00:16:28.600 --> 00:16:31.167
to work with the kids,
to be with Dad.

00:16:34.300 --> 00:16:37.467
(Connacher) With connotations
of the fake and the inauthentic,

00:16:37.500 --> 00:16:40.300
plastic became a rallying cry
for a generation

00:16:40.333 --> 00:16:43.467
fed up with what they saw
as a culture of artifice.

00:16:43.500 --> 00:16:46.767
But it didn't stop people
from buying it up in droves.

00:16:46.800 --> 00:16:50.000
From PVC-coated diapers
to polyester clothing,

00:16:50.033 --> 00:16:52.233
styrofoam burger containers,

00:16:52.267 --> 00:16:54.933
plastic was known
as cheap and disposable,

00:16:54.967 --> 00:16:57.733
and so quickly,
it became invisible.

00:16:57.767 --> 00:17:00.067
By 1979 in the U.S.,

00:17:00.100 --> 00:17:03.600
they were making more plastic than steel.

00:17:08.200 --> 00:17:11.100
At night,
the gyre comes to life.

00:17:11.133 --> 00:17:12.267
Every evening,

00:17:12.300 --> 00:17:15.433
one of the largest migrations
of life on Earth occurs

00:17:15.467 --> 00:17:20.300
as jellyfish and planktonic
organisms rise from the depths to feed,

00:17:20.333 --> 00:17:23.000
and because they filter about
half of the water column

00:17:23.033 --> 00:17:25.867
through their bodies
every single day,

00:17:25.900 --> 00:17:29.167
they are excellent indicators
of plastic ingestion.

00:17:46.433 --> 00:17:50.167
So plastic gets into the ocean
and it's mistaken for food.

00:17:50.200 --> 00:17:52.433
It's tough and hard to digest.

00:17:52.467 --> 00:17:54.367
But it gets worse.

00:17:54.400 --> 00:17:58.033
By its nature,
plastic accumulates oily pollutants

00:17:58.067 --> 00:18:00.300
such as pesticides
and herbicides

00:18:00.333 --> 00:18:02.700
that flow downstream from farms,

00:18:02.733 --> 00:18:05.767
and that can't be good news for Ned.

00:18:08.433 --> 00:18:09.767
Oh, man.

00:18:09.800 --> 00:18:13.233
(Connacher) Nurdles tend to attract
pollutants in the water.

00:18:13.267 --> 00:18:16.800
Hey, you don't look so good, Ned.

00:18:16.833 --> 00:18:20.867
(Connacher) 10% of ocean plastic
is made up of nurdles,

00:18:20.900 --> 00:18:24.333
and nurdles can resemble fish
eggs that are eaten by animals

00:18:24.367 --> 00:18:26.400
which mistake them for food.

00:18:26.433 --> 00:18:27.967
Hey, buddy?

00:18:28.000 --> 00:18:29.000
Buddy?

00:18:29.033 --> 00:18:30.567
[shouts]

00:18:30.600 --> 00:18:33.967
(Connacher) And when a larger animal eats
lots of smaller creatures

00:18:34.000 --> 00:18:36.200
that have all eaten infected nurdles,

00:18:36.233 --> 00:18:38.867
we get something called
bioaccumulation,

00:18:38.900 --> 00:18:42.300
which moves all the way up
the food chain to us.

00:18:42.333 --> 00:18:43.667
Everyone stay together.

00:18:43.700 --> 00:18:45.900
Stay together
and we'll be all right.

00:18:45.933 --> 00:18:48.333
Oh, no.

00:18:48.367 --> 00:18:50.133
He's got me.

00:18:50.167 --> 00:18:51.700
Fight, Ned, fight!

00:18:51.733 --> 00:18:56.700
(Ned) Whew, man, that was close.

00:18:56.733 --> 00:19:00.067
Uh, guys?

00:19:07.867 --> 00:19:12.200
(Connacher) Captain Moore's attempt to quantify
the amount of plastic out here in the gyre

00:19:12.233 --> 00:19:16.600
has since got the attention
of environmental juggernaut Greenpeace.

00:19:16.633 --> 00:19:19.800
Their Zodiacs,
famous for dodging whaling harpoons,

00:19:19.833 --> 00:19:23.200
are now being used for plastic retrieval.

00:19:26.733 --> 00:19:29.367
(man)
Looks like it's been used as a bailer.

00:19:41.833 --> 00:19:43.233
If you look at this,

00:19:43.267 --> 00:19:45.500
you can see the water's now coming out of,

00:19:45.533 --> 00:19:49.700
I'd say,
bite marks from something.

00:19:49.733 --> 00:19:51.633
I'd say it was a little shark.

00:20:32.633 --> 00:20:36.467
Like Captain Moore's Manta Trawl
but on a larger scale,

00:20:36.500 --> 00:20:40.000
the aptly named Yellow Thing
is Greenpeace's solution

00:20:40.033 --> 00:20:42.333
for collecting
the tiny fragments of debris

00:20:42.367 --> 00:20:46.367
that are churned up by waves.

00:20:46.400 --> 00:20:48.100
(Walters)
I guess I've always been aware

00:20:48.133 --> 00:20:51.767
of plastic floating on the ocean
from, well, ever.

00:20:51.800 --> 00:20:53.733
I remember as a small kid
going to the beach

00:20:53.767 --> 00:20:55.600
and finding all sorts
of interesting things

00:20:55.633 --> 00:20:57.267
to look at and play with.

00:20:57.300 --> 00:21:01.667
However, once I got out here
and started sampling,

00:21:01.700 --> 00:21:03.767
it was incredible
what we were finding.

00:21:03.800 --> 00:21:06.000
I mean - and it was the same for the crew.

00:21:06.033 --> 00:21:07.600
I mean, this water looks pristine.

00:21:07.633 --> 00:21:10.033
This is just -
just as good as it gets.

00:21:10.067 --> 00:21:12.333
We don't see how -
we hardly see anything out here.

00:21:12.367 --> 00:21:15.000
But once you get down there
and once you have a look,

00:21:15.033 --> 00:21:20.467
and you find that the entire
surface is covered with plastic.

00:21:20.500 --> 00:21:22.033
(Connacher)
It seemed like my food

00:21:22.067 --> 00:21:23.900
was looking more and more like plastic

00:21:23.933 --> 00:21:27.967
and the plastic out in the ocean
was looking more and more like food.

00:21:28.000 --> 00:21:33.067
But how widespread is this
problem of animal ingestion?

00:21:43.733 --> 00:21:48.000
Google told me about a biologist
named Dr. Jan van Franeker,

00:21:48.033 --> 00:21:50.600
who had voluntarily been
dissecting the stomachs

00:21:50.633 --> 00:21:53.233
of seabirds
from around the world.

00:21:53.267 --> 00:21:57.133
I was offered a front-row seat
at the autopsy of a fulmar,

00:21:57.167 --> 00:22:00.667
a bird that spends
most of its life at sea.

00:22:02.567 --> 00:22:05.933
I asked Jan to show me around
his home island of Texel.

00:22:05.967 --> 00:22:10.333
I was expecting to see plastic -
by now I knew there'd be plastic -

00:22:10.367 --> 00:22:11.533
but I wasn't prepared

00:22:11.567 --> 00:22:14.433
for how much there was
on the local beaches.

00:22:14.467 --> 00:22:16.800
Much as I wanted to stay
and clean it up,

00:22:16.833 --> 00:22:20.600
Dr. Franeker explained
how much washed up every day

00:22:20.633 --> 00:22:22.367
and that it was a losing battle.

00:22:22.400 --> 00:22:26.533
(Franker)
"Whiskas Cat Milk."

00:22:26.567 --> 00:22:29.100
A special type of waste bag.

00:22:29.133 --> 00:22:31.933
You can calculate it
on the beaches here,

00:22:31.967 --> 00:22:35.600
about 7 to 8 kilograms
of litter washes ashore

00:22:35.633 --> 00:22:38.967
on every kilometer of beach every day.

00:22:41.600 --> 00:22:45.900
(Connacher) 90% of the birds
that Jan dissects reveal plastic.

00:22:45.933 --> 00:22:49.633
The average amount found
is 0.6 grams, which for a human,

00:22:49.667 --> 00:22:51.833
is about the size of a lunch box.

00:22:51.867 --> 00:22:54.867
The most extreme example
is 20 grams.

00:22:54.900 --> 00:22:59.400
That would be about 2 kilograms
of plastic, which is...

00:22:59.433 --> 00:23:00.800
really a lot.

00:23:00.833 --> 00:23:05.133
(Connacher) Until Jan opened up the bird
and pulled out a piece of hard plastic,

00:23:05.167 --> 00:23:06.500
it didn't really hit me.

00:23:06.533 --> 00:23:09.500
(Franeker) I'll cut it open
and rinse it out.

00:23:09.533 --> 00:23:13.533
Fragments of some
fairly hard plastic item.

00:23:15.767 --> 00:23:18.067
Industrial granule,

00:23:18.100 --> 00:23:22.700
big fragments
of yellowish plastic in there.

00:23:22.733 --> 00:23:24.833
Quite a lot, this one.

00:23:24.867 --> 00:23:26.700
This is a lot of plastic.

00:23:26.733 --> 00:23:31.133
This is above average,
just over a gram I suppose,

00:23:31.167 --> 00:23:33.400
and different types
of use of plastics,

00:23:33.433 --> 00:23:38.733
so foam,
very small pieces of plastic bags.

00:23:38.767 --> 00:23:42.067
(Connacher) Jan told me that having
all that plastic in the gut

00:23:42.100 --> 00:23:45.333
can affect body condition
and breeding success.

00:23:45.367 --> 00:23:46.467
Like Captain Moore,

00:23:46.500 --> 00:23:49.267
Jan feared the chemicals
that plastic absorbed

00:23:49.300 --> 00:23:51.700
could be harming the birds
more severely

00:23:51.733 --> 00:23:54.633
than a chunk
lodged in their stomach.

00:23:54.667 --> 00:23:58.800
(Franeker) These fulmars, indeed,
ingest all that sort of stuff

00:23:58.833 --> 00:24:04.667
and undoubtedly extract part
of it into their blood system,

00:24:04.700 --> 00:24:09.367
and there's definitely
harmful chemicals among that.

00:24:16.467 --> 00:24:19.467
[rousing rock music]

00:24:19.500 --> 00:24:27.500
♪ ♪

00:24:32.567 --> 00:24:37.733
(man)
♪ There's nothing new under the sun now ♪

00:24:37.767 --> 00:24:42.000
♪ But not to worry
'cause we'll make it somehow ♪

00:24:42.033 --> 00:24:45.233
♪ 'cause it's never enough ♪

00:24:45.267 --> 00:24:48.000
♪ It's never enough ♪

00:24:48.033 --> 00:24:49.367
♪ Rushing in ♪

00:24:49.400 --> 00:24:50.733
♪ Running out ♪

00:24:50.767 --> 00:24:53.900
(Connacher) Dr. Hideshige Takada
took me to a local beach

00:24:53.933 --> 00:24:55.900
where in only half an hour

00:24:55.933 --> 00:24:59.133
we were able to collect
over 400 nurdles.

00:24:59.167 --> 00:25:01.033
Local volunteers
who were already here

00:25:01.067 --> 00:25:03.100
and busy performing
a beach cleanup

00:25:03.133 --> 00:25:06.500
were more than happy
to pitch in and help.

00:25:06.533 --> 00:25:07.533
Back at his lab,

00:25:07.567 --> 00:25:10.100
Hideshige showed us the long
and complicated process

00:25:10.133 --> 00:25:13.700
for how he analyzes
the chemicals absorbed by plastic.

00:25:13.733 --> 00:25:16.367
It was mostly
beyond my comprehension,

00:25:16.400 --> 00:25:18.900
but I understood
one important detail.

00:25:35.033 --> 00:25:36.033
In other words,

00:25:36.067 --> 00:25:38.667
all those chemicals in the ocean
remain diluted

00:25:38.700 --> 00:25:41.367
until they come into contact
with plastic.

00:25:41.400 --> 00:25:45.033
With a million times more chemicals
than the surrounding seawater,

00:25:45.067 --> 00:25:48.933
these insignificant bits of confetti
become poison pills

00:25:48.967 --> 00:25:51.333
available to the whole food chain.

00:25:51.367 --> 00:25:53.467
It's something
I won't soon forget,

00:25:53.500 --> 00:25:56.433
especially when frying up
my tuna steak.

00:25:59.667 --> 00:26:01.000
But wait a second.

00:26:01.033 --> 00:26:04.067
I fill my recycle box
with plastic every week.

00:26:04.100 --> 00:26:05.800
In fact, I fill three of them.

00:26:05.833 --> 00:26:09.367
Wasn't recycling supposed
to save us from all of this?

00:26:20.467 --> 00:26:24.333
In my hometown of Toronto,
we have a citywide recycling program

00:26:24.367 --> 00:26:27.733
that handles our paper,
glass, metal, plastic,

00:26:27.767 --> 00:26:29.000
and kitchen waste.

00:26:29.033 --> 00:26:31.833
So what exactly
are we throwing away?

00:26:31.867 --> 00:26:35.300
Well, it turns out the majority
of recycling in North America

00:26:35.333 --> 00:26:38.700
only consists of number one
and number two plastics,

00:26:38.733 --> 00:26:42.800
and of those, it's less than 40%
that get recycled.

00:26:42.833 --> 00:26:44.433
The rest go to landfill,

00:26:44.467 --> 00:26:48.933
where it sits with food scraps
and newspapers for centuries.

00:26:48.967 --> 00:26:50.633
Nothing can degrade
in a landfill

00:26:50.667 --> 00:26:52.733
because it's
hermetically sealed.

00:26:52.767 --> 00:26:55.267
Without oxygen
and the right microorganisms,

00:26:55.300 --> 00:26:57.367
nothing will go away.

00:26:58.367 --> 00:26:59.667
The first problem is,

00:26:59.700 --> 00:27:02.767
plastic's lightweight
but doesn't compress.

00:27:02.800 --> 00:27:05.967
So it takes up a lot of space
both in the recycle bin

00:27:06.000 --> 00:27:07.333
and on the trucks.

00:27:07.367 --> 00:27:09.567
Then there's the issue
of mixed plastics.

00:27:09.600 --> 00:27:13.433
Because manufacturers and recyclers
don't go bowling together,

00:27:13.467 --> 00:27:14.900
recyclers can never predict

00:27:14.933 --> 00:27:19.633
the types of products
they're likely to receive.

00:27:19.667 --> 00:27:23.567
(Bartlett) You know, you'll see
a high-density polyethylene container

00:27:23.600 --> 00:27:25.300
with a polypropylene top

00:27:25.333 --> 00:27:28.400
or with an aluminum cap
with a steel ring on it.

00:27:28.433 --> 00:27:30.600
And it - you know,
that really poses a challenge

00:27:30.633 --> 00:27:32.067
from a recycling standpoint.

00:27:32.100 --> 00:27:35.267
You don't - haven't got now
one product that you can send off

00:27:35.300 --> 00:27:36.500
to be turned into a new product.

00:27:36.533 --> 00:27:39.833
It's one product that's
got six different types of plastics

00:27:39.867 --> 00:27:42.300
and a couple different types
of new metals on it,

00:27:42.333 --> 00:27:43.567
throw it on your blue box.

00:27:43.600 --> 00:27:46.700
But we'll see it,
and all of a sudden we get calls from our -

00:27:46.733 --> 00:27:49.500
from our end users of bales
that we sent off, saying,

00:27:49.533 --> 00:27:50.700
"What is this product?"

00:27:50.733 --> 00:27:53.433
And now, you know,
we're forced to go back

00:27:53.467 --> 00:27:55.200
and tell residents
we can't accept it.

00:27:55.233 --> 00:27:58.233
That creates a whole problem
with the manufacturers saying,

00:27:58.267 --> 00:27:59.400
"Hey, you know what?

00:27:59.433 --> 00:28:01.967
"You know, it's got most of this
product that's recyclable.

00:28:02.000 --> 00:28:04.133
You know, it's not 100%,
but you should take it."

00:28:04.167 --> 00:28:07.867
Here's one that's got
a polypropylene washer on it.

00:28:07.900 --> 00:28:12.500
You can see some of these little caps
that are attached to it.

00:28:12.533 --> 00:28:14.433
You know, you see
little containers like this

00:28:14.467 --> 00:28:17.433
that have different
little snouts and caps

00:28:17.467 --> 00:28:19.667
that are a completely
different type of plastic.

00:28:19.700 --> 00:28:21.700
So, you know,
there still is that disconnect,

00:28:21.733 --> 00:28:24.567
and I think, you know,
we need to really address that.

00:28:29.100 --> 00:28:30.967
(Connacher)
So who's doing it right?

00:28:31.000 --> 00:28:34.867
With a plastic bottle
recycling rate of over 90%,

00:28:34.900 --> 00:28:37.800
Denmark seemed like a good place to start.

00:28:39.100 --> 00:28:42.167
Step one, you put the bottle
in the machine.

00:28:49.467 --> 00:28:53.200
(Connacher) The obvious incentive
for the Danes is deposit return.

00:28:53.233 --> 00:28:55.100
By placing a value
on these products,

00:28:55.133 --> 00:29:00.533
they ensure there is very little
visible plastic pollution.

00:29:00.567 --> 00:29:03.600
The bottles end up
in state-run recycling depots

00:29:03.633 --> 00:29:06.400
where they are sorted
and returned to the manufacturer,

00:29:06.433 --> 00:29:08.567
like Carlsberg and Coke.

00:29:11.167 --> 00:29:13.267
Coke even cleans
their plastic bottles

00:29:13.300 --> 00:29:16.800
so they can be reused
up to 20 times.

00:29:24.467 --> 00:29:26.667
And while the system
is efficient,

00:29:26.700 --> 00:29:28.900
it is only certain bottles.

00:29:28.933 --> 00:29:31.967
The remainder of Danish plastic waste
goes to this guy,

00:29:32.000 --> 00:29:33.833
who grinds it up for flower pots

00:29:33.867 --> 00:29:36.567
and other
functional plastic items.

00:29:43.133 --> 00:29:46.533
So far, cities are failing
miserably at recycling.

00:29:46.567 --> 00:29:50.733
Somewhere in the process
of collection, sorting, and reprocessing,

00:29:50.767 --> 00:29:52.533
city recyclers are powerless

00:29:52.567 --> 00:29:55.233
to keep up with the flood
of plastic designs.

00:29:55.267 --> 00:29:58.567
With glass, we only have green,
clear, and brown.

00:29:58.600 --> 00:30:00.700
With plastic, it's limitless.

00:30:00.733 --> 00:30:04.000
Even the Danes admit
that more and more one-way plastic bottles

00:30:04.033 --> 00:30:05.300
are hitting the market,

00:30:05.333 --> 00:30:08.800
with other used plastics
mainly going to incinerators.

00:30:18.133 --> 00:30:22.000
Of course, I couldn't visit
Denmark on my plastic odyssey

00:30:22.033 --> 00:30:25.200
without visiting
a childhood friend.

00:31:14.667 --> 00:31:16.767
I was hoping
they would let me into the factory

00:31:16.800 --> 00:31:19.400
and leave me there
for a few hours to play with the bricks.

00:31:19.433 --> 00:31:23.800
Instead, they showed me
robotic assembly lines of plastic torsos,

00:31:23.833 --> 00:31:25.967
which was almost as fun.

00:31:26.000 --> 00:31:28.233
I learned they gave up PVC in the '80s,

00:31:28.267 --> 00:31:32.600
and they recycle any Lego pieces
that contain flaws.

00:31:32.633 --> 00:31:35.500
But I still found examples
of plastic pollution

00:31:35.533 --> 00:31:39.033
in the form of nurdles
and ground-up plastic flakes.

00:31:39.067 --> 00:31:42.033
On the other hand,
who throws away Lego?

00:31:42.067 --> 00:31:45.067
I'm after the disposable stuff.

00:31:55.500 --> 00:31:59.100
In Houston, Texas,
I found Henry Sullivan.

00:31:59.133 --> 00:32:02.067
When the city decided
to stop its recycling program,

00:32:02.100 --> 00:32:03.967
Henry picked up the slack.

00:32:04.000 --> 00:32:07.833
His company, TieTek,
takes any and all waste plastic,

00:32:07.867 --> 00:32:11.633
melts it down,
and forms it into one single product:

00:32:11.667 --> 00:32:13.133
railroad ties,

00:32:13.167 --> 00:32:17.267
which he then sells
to railroad companies around the world.

00:32:17.300 --> 00:32:22.733
(Sullivan) There are more than 15 million
railroad ties a year

00:32:22.767 --> 00:32:26.133
installed every single year
in North America.

00:32:26.167 --> 00:32:29.333
(Connacher) In addition to accepting
industrial waste plastic

00:32:29.367 --> 00:32:33.300
like pallets, medicinal bottles,
tires, and police tape,

00:32:33.333 --> 00:32:35.733
his neighbors also came calling.

00:32:35.767 --> 00:32:39.500
(Sullivan) One of my neighbors
read about what we do,

00:32:39.533 --> 00:32:41.067
came to the house, and said,

00:32:41.100 --> 00:32:43.867
"I used to recycle,
and I really believe in it,

00:32:43.900 --> 00:32:46.300
"but I stopped doing it
because no one cared.

00:32:46.333 --> 00:32:48.400
Can you use plastic?"

00:32:48.433 --> 00:32:52.000
And I said, "Yeah."

00:32:52.033 --> 00:32:54.300
(Connacher) They're supposed to last
longer than wood,

00:32:54.333 --> 00:32:56.133
are impervious to termites,

00:32:56.167 --> 00:32:58.533
and can be recycled
again and again.

00:32:58.567 --> 00:33:03.400
Best of all, every railroad tie
in the world is the same size.

00:33:03.433 --> 00:33:07.433
That means just one mold.

00:33:07.467 --> 00:33:11.100
(Sullivan) The true social cost of this
stuff going in the waste site

00:33:11.133 --> 00:33:14.667
is borne by the taxpayers
and the public.

00:33:14.700 --> 00:33:18.467
It's not a neat budget line item
in the federal budget,

00:33:18.500 --> 00:33:21.200
but it's a big social cost.

00:33:21.233 --> 00:33:26.267
If we told people that we were
going to plant 20,000 trees next year

00:33:26.300 --> 00:33:31.167
and take hundreds of millions
of plastic bottles and plastic bags

00:33:31.200 --> 00:33:32.733
out of the environment

00:33:32.767 --> 00:33:36.667
and consume 750,000 tires,

00:33:36.700 --> 00:33:39.233
that would be a very nice
environmental story.

00:33:39.267 --> 00:33:41.633
We're going to do that

00:33:41.667 --> 00:33:44.233
not because we're
environmental good guys.

00:33:44.267 --> 00:33:48.500
That's actually the best source
of raw materials for what we do.

00:33:57.700 --> 00:34:02.400
(Connacher) Another business using
a ton of plastic is agriculture,

00:34:02.433 --> 00:34:04.133
and driving through farm country,

00:34:04.167 --> 00:34:06.133
it wasn't hard to see.

00:34:06.167 --> 00:34:09.967
In Oregon, mountains of twine
from hay bales, flower trays,

00:34:10.000 --> 00:34:11.900
and an assortment
of plastic sheeting

00:34:11.933 --> 00:34:15.833
are all being diverted
to Allen Jongsma of Agri-Plas.

00:34:15.867 --> 00:34:19.567
He processes 18 million tons
of plastic a year,

00:34:19.600 --> 00:34:22.733
about 15% of the state's waste.

00:34:30.400 --> 00:34:32.967
The twine is ground up
and packed into cubes

00:34:33.000 --> 00:34:36.300
that will later be turned into
bumpers and truck liners.

00:34:36.333 --> 00:34:39.767
Flower trays are chewed up into flakes
and shipped to manufacturers

00:34:39.800 --> 00:34:43.233
to be turned into
more flower trays and pots.

00:34:43.267 --> 00:34:45.100
As long as those pots
can be recycled

00:34:45.133 --> 00:34:46.867
or get here to our facility,

00:34:46.900 --> 00:34:50.267
that circle can go around
and around and around for a long time.

00:34:51.633 --> 00:34:53.700
(Connacher)
I always thought that recycling meant

00:34:53.733 --> 00:34:56.400
that an item was supposed to be used
again and again

00:34:56.433 --> 00:34:58.267
without changing form.

00:34:58.300 --> 00:35:00.567
But is using a percentage
of recycled material

00:35:00.600 --> 00:35:03.467
in my flower pot
really recycling,

00:35:03.500 --> 00:35:07.433
or melting down a whole bunch
of plastic into just one product?

00:35:07.467 --> 00:35:11.233
Is turning bottles into plastic sheeting
and packaging really recycling,

00:35:11.267 --> 00:35:12.900
or is it downcycling,

00:35:12.933 --> 00:35:16.233
turning one product
into an inferior product?

00:35:16.267 --> 00:35:20.733
Downcycling doesn't stop
new plastic items from being made.

00:35:21.733 --> 00:35:23.667
My head was starting to hurt.

00:35:23.700 --> 00:35:25.600
I felt like I'd hit a wall.

00:35:25.633 --> 00:35:28.433
I needed to recycle some beer.

00:35:38.800 --> 00:35:42.633
There was one company I knew for sure
was taking recycling seriously.

00:35:42.667 --> 00:35:46.167
For years, Patagonia has made
their popular fleece jackets

00:35:46.200 --> 00:35:48.033
out of recycled bottles.

00:35:48.067 --> 00:35:50.300
That didn't sound like downcycling.

00:35:50.333 --> 00:35:54.400
It also sounded like a perfect excuse
to go back to California.

00:36:10.233 --> 00:36:11.700
(man)
Naked man.

00:36:11.733 --> 00:36:13.933
We were all born that way.

00:36:37.400 --> 00:36:40.067
(Connacher) I learned
that this high-end sportswear company

00:36:40.100 --> 00:36:41.967
known for its
environmental mandate

00:36:42.000 --> 00:36:45.367
have moved far beyond
the mere plastic bottle.

00:36:45.400 --> 00:36:49.800
(Rapp) Here we have
a 100% recycled plastic jacket.

00:36:49.833 --> 00:36:55.333
And the feed that goes into here
is about 2% bottles

00:36:55.367 --> 00:36:59.867
and about 98% random plastics
like old office chairs

00:36:59.900 --> 00:37:01.700
and shower curtains

00:37:01.733 --> 00:37:05.333
and things that you would never
imagine could be recycled.

00:37:05.367 --> 00:37:08.900
(Connacher) That means Patagonia
will take back any old items

00:37:08.933 --> 00:37:10.900
and recycle them
into new clothing.

00:37:10.933 --> 00:37:14.800
This closed-loop system
seems like a true model for recycling,

00:37:14.833 --> 00:37:16.767
if only they could find a way
to get people

00:37:16.800 --> 00:37:19.800
to give back
their warm and cozy jackets.

00:37:21.800 --> 00:37:24.567
One company that has no problem
reclaiming its product

00:37:24.600 --> 00:37:27.167
is Georgia-based
Interface Carpet.

00:37:27.200 --> 00:37:29.767
If you've ever been
in an office or an airport,

00:37:29.800 --> 00:37:32.300
chances are good that you've
walked on their product.

00:37:36.167 --> 00:37:37.833
But most people aren't aware

00:37:37.867 --> 00:37:42.300
of just how much plastic
there is in our flooring.

00:37:42.333 --> 00:37:46.033
(Jones) There are so much virgin
and petroleum-based materials

00:37:46.067 --> 00:37:47.400
that go into a carpet.

00:37:47.433 --> 00:37:49.067
For instance,
just our carpet product

00:37:49.100 --> 00:37:50.300
has five different polymers.

00:37:52.367 --> 00:37:54.267
(Connacher)
The hardest plastic to deal with

00:37:54.300 --> 00:37:56.767
has traditionally been
the vinyl backing.

00:37:56.800 --> 00:38:01.567
As a result, carpets represent
a huge portion of landfill waste.

00:38:01.600 --> 00:38:05.067
Now Interface has a technology
called Cool Blue.

00:38:05.100 --> 00:38:08.833
It recycles any and all plastic
components into new carpets.

00:38:08.867 --> 00:38:12.400
The whole system runs on methane
from the local landfill.

00:38:12.433 --> 00:38:15.967
Interface believes
this makes good business sense.

00:38:16.000 --> 00:38:17.000
(Jones)
Absolutely.

00:38:17.033 --> 00:38:19.933
We feel the landfills are gonna
be the oil wells of the future.

00:38:19.967 --> 00:38:23.167
We'll be mining them to get our
plastics to feed Cool Blue

00:38:23.200 --> 00:38:25.967
and other technologies
like Cool Blue.

00:38:40.467 --> 00:38:44.800
(Connacher) In Nairobi, Kenya,
I visited UniquEco Designs.

00:38:44.833 --> 00:38:47.200
They turn trash into treasure,

00:38:47.233 --> 00:38:51.233
like these plastic bags
that are woven into decorative purses.

00:38:57.333 --> 00:38:59.667
Kenya is one of five
African nations

00:38:59.700 --> 00:39:02.933
who have either restricted
plastic bags of a certain thickness

00:39:02.967 --> 00:39:04.833
or banned them altogether.

00:39:04.867 --> 00:39:08.667
Locals call plastic bags
the national flower.

00:39:08.700 --> 00:39:11.600
(Bwanaali) It's quite a big issue
and quite a big concern.

00:39:11.633 --> 00:39:14.400
As it stands now,
the government is trying

00:39:14.433 --> 00:39:20.000
to put in place measures
to reduce plastic bags.

00:39:23.000 --> 00:39:25.567
(Connacher)
But UniquEco goes beyond plastic bags

00:39:25.600 --> 00:39:28.167
and has included rubber hose
and flip-flops -

00:39:28.200 --> 00:39:29.433
yeah, flip-flops -

00:39:29.467 --> 00:39:32.333
that are collected
from cities and beaches.

00:39:35.300 --> 00:39:37.767
Villagers then
core out the flip-flops

00:39:37.800 --> 00:39:39.467
and send the pieces here

00:39:39.500 --> 00:39:42.300
to be made into bowls
or curtains or jewelry.

00:39:47.067 --> 00:39:51.033
Other flip-flops are sanded
and carved into various knickknacks.

00:39:56.767 --> 00:39:59.433
While the money
may not be rolling in yet,

00:39:59.467 --> 00:40:02.300
UniquEco's resources
are unlimited,

00:40:02.333 --> 00:40:05.933
especially with no true
recycling infrastructure in Kenya

00:40:05.967 --> 00:40:11.833
and little interest from manufacturers
like the Bata shoe company.

00:40:11.867 --> 00:40:15.233
(Bwanaali)
One of the ways of helping is to, like,

00:40:15.267 --> 00:40:21.633
help a company like ourselves
to be able to recycle those wastes.

00:40:21.667 --> 00:40:24.600
So we're able to collect
whatever they're not using.

00:40:24.633 --> 00:40:27.000
For example, Bata company,

00:40:27.033 --> 00:40:30.633
which is currently producing
a lot of flip-flops in the country,

00:40:30.667 --> 00:40:34.867
if they could come in
and help us to recycle their products,

00:40:34.900 --> 00:40:37.933
that would be moving towards
the right direction.

00:40:38.800 --> 00:40:42.900
(Connacher) For Tahreni, such an action
is motivation enough.

00:40:43.733 --> 00:40:45.467
(Bwanaali)
Send the message out

00:40:45.500 --> 00:40:51.933
that we as human beings
need to get a solution

00:40:51.967 --> 00:40:54.267
to this world problem.

00:40:54.300 --> 00:40:57.267
We are the problem,
and we should provide the solution.

00:40:57.300 --> 00:40:59.067
That's the message.

00:41:11.967 --> 00:41:14.333
(Connacher) I was feeling a disconnect
between what I knew

00:41:14.367 --> 00:41:17.767
about the enormous amounts of plastic
created in the U.S. every year -

00:41:17.800 --> 00:41:20.033
a hundred billion pounds -

00:41:20.067 --> 00:41:25.067
and the tiny fraction being recycled -
maybe 5%.

00:41:25.100 --> 00:41:28.333
What were we doing with the rest
of all that waste?

00:41:39.633 --> 00:41:41.267
I knew that recyclers in the West

00:41:41.300 --> 00:41:42.933
were having
a hard time competing

00:41:42.967 --> 00:41:45.500
with the cheap labor costs overseas,

00:41:45.533 --> 00:41:46.800
and I knew, because of that,

00:41:46.833 --> 00:41:51.467
a lot of our plastic waste
is being sold to China and India.

00:41:51.500 --> 00:41:54.867
I wanted to see what other countries
were doing with our waste

00:41:54.900 --> 00:41:57.933
and how they were managing their own.

00:42:31.767 --> 00:42:34.733
India is organized chaos.

00:42:34.767 --> 00:42:37.133
Even coming from a city
of 5 million,

00:42:37.167 --> 00:42:40.133
I was overwhelmed
by the numbers, the congestion,

00:42:40.167 --> 00:42:43.933
the pollution, the beauty,
the architecture, the color,

00:42:43.967 --> 00:42:47.100
and the photogenic
and curious faces.

00:42:51.367 --> 00:42:54.100
I needed to find somewhere quiet
for a few days

00:42:54.133 --> 00:42:58.100
to decompress and make a plan.

00:42:58.133 --> 00:43:01.200
[horn honking]

00:43:07.400 --> 00:43:10.567
So I went up to the Himalayas
to a small town which,

00:43:10.600 --> 00:43:11.733
I quickly learned,

00:43:11.767 --> 00:43:15.033
had banned plastic bags
of a certain thickness.

00:43:15.067 --> 00:43:17.367
(all)
No plastic in Himachal.

00:43:18.467 --> 00:43:22.267
(Connacher) Shop owners were eager
to demonstrate alternatives.

00:43:27.700 --> 00:43:31.100
It seemed thin plastic bags
had very little value

00:43:31.133 --> 00:43:33.933
and thus were ending up
all over the countryside.

00:43:33.967 --> 00:43:37.300
In cities, they clogged sewers
and caused floods.

00:43:37.333 --> 00:43:40.133
Cows were also known to eat them
out of dumpsters,

00:43:40.167 --> 00:43:41.833
eventually clogging
their stomachs,

00:43:41.867 --> 00:43:44.900
causing a slow
and painful death.

00:43:44.933 --> 00:43:47.800
(Alvares) This is a sacred animal
of India, which is -

00:43:47.833 --> 00:43:49.767
it is eating garbage,

00:43:49.800 --> 00:43:52.333
and it shows you the level
to which we have sunk

00:43:52.367 --> 00:43:55.333
that our sacred animals
have to eat garbage to survive.

00:43:58.200 --> 00:44:01.233
(Connacher) Banning these bags
also seemed liked a good option

00:44:01.267 --> 00:44:03.400
for the town of Vasco da Gama.

00:44:03.433 --> 00:44:06.467
The town banned plastic bags
in 2006

00:44:06.500 --> 00:44:11.667
and even handed out free bags
made from locally grown jute.

00:44:11.700 --> 00:44:14.167
As Elvis Gomes, town officer,
discovered,

00:44:14.200 --> 00:44:16.667
the plastic industry
is very powerful.

00:44:16.700 --> 00:44:17.867
It forced the government

00:44:17.900 --> 00:44:22.033
to define what was and wasn't
a plastic bag.

00:44:22.067 --> 00:44:25.533
And then carry bag has been now
defined by the government.

00:44:25.567 --> 00:44:28.100
It should have a handle.

00:44:28.133 --> 00:44:30.800
It should have a cut
where you can hold it,

00:44:30.833 --> 00:44:33.600
and if you make it a square,
it does not become a carry bag.

00:44:33.633 --> 00:44:36.933
This is a carry bag.

00:44:37.067 --> 00:44:38.833
This is a carry bag.

00:44:38.867 --> 00:44:41.933
You can carry it like this.

00:44:41.967 --> 00:44:46.500
Sometimes it may have a cut here
so that you can put your hand.

00:44:46.533 --> 00:44:51.233
And this is not a carry bag...

00:44:51.267 --> 00:44:53.367
because you cannot carry it
like this.

00:44:53.400 --> 00:44:55.633
You have to carry it like this.

00:44:55.667 --> 00:44:58.967
So technically, we are beaten.

00:45:10.267 --> 00:45:14.433
(Connacher) Banning plastic bags
seemed to me a bit extreme,

00:45:14.467 --> 00:45:17.067
but the enormity of the problem
didn't really sink in

00:45:17.100 --> 00:45:20.200
until Parvinder Singh
of Toxics Link

00:45:20.233 --> 00:45:24.500
gave me a tour of Delhi's
largest open landfill.

00:45:30.233 --> 00:45:32.400
(Singh) It is not just an issue
of hygiene.

00:45:32.433 --> 00:45:35.100
It's not just an issue
of environment.

00:45:35.133 --> 00:45:38.200
Now as you can see,
it's also issue of management.

00:45:38.233 --> 00:45:40.800
The amount of plastic
that we generate is no joke.

00:45:40.833 --> 00:45:42.533
I mean, it is huge, colossal.

00:45:42.567 --> 00:45:46.133
We are the second most populous
country in the world.

00:45:46.167 --> 00:45:49.033
Delhi is expanding
very, very rapidly

00:45:49.067 --> 00:45:51.200
and so is the output of plastic,

00:45:51.233 --> 00:45:53.767
because we haven't yet
declared it

00:45:53.800 --> 00:45:56.367
of the proportion
to cause a panic.

00:45:56.400 --> 00:45:59.700
We are dumping it onto
a population, as you can see,

00:45:59.733 --> 00:46:02.667
which is just struggling
from day-to-day survival

00:46:02.700 --> 00:46:06.767
on things less than a dollar
with no possession, no house, nothing,

00:46:06.800 --> 00:46:07.933
just living on a dump.

00:46:15.333 --> 00:46:18.833
And you have this fire burning
in the dump all the time.

00:46:18.867 --> 00:46:21.433
It's sustained mostly
by plastics.

00:46:21.467 --> 00:46:24.333
It's combustible,
releasing dioxin day in and out.

00:46:24.367 --> 00:46:27.300
Any point of the day you can come,

00:46:27.333 --> 00:46:28.733
you would see this happening.

00:46:28.767 --> 00:46:30.300
This fire doesn't stop.

00:46:30.333 --> 00:46:34.300
(Connacher) 60% of all plastic
gets recycled in India

00:46:34.333 --> 00:46:36.533
compared to the 5% that we do.

00:46:43.133 --> 00:46:47.333
A large component of Indian recycling
is the so-called e-waste:

00:46:47.367 --> 00:46:51.367
printers, computers, monitors,
and other electronic components.

00:46:51.400 --> 00:46:52.633
Everything is used.

00:46:52.667 --> 00:46:54.500
Circuit boards are broken down.

00:46:54.533 --> 00:46:55.967
Waste plastic is burned.

00:46:56.000 --> 00:46:57.367
Metals are extracted.

00:46:57.400 --> 00:46:59.933
They tear everything apart
and keep it all.

00:46:59.967 --> 00:47:03.300
If you need one of those little wheels
for the fan in your computer

00:47:03.333 --> 00:47:05.767
or if the letter H
falls off your keyboard,

00:47:05.800 --> 00:47:08.133
you can get another one here.

00:47:08.167 --> 00:47:10.500
(man) This motherboard,
T4 motherboard.

00:47:10.533 --> 00:47:12.500
Scanning cartridge.

00:47:12.533 --> 00:47:15.367
Plastic.

00:47:15.400 --> 00:47:18.533
These are also
all kinds of motherboards.

00:47:18.567 --> 00:47:20.700
(Connacher)
Driving through parts of Bombay,

00:47:20.733 --> 00:47:22.833
I could see plastic chairs
and tarps

00:47:22.867 --> 00:47:26.433
that had obviously been
repurposed into living spaces.

00:47:26.467 --> 00:47:29.467
With 1/4 of the population
living in poverty,

00:47:29.500 --> 00:47:33.000
nothing is wasted.

00:47:33.033 --> 00:47:37.667
India felt to me like a country
coming to terms with disposability.

00:47:37.700 --> 00:47:39.067
If everything is reused,

00:47:39.100 --> 00:47:42.000
why was I seeing illegal dumps
on the sides of roads

00:47:42.033 --> 00:47:46.033
and landfills overflowing
with disposable packaging?

00:47:46.067 --> 00:47:48.033
According to Plastindia,

00:47:48.067 --> 00:47:50.267
a lobby group
for the plastic industry,

00:47:50.300 --> 00:47:52.367
this is just the beginning.

00:47:52.400 --> 00:47:56.433
India is now modernizing their
cities for a culture of malls,

00:47:56.467 --> 00:47:59.100
and with big names
like Wal-Mart coming to town,

00:47:59.133 --> 00:48:02.267
disposable packaging
can only increase.

00:48:02.300 --> 00:48:04.667
(Alvares) You won't find anybody
from the middle-class

00:48:04.700 --> 00:48:06.467
that always generates
voluminous plastic

00:48:06.500 --> 00:48:07.733
coming to a site like this,

00:48:07.767 --> 00:48:10.133
or even from the upper classes
coming to a site like this

00:48:10.167 --> 00:48:13.167
and saying,
"Now, what the hell have we created?"

00:48:13.200 --> 00:48:14.567
I mean, this has all
come from us.

00:48:14.600 --> 00:48:16.100
This doesn't come
from poor families.

00:48:16.133 --> 00:48:17.653
The poor families
don't waste anything.

00:48:25.033 --> 00:48:28.833
(Connacher) India doesn't have anywhere
near the levels of consumption we do,

00:48:28.867 --> 00:48:31.533
and as the country races
towards globalization,

00:48:31.567 --> 00:48:35.100
the plastic companies
are promoting a disposable lifestyle.

00:48:35.133 --> 00:48:37.167
India doesn't have
the infrastructure

00:48:37.200 --> 00:48:39.333
to deal with that kind of waste.

00:48:39.367 --> 00:48:41.633
(Ahuja)
India, we're a huge population,

00:48:41.667 --> 00:48:46.600
and everybody is moving towards
more packaging and more -

00:48:46.633 --> 00:48:49.767
it's becoming
a throwaway society.

00:48:49.800 --> 00:48:52.400
So if you start
with a huge population,

00:48:52.433 --> 00:48:55.000
if we all start
throwing waste outside

00:48:55.033 --> 00:48:59.333
and not take care of segregation
or think in terms of recycling,

00:48:59.367 --> 00:49:02.100
then India is going to be
flooded by garbage.

00:49:04.567 --> 00:49:05.867
(Connacher)
To slow the deluge,

00:49:05.900 --> 00:49:10.567
Anita Ahuja is trying to assign
a value to disposable plastic.

00:49:10.600 --> 00:49:12.667
Her company, called Conserve,

00:49:12.700 --> 00:49:15.267
collects plastic bags
from across Delhi,

00:49:15.300 --> 00:49:16.300
cleans them,

00:49:16.333 --> 00:49:19.733
and turns them into decorative
purses, shoes, and jewelry,

00:49:19.767 --> 00:49:23.333
which she then sells
around the world.

00:49:23.367 --> 00:49:28.600
(Ahuja) We collect about - maybe about
3,000 to 4,000 of plastic bags

00:49:28.633 --> 00:49:30.600
every day come out here.

00:49:30.633 --> 00:49:32.433
And it is washed.

00:49:32.467 --> 00:49:37.300
It all - sometimes they're able
to wash 1,500, sometimes 2,000.

00:49:37.333 --> 00:49:39.400
If we have a lot
of production orders,

00:49:39.433 --> 00:49:40.800
then we just get more people,

00:49:40.833 --> 00:49:44.467
and even 5,000 bags
can be washed in a day.

00:49:48.767 --> 00:49:52.600
(Connacher) Anita was an inspiration
amidst the devastation.

00:49:52.633 --> 00:49:56.500
Her efforts have given
400 laborers a living wage,

00:49:56.533 --> 00:49:58.833
constructed a school
for their children,

00:49:58.867 --> 00:50:02.867
and helped workers learn a skill
that they can take pride in.

00:50:02.900 --> 00:50:06.600
I felt privileged to meet her.

00:50:06.633 --> 00:50:10.133
Come on, you have to check out
the India, the growing India.

00:50:10.167 --> 00:50:11.667
This is the backwaters.

00:50:11.700 --> 00:50:12.833
[laughs]

00:50:23.100 --> 00:50:27.400
(Connacher) Up to this point, all the
processing has been driven by sorting.

00:50:27.433 --> 00:50:30.233
Whether it's optical technologies
or human labor,

00:50:30.267 --> 00:50:34.133
recycling depends largely on
separating different plastics,

00:50:34.167 --> 00:50:37.500
which is very
time and energy intensive.

00:50:37.533 --> 00:50:39.900
It seemed kind of ridiculous
that we're paying people

00:50:39.933 --> 00:50:43.067
to physically sort bottles,
cans, and newspapers.

00:50:43.100 --> 00:50:46.533
One Tennessee company has said,
"To hell with sorting."

00:50:46.567 --> 00:50:49.767
(Hill) We take everything just like you
would put it in the can at home,

00:50:49.800 --> 00:50:52.000
your plastic bottles,
your glass bottles,

00:50:52.033 --> 00:50:56.233
your cans from the beans you eat at supper,
dirty diapers.

00:50:56.267 --> 00:50:59.100
Everything you throw away at home
and put in your plastic bag,

00:50:59.133 --> 00:51:02.600
we take that with a loader
and drop it directly in our system.

00:51:02.633 --> 00:51:06.967
(Connacher) WastAway uses an automated
process to separate metals and glass.

00:51:07.000 --> 00:51:08.200
Then everything else is pushed

00:51:08.233 --> 00:51:12.000
into a high-temperature steam system
which renders it inert.

00:51:12.033 --> 00:51:16.067
They call the final product Fluff.

00:51:16.100 --> 00:51:17.933
(Hill) It's a really nice
growing medium.

00:51:17.967 --> 00:51:22.633
We actually bag this product here
and sell it to landscapers.

00:51:22.667 --> 00:51:25.467
(Connacher) Fluff can also be turned
into products.

00:51:25.500 --> 00:51:28.367
This is a bench made
from 100% waste.

00:51:28.400 --> 00:51:30.700
We also have variations
of this product

00:51:30.733 --> 00:51:33.100
where we add
other recycled plastics

00:51:33.133 --> 00:51:35.100
to increase
the building characteristics

00:51:35.133 --> 00:51:37.867
where we make things
like decking boards.

00:51:37.900 --> 00:51:42.400
(Connacher) WastAway diverts 90%
of the local community waste from landfill,

00:51:42.433 --> 00:51:45.700
and they also see potential
to turn Fluff into fuel.

00:51:45.733 --> 00:51:47.467
They believe it will work,

00:51:47.500 --> 00:51:51.533
mining old landfills
and turning it into a useful product.

00:51:56.933 --> 00:51:59.300
It seems like a cool idea,

00:51:59.333 --> 00:52:03.567
but growing my vegetables
in Fluff that contains plastic waste

00:52:03.600 --> 00:52:05.933
frightens me just a little bit.

00:52:05.967 --> 00:52:08.400
I'd already learned
that plastics may be created

00:52:08.433 --> 00:52:11.100
using harmful chemicals.

00:52:26.767 --> 00:52:28.667
And they leach
out of the plastic.

00:52:28.700 --> 00:52:31.733
That new car smell
when you sit into a new car

00:52:31.767 --> 00:52:33.033
and smell all that vinyl

00:52:33.067 --> 00:52:38.000
and all that plastic dashboard
emanating into your nostrils,

00:52:38.033 --> 00:52:41.867
that's actually
dosing you with hormones.

00:52:45.167 --> 00:52:48.167
[brooding blues guitar music]

00:52:48.200 --> 00:52:53.867
♪ ♪

00:52:53.900 --> 00:52:59.533
(man) ♪ Sometimes I feel like
a motherless child ♪

00:52:59.567 --> 00:53:05.333
(woman ♪1) ♪ Sometimes I feel like
a motherless child ♪

00:53:05.367 --> 00:53:12.500
(woman ♪2) ♪ Sometimes I feel like
a motherless child ♪

00:53:12.533 --> 00:53:18.200
(all)
♪ A long way from home ♪

00:53:18.233 --> 00:53:23.867
(man)
♪ A long way from home ♪

00:53:23.900 --> 00:53:29.567
(woman ♪1) ♪ Sometimes I feel like
a starless night sky ♪

00:53:29.600 --> 00:53:35.633
♪ Sometimes I feel like
a starless night sky ♪

00:53:35.667 --> 00:53:42.533
♪ Sometimes I feel like
a starless night sky ♪

00:53:42.567 --> 00:53:48.167
(all)
♪ A long way from home ♪

00:53:48.200 --> 00:53:53.867
(woman ♪1)
♪ A long way from home ♪

00:53:53.900 --> 00:53:59.600
(man) ♪ Sometimes I feel like
a salmon swimming dry ♪

00:53:59.633 --> 00:54:05.433
♪ Sometimes I feel like
a salmon swimming dry ♪

00:54:05.467 --> 00:54:12.567
♪ Sometimes I feel like
a salmon swimming dry ♪

00:54:12.600 --> 00:54:19.400
(all)
♪ A long way from home ♪

00:54:19.433 --> 00:54:21.533
(Connacher) Armed with
opinions and research,

00:54:21.567 --> 00:54:23.900
I thought I needed to seek out
some experts

00:54:23.933 --> 00:54:26.500
studying chemicals in plastic.

00:54:32.467 --> 00:54:36.233
So I went to see
Dr. David Busbee at his Texas ranch.

00:54:36.267 --> 00:54:39.667
The geneticist
from Texas A&M University

00:54:39.700 --> 00:54:41.933
has been testing
nearby water samples

00:54:41.967 --> 00:54:45.633
and discovered
alarming levels of DEHP,

00:54:45.667 --> 00:54:50.700
which is the world's
most commonly used plasticizer.

00:54:50.733 --> 00:54:52.767
(Busbee)
Plasticizers are chemicals

00:54:52.800 --> 00:54:56.800
that are mixed
with the plastic itself.

00:54:56.833 --> 00:54:59.133
The plastic is hard.

00:54:59.167 --> 00:55:01.267
You can't form it into anything.

00:55:01.300 --> 00:55:05.633
So if you take plasticizers
and mix with your plastic,

00:55:05.667 --> 00:55:09.133
then you can - you can -

00:55:09.167 --> 00:55:12.967
you can form using various,
various means.

00:55:15.333 --> 00:55:17.700
(Connacher) They're also in a class
called phthalates,

00:55:17.733 --> 00:55:19.500
and they're in everything:

00:55:19.533 --> 00:55:23.367
cosmetics, food packaging,
blood bags, our house paint,

00:55:23.400 --> 00:55:24.900
coatings on pills.

00:55:24.933 --> 00:55:28.167
The water we drink often comes to us
via plastic pipes.

00:55:28.200 --> 00:55:31.700
And Dr. Busbee told me
that when he exposed these phthalates

00:55:31.733 --> 00:55:36.367
to cells in culture,
he was shocked by what he found.

00:55:36.400 --> 00:55:41.933
These compounds disregulate,
either up or down regulate,

00:55:41.967 --> 00:55:44.500
the function of genes

00:55:44.533 --> 00:55:47.333
or the expression of genes
in the system.

00:55:47.367 --> 00:55:50.007
(Connacher) Every one of the phthalates
you've tested do the same -

00:55:50.033 --> 00:55:51.033
pretty much the same thing?

00:55:51.067 --> 00:55:52.067
Yes, every one of them.

00:55:53.667 --> 00:55:55.500
(Connacher)
And that's a fancy way of saying

00:55:55.533 --> 00:55:57.733
these chemicals
could alter the development

00:55:57.767 --> 00:56:00.733
of everything from our brains
to our immune system.

00:56:00.767 --> 00:56:03.600
Dr. Busbee knows
that much more research is needed

00:56:03.633 --> 00:56:06.367
before anything conclusive
can be demonstrated,

00:56:06.400 --> 00:56:07.600
but he is very concerned

00:56:07.633 --> 00:56:12.333
about the amount of plastic
that surrounds us.

00:56:12.367 --> 00:56:16.100
(Busbee) There are more things
that we don't know than that we do.

00:56:16.133 --> 00:56:19.333
I think that it's
a very critical area,

00:56:19.367 --> 00:56:25.233
and it's one that, frankly,
frightens me just a little bit.

00:56:31.400 --> 00:56:33.700
(Connacher) I was alarmed by
what he had to tell me

00:56:33.733 --> 00:56:36.933
but frustrated that much of the data
seemed to be anecdotal,

00:56:36.967 --> 00:56:39.600
so many of the connections
hard to prove.

00:56:39.633 --> 00:56:43.367
Regardless, these chemicals
are in our bodies.

00:56:43.400 --> 00:56:46.033
A recent survey
by the Centers for Disease Control

00:56:46.067 --> 00:56:48.100
showed that nearly
every American

00:56:48.133 --> 00:56:50.767
tested for the chemical
Bisphenol-A

00:56:50.800 --> 00:56:53.433
showed measurable levels
in their urine.

00:56:53.467 --> 00:56:55.833
Children had the highest levels.

00:56:55.867 --> 00:56:57.833
Then I remembered Rob Krebs

00:56:57.867 --> 00:57:00.067
talking about a guy
in the Midwest

00:57:00.100 --> 00:57:04.300
who was doing work
on this very chemical.

00:57:04.333 --> 00:57:06.567
I know that -

00:57:06.600 --> 00:57:09.300
this was
Frederick vom Saal, I believe,

00:57:09.333 --> 00:57:12.967
had worked -
done some work in this area.

00:57:13.000 --> 00:57:15.933
(Connacher)
It turns out Bisphenol-A or BPA

00:57:15.967 --> 00:57:19.300
is the main building block
chemical in polycarbonate.

00:57:19.333 --> 00:57:20.967
That's the hard, clear plastic

00:57:21.000 --> 00:57:24.467
that is used to make my sunglasses,
skis, baby bottles,

00:57:24.500 --> 00:57:26.700
compact discs, dental sealants,

00:57:26.733 --> 00:57:29.867
and lines the interior
of soup and vegetable cans.

00:57:29.900 --> 00:57:34.400
(vom Saal)
And we are seeing cancers.

00:57:34.433 --> 00:57:38.133
We are seeing prostate cancer,

00:57:38.167 --> 00:57:44.833
premammary cancer conditions
in the mammary glands of animals.

00:57:44.867 --> 00:57:50.333
We are seeing abnormal
sperm production in males.

00:57:50.367 --> 00:57:53.633
We're seeing
abnormal brain development,

00:57:53.667 --> 00:57:55.833
abnormal social behaviors,

00:57:55.867 --> 00:57:59.533
hyperactivity,
super aggressiveness,

00:57:59.567 --> 00:58:01.433
learning disabilities.

00:58:01.467 --> 00:58:05.233
I'm not so worried
about picking up a CD.

00:58:05.267 --> 00:58:06.800
What I am worried about

00:58:06.833 --> 00:58:09.900
is 6 billion pounds
of polycarbonate

00:58:09.933 --> 00:58:11.533
being thrown into landfill.

00:58:14.867 --> 00:58:17.600
(Krebs) At the levels
that you would be exposed to

00:58:17.633 --> 00:58:19.833
of any type of Bisphenol-A,

00:58:19.867 --> 00:58:25.300
there is no cause for concern
for human health concern.

00:58:25.333 --> 00:58:26.833
I'm gonna give you a number

00:58:26.867 --> 00:58:29.967
that probably doesn't
mean anything to anybody,

00:58:30.000 --> 00:58:33.900
but less than
a trillionth of a gram

00:58:33.933 --> 00:58:39.033
of the natural hormone estradiol
in a milliliter of blood

00:58:39.067 --> 00:58:44.467
is sufficient to cause changes
in the development

00:58:44.500 --> 00:58:48.700
and the functioning of cells
in the human body,

00:58:48.733 --> 00:58:53.567
and that is also true
for this chemical Bisphenol-A.

00:58:55.267 --> 00:58:57.633
(Connacher)
This is called low-dose theory,

00:58:57.667 --> 00:59:00.167
the premise that small amounts
of a chemical

00:59:00.200 --> 00:59:03.333
can cause greater harm
than a toxic dose.

00:59:03.367 --> 00:59:04.900
It's a theory
the plastic industry

00:59:04.933 --> 00:59:07.400
has a hard time
getting their head around.

00:59:07.433 --> 00:59:09.067
Basically if you
think about that,

00:59:09.100 --> 00:59:12.633
it's standing science
on its head,

00:59:12.667 --> 00:59:17.733
because if this much is -
makes you sick,

00:59:17.767 --> 00:59:23.200
and even a little
would make you less sick,

00:59:23.233 --> 00:59:27.533
and then if you go to even
the smallest amount, it's the -

00:59:27.567 --> 00:59:32.500
to say that it is more harmful
as it gets smaller

00:59:32.533 --> 00:59:36.767
is standing science on its head.

00:59:36.800 --> 00:59:39.733
It's reversing, basically
what's - what's going on.

00:59:39.767 --> 00:59:43.467
It is common sense,
and whoever said that,

00:59:43.500 --> 00:59:45.467
was this person
supposedly a scientist,

00:59:45.500 --> 00:59:47.067
or was he an administrator?

00:59:47.100 --> 00:59:48.867
(Connacher)
A communications person.

00:59:48.900 --> 00:59:50.600
He was
a communications specialist.

00:59:50.633 --> 00:59:54.867
Well, when you watch
the talking heads on the TV,

00:59:54.900 --> 00:59:57.867
do you automatically believe
everything that they say?

00:59:58.633 --> 01:00:00.067
Does industry lie?

01:00:00.100 --> 01:00:01.400
Absolutely.

01:00:01.433 --> 01:00:05.667
It will do anything
to protect its profits.

01:00:05.700 --> 01:00:08.533
The tobacco industry
is paying a price

01:00:08.567 --> 01:00:10.933
for having done that
for a long time,

01:00:10.967 --> 01:00:14.967
and the plastic industry
is going to pay the same price.

01:00:17.333 --> 01:00:19.500
(Connacher) I had a hard time
grasping the concept

01:00:19.533 --> 01:00:21.467
that a trillionth of a gram
of this stuff

01:00:21.500 --> 01:00:23.533
could alter human development.

01:00:23.567 --> 01:00:25.767
But I was told that Bisphenol-A
was developed

01:00:25.800 --> 01:00:28.700
as a synthetic estrogen
in the 1930s

01:00:28.733 --> 01:00:32.000
and was later found to be useful
for making plastics.

01:00:32.033 --> 01:00:35.000
So if these chemicals
are in any way bad for us,

01:00:35.033 --> 01:00:37.000
why are they
in the plastics at all?

01:00:39.067 --> 01:00:41.267
(vom Saal)
Other countries like in Europe,

01:00:41.300 --> 01:00:44.300
where the phthalates
have already been banned,

01:00:44.333 --> 01:00:50.633
that set of information
led the European Union to say,

01:00:50.667 --> 01:00:51.667
"That's it.

01:00:51.700 --> 01:00:52.700
They're out."

01:00:54.167 --> 01:00:56.667
(Connacher) Health Canada
has also begun testing

01:00:56.700 --> 01:00:59.633
for the presence of BPA
in people's blood.

01:00:59.667 --> 01:01:01.733
Unfortunately,
they wouldn't tell me why,

01:01:01.767 --> 01:01:03.433
nor would they grant me
an interview

01:01:03.467 --> 01:01:07.667
to speak about toxic ingredients
in plastic.

01:01:07.700 --> 01:01:09.633
In my home province of Ontario,

01:01:09.667 --> 01:01:13.200
I was invited up to the farm
of Dr. William Shotyk.

01:01:13.233 --> 01:01:16.800
He's a geochemist from the
University of Heidelberg in Germany.

01:01:16.833 --> 01:01:19.133
He studies heavy metals
in ice cores

01:01:19.167 --> 01:01:22.633
and discovered something unusual
in plastic bottles.

01:01:22.667 --> 01:01:25.700
It's called antimony
or white lead,

01:01:25.733 --> 01:01:30.467
and it's used in the production
of PET plastic.

01:01:30.500 --> 01:01:32.033
(Shotyk)
So then I asked the question,

01:01:32.067 --> 01:01:36.900
"Well, if we have antimony
in that plastic,

01:01:36.933 --> 01:01:40.167
could that possibly have
an effect on the water?"

01:01:44.833 --> 01:01:46.300
(Connacher)
He brought me to his farm

01:01:46.333 --> 01:01:50.533
because the ground water here
is more pure than ancient arctic ice

01:01:50.567 --> 01:01:53.900
and provides the cleanest sample
he can get.

01:01:53.933 --> 01:01:58.433
(Shotyk) Till the bottle's nearly full,
and cap that.

01:01:58.467 --> 01:02:01.333
(Connacher) We took samples,
put them in plastic bottles,

01:02:01.367 --> 01:02:04.167
and then traveled back
to his clean lab in Germany,

01:02:04.200 --> 01:02:06.700
where the water could be
analyzed for antimony.

01:02:06.733 --> 01:02:09.433
Shodyk's assistant explains
the process.

01:02:09.467 --> 01:02:11.333
When you want to do
a measurement,

01:02:11.367 --> 01:02:13.367
you just take the liquid sample.

01:02:13.400 --> 01:02:17.000
The sample is aspirated
by a nebulizer,

01:02:17.033 --> 01:02:20.933
which is then transported
into a very hot plasma,

01:02:20.967 --> 01:02:24.033
and then all the elements
are ionized.

01:02:24.067 --> 01:02:27.100
And then you focus,
then you generate an ion

01:02:27.133 --> 01:02:30.700
and then pass through
the mass separator,

01:02:30.733 --> 01:02:33.533
which consists here
of a very strong magnet,

01:02:33.567 --> 01:02:35.600
and at the end
of that flight path,

01:02:35.633 --> 01:02:39.633
you have an electron multiplier
who is detecting the signals.

01:02:39.667 --> 01:02:43.300
They talk about antimony,
and it is a catalyst,

01:02:43.333 --> 01:02:47.867
but it chemically bonds
to the polymer.

01:02:47.900 --> 01:02:49.700
It cannot extract itself.

01:02:49.733 --> 01:02:51.267
It doesn't come apart.

01:02:51.300 --> 01:02:53.267
It is part of the polymer.

01:02:53.300 --> 01:02:56.600
So it can't possibly excrete
or come out.

01:02:58.867 --> 01:03:01.967
(Shotyk) So out of that 200 bottles
that we've tested

01:03:02.000 --> 01:03:04.733
and more than 100 brands,

01:03:04.767 --> 01:03:10.467
probably 2% or 3% are not
contaminating the water with antimony.

01:03:13.133 --> 01:03:16.667
(Connacher) Although the levels were below
FDA allowable limits,

01:03:16.700 --> 01:03:19.767
some did exceed
the limits set by the Japanese,

01:03:19.800 --> 01:03:23.333
who have already begun using
titanium as an alternative.

01:03:24.733 --> 01:03:28.500
Do we - should we as the public
be concerned

01:03:28.533 --> 01:03:30.267
if it's parts per trillion

01:03:30.300 --> 01:03:34.633
and there's already been said
by the EPA or the FDA

01:03:34.667 --> 01:03:36.867
that the level
is certain parts per billion?

01:03:36.900 --> 01:03:39.033
Our bodies don't need it.

01:03:39.067 --> 01:03:40.600
It's like mercury.

01:03:40.633 --> 01:03:42.000
It's like thallium.

01:03:42.033 --> 01:03:43.567
It's like cadmium.

01:03:43.600 --> 01:03:44.900
It's like arsenic.

01:03:44.933 --> 01:03:47.767
These things don't have
a physiological function,

01:03:47.800 --> 01:03:49.700
which means
they can't be beneficial.

01:03:49.733 --> 01:03:52.867
They can only have no effect
or a negative effect

01:03:52.900 --> 01:03:56.067
depending on the concentration
in the species it's present.

01:03:59.633 --> 01:04:02.167
(Connacher) It was difficult
to relate to fancy machines

01:04:02.200 --> 01:04:03.733
that swivel and rotate

01:04:03.767 --> 01:04:06.967
or computer screens
with incomprehensible data.

01:04:07.000 --> 01:04:08.067
So I asked these scientists

01:04:08.100 --> 01:04:12.267
how these findings have changed
their own personal habits.

01:04:12.300 --> 01:04:15.900
We don't buy bottled water.

01:04:15.933 --> 01:04:20.333
We don't buy beverages
in PET bottles.

01:04:20.900 --> 01:04:23.467
I use no polycarbonate plastic.

01:04:23.500 --> 01:04:25.867
I eat nothing out of cans.

01:04:25.900 --> 01:04:29.233
I cook everything in glass.

01:04:29.267 --> 01:04:31.767
I don't use
Teflon products anymore.

01:04:31.800 --> 01:04:35.200
I do have glasses
with polycarbonate products,

01:04:35.233 --> 01:04:37.100
and I don't lick them.

01:04:37.133 --> 01:04:38.800
I wash them with water.

01:04:39.467 --> 01:04:42.800
This is a -
this is a problem.

01:04:42.833 --> 01:04:48.267
I don't - I don't know
how to tell a person

01:04:48.300 --> 01:04:51.200
how to resolve this problem.

01:04:51.233 --> 01:04:52.800
How do we get away
from these things?

01:04:52.833 --> 01:04:54.667
I have no idea.

01:04:56.400 --> 01:04:58.967
(Connacher)
So what's the answer?

01:04:59.000 --> 01:05:02.033
[cheery acoustic guitar music]

01:05:02.067 --> 01:05:06.233
♪ ♪

01:05:06.267 --> 01:05:09.400
(man) ♪ This city heat
can take your sweat ♪

01:05:09.433 --> 01:05:12.433
♪ and leave you
just a silhouette ♪

01:05:12.467 --> 01:05:15.500
♪ It's sometimes easy
to forget that ♪

01:05:15.533 --> 01:05:18.033
♪ well, every day
is the best one yet ♪

01:05:18.067 --> 01:05:21.767
♪ 'cause we get high
and we get low ♪

01:05:21.800 --> 01:05:24.633
♪ Round and round
the circle goes ♪

01:05:24.667 --> 01:05:27.533
♪ Darkness does
what darkness knows ♪

01:05:27.567 --> 01:05:30.533
♪ It's time to let
the darkness go ♪

01:05:43.700 --> 01:05:46.633
♪ I pass some kids
out on the street ♪

01:05:46.667 --> 01:05:49.067
♪ I watch them dance
and move their feet ♪

01:05:49.100 --> 01:05:53.000
♪ like little puppets
on a string ♪

01:05:53.033 --> 01:05:55.400
♪ 'cause they're all tied
to everything ♪

01:05:55.433 --> 01:05:58.967
♪ 'cause we get high
and we get low ♪

01:05:59.000 --> 01:06:02.900
(Connacher) Could we ever live
without plastic?

01:06:02.933 --> 01:06:04.167
I might eat better,

01:06:04.200 --> 01:06:06.900
but how realistic
is a plastic-free life

01:06:06.933 --> 01:06:10.233
for the average family?

01:06:10.267 --> 01:06:12.867
So what's gonna change
consumer behavior?

01:06:12.900 --> 01:06:15.833
What's gonna make industries
start to value these materials

01:06:15.867 --> 01:06:19.600
instead of making them disposable?

01:06:19.633 --> 01:06:22.367
Maybe if the rising price
of polyethylene

01:06:22.400 --> 01:06:25.967
was listed alongside petroleum.

01:06:26.000 --> 01:06:29.100
And the worldview is that you're
either doing something

01:06:29.133 --> 01:06:30.867
to help the environment

01:06:30.900 --> 01:06:34.233
or you're doing something
that might harm the environment.

01:06:34.267 --> 01:06:36.600
And they think plastics,

01:06:36.633 --> 01:06:40.467
since it had its origins
in petrochemicals -

01:06:40.500 --> 01:06:43.500
and they're not aware that it's
made of natural gas today.

01:06:44.533 --> 01:06:47.500
(Connacher) Natural gas is still
a fossil fuel,

01:06:47.533 --> 01:06:50.633
finite and dictated
by world oil prices.

01:06:50.667 --> 01:06:51.667
So maybe the first step

01:06:51.700 --> 01:06:55.133
is to make sure these materials
don't ever go to landfill

01:06:55.167 --> 01:06:56.833
or into the environment.

01:06:56.867 --> 01:07:00.933
What if there was a way
to harness the energy in waste plastic?

01:07:03.433 --> 01:07:05.867
(Kaminsky)
We have here some polyester.

01:07:05.900 --> 01:07:09.567
This is PET from clothes,
industrial clothes.

01:07:09.600 --> 01:07:15.400
And this material
can be pyrolyzed into oil.

01:07:15.433 --> 01:07:16.900
You have here liquid -

01:07:16.933 --> 01:07:19.133
can be used as gasoline
in a car.

01:07:19.167 --> 01:07:22.633
Or a tar material -
that is this one -

01:07:22.667 --> 01:07:26.333
can be distillated
and used for petrochemicals.

01:07:26.367 --> 01:07:28.467
(Connacher)
Dr. Walter Kaminsky is a chemist

01:07:28.500 --> 01:07:30.933
at the University of Hamburg
in Germany.

01:07:30.967 --> 01:07:34.200
He's been perfecting
a technology called pyrolysis.

01:07:34.233 --> 01:07:37.400
Through this mess of tubes,
compressors, and distillers,

01:07:37.433 --> 01:07:39.200
Dr. Kaminsky can turn plastic

01:07:39.233 --> 01:07:42.100
back to the oil
from which it came.

01:07:42.133 --> 01:07:46.300
(Kaminsky) Plastics are made
by crude oil and oil products,

01:07:46.333 --> 01:07:49.067
and what we are doing now
is to crack them back

01:07:49.100 --> 01:07:51.600
into smaller molecules

01:07:51.633 --> 01:07:56.133
which can be used for other
petrochemical research works

01:07:56.167 --> 01:07:58.533
or industrial works.

01:07:58.567 --> 01:08:03.400
(Connacher) For Dr. Kaminsky, making energy
isn't the only value of pyrolysis.

01:08:03.433 --> 01:08:06.500
His styrene oil collected
from waste styrofoam

01:08:06.533 --> 01:08:08.167
is being fed to bacteria

01:08:08.200 --> 01:08:11.333
by an Irish bioengineer
to make plastic.

01:08:11.367 --> 01:08:13.367
They can eat that.

01:08:24.933 --> 01:08:27.300
(Connacher) Dr. Kevin O'Connor
grows bacteria

01:08:27.333 --> 01:08:31.100
that love to eat Dr. Kaminsky's
delicious plastic oil.

01:08:31.133 --> 01:08:34.100
They fill their cells with it
and grow and grow and multiply.

01:08:34.133 --> 01:08:36.133
When the bacteria
is all fat and fed

01:08:36.167 --> 01:08:38.333
and probably thinking about
having a nap,

01:08:38.367 --> 01:08:41.500
Dr. O'Connor extracts material
from the cells,

01:08:41.533 --> 01:08:44.500
which he then
turns into a plastic.

01:08:44.533 --> 01:08:49.000
(O'Connor) We are not using biotechnology
to create mutant bacteria,

01:08:49.033 --> 01:08:50.733
we're using a natural
soil organism

01:08:50.767 --> 01:08:52.767
that we have not
genetically modified.

01:08:52.800 --> 01:08:54.133
It is doing this naturally.

01:08:54.167 --> 01:08:55.900
If we were - if it was
out in the environment,

01:08:55.933 --> 01:08:57.400
it would be doing this anyway.

01:08:57.433 --> 01:08:59.300
So we're bringing it indoors.

01:08:59.333 --> 01:09:01.733
We're putting it in a fermentor,
and we're asking it,

01:09:01.767 --> 01:09:04.300
"Okay, here's a nice food source
that you like.

01:09:04.333 --> 01:09:05.533
Let's go and make plastic."

01:09:08.800 --> 01:09:13.367
(Connacher) The plastic is completely
nontoxic and 100% biodegradable,

01:09:13.400 --> 01:09:16.300
which means that under the right
environmental conditions -

01:09:16.333 --> 01:09:18.767
heat, oxygen, microorganisms -

01:09:18.800 --> 01:09:21.033
It will degrade away to nothing.

01:09:21.067 --> 01:09:24.433
Dr. O'Connor hopes
the first applications will be in medicine

01:09:24.467 --> 01:09:27.667
and is looking at other waste plastics
to feed to his critters.

01:09:27.700 --> 01:09:29.933
(O'Connor) We're targeting
at the moment polystyrene.

01:09:29.967 --> 01:09:31.733
That's our number one,
because polystyrene,

01:09:31.767 --> 01:09:33.167
there's millions
and millions of it

01:09:33.200 --> 01:09:34.567
ends up in landfill every year,

01:09:34.600 --> 01:09:36.033
millions and millions
of kilograms,

01:09:36.067 --> 01:09:38.667
so much so that the
Environmental Protection Agency in America

01:09:38.700 --> 01:09:40.267
recognizes it
as a major pollutant.

01:09:42.233 --> 01:09:44.867
(Connacher) While Dr. O'Connor's work
is cutting-edge science

01:09:44.900 --> 01:09:47.933
and probably a few years off
from mass production,

01:09:47.967 --> 01:09:51.467
there are already plant-based
plastics on the market.

01:09:51.500 --> 01:09:53.233
They're called bioplastics,

01:09:53.267 --> 01:09:57.300
and they've been around
for as long as oil-based synthetics.

01:09:57.333 --> 01:10:01.733
In 1941, Henry Ford even
unveiled a soybean plastic car.

01:10:01.767 --> 01:10:04.133
Of course,
Pearl Harbor put an end to that.

01:10:04.167 --> 01:10:08.367
Today, the price of oil
has put bioplastics back on the map.

01:10:16.367 --> 01:10:19.300
Bioplastics are renewable,
they can be recycled,

01:10:19.333 --> 01:10:21.767
they degrade away to nothing
but CO2 and water,

01:10:21.800 --> 01:10:25.133
and they can be used
to support local industry.

01:10:42.667 --> 01:10:46.267
NatureWorks is the largest
bioplastics company in the world

01:10:46.300 --> 01:10:48.467
and along with
corn giant Cargill

01:10:48.500 --> 01:10:51.267
have built an enormous plant
in Nebraska.

01:10:51.300 --> 01:10:54.367
They make their PLA plastic
out of corn,

01:10:54.400 --> 01:10:56.167
and it can be
turned into food packaging

01:10:56.200 --> 01:10:57.833
for customers like Wal-Mart

01:10:57.867 --> 01:11:01.433
and other products like bottles,
feminine hygiene pads, diapers,

01:11:01.467 --> 01:11:04.267
socks, shirts, carpets,
and bedding.

01:11:04.300 --> 01:11:06.200
(Davies) You can do
all the normal things with it

01:11:06.233 --> 01:11:07.300
you can with other polymers.

01:11:07.333 --> 01:11:08.333
You can incinerate it.

01:11:08.367 --> 01:11:09.800
You can landfill it.

01:11:09.833 --> 01:11:13.133
You can chemically recycle it,
but we offer a new option,

01:11:13.167 --> 01:11:14.533
which is you can compost it.

01:11:14.567 --> 01:11:22.567
I think that since there is
a what I call a shibboleth.

01:11:23.467 --> 01:11:26.267
A shibboleth is an old saying,

01:11:26.300 --> 01:11:28.633
and since there's
this old saying

01:11:28.667 --> 01:11:35.133
that plastics are somehow derived
from petroleum-based fossil fuels,

01:11:35.167 --> 01:11:37.033
there's this old idea that -

01:11:37.067 --> 01:11:39.433
they're capitalizing
on this idea.

01:11:39.467 --> 01:11:42.667
(Connacher) If that's the case, then
why are some big companies looking

01:11:42.700 --> 01:11:45.267
to reduce their dependence
on fossil fuels

01:11:45.300 --> 01:11:47.400
by developing bioplastics?

01:11:47.433 --> 01:11:50.267
I was surprised to learn
that Sony makes its famous walkman

01:11:50.300 --> 01:11:52.600
using NatureWorks PLA plastic,

01:11:52.633 --> 01:11:56.367
and PlayStation's packaging
is made from an expanded polystyrene

01:11:56.400 --> 01:11:59.333
that's recycled using the oil
from orange peels.

01:12:25.800 --> 01:12:30.400
Electronics giant NEC has made
a biodegradable cell phone

01:12:30.433 --> 01:12:34.067
derived from corn
and a plant called kenaf.

01:13:01.600 --> 01:13:03.300
(Connacher)
Now we're getting somewhere.

01:13:03.333 --> 01:13:04.800
Here are companies making money

01:13:04.833 --> 01:13:06.733
without releasing toxins
in the world

01:13:06.767 --> 01:13:08.867
or relying on fossil fuels.

01:13:08.900 --> 01:13:11.067
But I had to wonder
if plants could ever replace

01:13:11.100 --> 01:13:13.567
all the oil-based plastics
on the market.

01:13:13.600 --> 01:13:16.200
Would we have enough farm land
left to grow food?

01:13:16.233 --> 01:13:18.800
(Kaeb) Is there enough
arable land available

01:13:18.833 --> 01:13:20.500
for the production of plastics?

01:13:20.533 --> 01:13:23.733
We have one rough figure

01:13:23.767 --> 01:13:28.900
that says two to three tons
of bioplastics can be produced

01:13:28.933 --> 01:13:34.000
on 10,000 square meters
of agricultural area.

01:13:34.033 --> 01:13:35.867
If you look to that area

01:13:35.900 --> 01:13:38.300
which is available
here in Europe,

01:13:38.333 --> 01:13:42.367
experts says it's about
30 million hectares.

01:13:42.400 --> 01:13:46.933
It can produce about
60 million tons of plastics

01:13:46.967 --> 01:13:48.467
on that field here in Europe,

01:13:48.500 --> 01:13:50.967
just to give you an indication
of bioplastics.

01:13:51.000 --> 01:13:54.467
It's more than we consume
today in Europe.

01:13:54.500 --> 01:13:57.100
So we consume
40 million tons here.

01:13:57.133 --> 01:13:58.400
We can produce 60 million tons.

01:14:04.567 --> 01:14:07.100
(Connacher) I found some other bioplastics
hitting the market

01:14:07.133 --> 01:14:10.367
that are using everything
from orange peels to maple syrup,

01:14:10.400 --> 01:14:12.233
even carbon dioxide.

01:14:12.267 --> 01:14:14.633
At the USDA headquarters
in Baltimore,

01:14:14.667 --> 01:14:16.600
Justin Barone has
found a waste stream

01:14:16.633 --> 01:14:18.033
from the poultry industry.

01:14:18.067 --> 01:14:21.867
They're using chicken feathers
to make plastic.

01:14:25.333 --> 01:14:27.967
(Barone) We're taking the protein
from chicken feathers

01:14:28.000 --> 01:14:29.467
and making this plastic.

01:14:29.500 --> 01:14:30.700
The other thing we're doing is,

01:14:30.733 --> 01:14:34.967
we're taking the glycerol
which is left over from biodiesel.

01:14:35.000 --> 01:14:36.367
We have two uses for that.

01:14:36.400 --> 01:14:39.967
Number one, it's used
as the processing additive in this polymer.

01:14:40.000 --> 01:14:43.700
And number two, we react it
with citric acid to get a polyester.

01:14:43.733 --> 01:14:46.000
(Connacher) So this guy's
using a waste material,

01:14:46.033 --> 01:14:49.233
and it's directly competing
with oil-based plastics.

01:14:49.267 --> 01:14:50.267
Five years ago,

01:14:50.300 --> 01:14:52.367
they were laughed at
by the plastic industry.

01:14:52.400 --> 01:14:54.133
But the rising price
of fossil fuel

01:14:54.167 --> 01:14:58.033
means the USDA
is now able to take them on.

01:14:58.600 --> 01:14:59.600
You could eat this.

01:14:59.633 --> 01:15:01.167
I mean, I don't see
any reason why not.

01:15:01.200 --> 01:15:02.200
It's just protein,

01:15:02.233 --> 01:15:06.567
and the keratin not in your
stomach but somewhere -

01:15:06.600 --> 01:15:09.233
somewhere along the line,
keratin will dissolve.

01:15:09.267 --> 01:15:11.200
I don't know where.

01:15:11.233 --> 01:15:15.567
I can't chew it
'cause it's so hard.

01:15:15.600 --> 01:15:19.000
This isn't - it actually
has no taste to it.

01:15:19.033 --> 01:15:22.000
I've never eaten it before,
but it actually has no taste to it.

01:15:22.033 --> 01:15:26.167
(Connacher) He wasn't nearly as thrilled as
the CEO of Plantic in Australia,

01:15:26.200 --> 01:15:28.867
who regularly eats
his plastic products.

01:15:28.900 --> 01:15:31.533
(Morris) The best way
to convince the skeptic

01:15:31.567 --> 01:15:34.933
that Plantic material
is a functional product

01:15:34.967 --> 01:15:37.867
that's good for the environment
and is nontoxic

01:15:37.900 --> 01:15:41.567
is to take the tray
and crush it and say,

01:15:41.600 --> 01:15:43.033
"It performs just like plastic.

01:15:43.067 --> 01:15:44.067
"It looks like plastic.

01:15:44.100 --> 01:15:45.633
"It feels like plastic.

01:15:45.667 --> 01:15:52.267
But then when I pour water on it,
it starts to dissolve."

01:15:54.600 --> 01:16:00.633
And then - and then I take some,
and I eat it.

01:16:03.367 --> 01:16:07.100
(Connacher) Plantic uses a starch-based
plastic that dissolves in water

01:16:07.133 --> 01:16:10.933
unlike other bioplastics that
require hot compost to degrade,

01:16:10.967 --> 01:16:12.500
not that Brendan is advocating

01:16:12.533 --> 01:16:14.333
people throw
their snack packages

01:16:14.367 --> 01:16:16.567
on the side of the road.

01:16:16.600 --> 01:16:18.367
(Morris) We brand our product
in some cases

01:16:18.400 --> 01:16:21.900
as Plantic,
the solution to pollution.

01:16:21.933 --> 01:16:25.367
Plantic is truly biodegradable,
so in about eight weeks,

01:16:25.400 --> 01:16:29.567
it will be back to the biomass
of carbon dioxide and water.

01:16:29.600 --> 01:16:33.033
If it gets washed away
or ends up in the sea,

01:16:33.067 --> 01:16:35.267
then it will dissolve instantly.

01:16:35.300 --> 01:16:38.400
And it's nontoxic,
so it's not gonna hurt anybody.

01:16:43.033 --> 01:16:44.500
(Connacher)
Near the end of the trip,

01:16:44.533 --> 01:16:47.033
Captain Moore invited me
down to Hawaii.

01:16:47.067 --> 01:16:50.067
It seemed like a chance
to get away from airports and highways,

01:16:50.100 --> 01:16:51.767
and I looked forward
to spending some time

01:16:51.800 --> 01:16:54.733
relaxing on a white sandy beach.

01:16:54.767 --> 01:16:59.200
(woman) ♪ More so
than I ever thought it ♪

01:16:59.233 --> 01:17:00.467
♪ we bought it ♪

01:17:00.500 --> 01:17:04.567
♪ and we all sat back
and watched it ♪

01:17:04.600 --> 01:17:06.267
♪ No one fought it ♪

01:17:06.300 --> 01:17:08.667
♪ So we praise the renegades ♪

01:17:08.700 --> 01:17:09.933
♪ who take to the street ♪

01:17:09.967 --> 01:17:11.900
♪ with songs
in their feet, yeah ♪

01:17:11.933 --> 01:17:14.333
♪ And we sew seeds to grow ♪

01:17:14.367 --> 01:17:16.700
♪ in the soil
that has not yet spoiled ♪

01:17:16.733 --> 01:17:17.867
♪ Put your foot down ♪

01:17:19.500 --> 01:17:22.300
♪ Put your foot down ♪

01:17:22.433 --> 01:17:25.467
♪ Put your foot down ♪

01:17:25.500 --> 01:17:27.867
♪ When they come
to push you around ♪

01:17:27.900 --> 01:17:29.233
♪ put your foot down ♪

01:17:30.700 --> 01:17:33.333
♪ Put your foot down ♪

01:17:33.433 --> 01:17:36.633
♪ Put your foot down ♪

01:17:36.667 --> 01:17:39.433
♪ When they come
to push you around ♪

01:17:39.467 --> 01:17:43.567
♪ So we dug in our heels
and waited ♪

01:17:43.600 --> 01:17:47.167
♪ kept all our hooks baited ♪

01:17:47.200 --> 01:17:50.133
(Connacher) This is one of the most remote
beaches in Hawaii,

01:17:50.167 --> 01:17:53.300
and it had been cleaned
three months prior to our arrival.

01:17:53.333 --> 01:17:54.633
(woman)
♪ who take to the street ♪

01:17:54.667 --> 01:17:56.467
♪ with songs
in their feet, yeah ♪

01:17:56.500 --> 01:17:58.900
♪ And we sew seeds to grow ♪

01:17:58.933 --> 01:18:01.300
♪ in the soil
that has not yet spoiled ♪

01:18:01.333 --> 01:18:02.333
♪ Put your foot down ♪

01:18:02.367 --> 01:18:06.733
(Connacher) This is what the gyre
is rejecting, vomiting back.

01:18:06.767 --> 01:18:10.100
Just a small sample
of what is floating out there.

01:18:10.133 --> 01:18:12.633
(woman) ♪ When they come
to push you around ♪

01:18:12.667 --> 01:18:15.167
♪ put your foot down ♪

01:18:28.233 --> 01:18:32.033
(Connacher) Seeing all this garbage may
have been this film's inspiration,

01:18:32.067 --> 01:18:34.700
but it is the people
dealing with the mess

01:18:34.733 --> 01:18:37.233
that will continue
to resonate in me,

01:18:37.267 --> 01:18:39.800
many of whom couldn't fit
into the story.

01:18:43.133 --> 01:18:46.767
I met with dedicated volunteers
cleaning up remote communities.

01:18:49.567 --> 01:18:51.400
Others have devised new tools

01:18:51.433 --> 01:18:54.100
for cleaning plastic waste
from urban areas.

01:18:56.667 --> 01:18:58.033
I met plastic producers

01:18:58.067 --> 01:18:59.967
committed to reducing
pellet loss

01:19:00.067 --> 01:19:02.367
both inside and outside
of the factory.

01:19:04.967 --> 01:19:07.567
There were artists using waste
materials in everything

01:19:07.600 --> 01:19:10.567
from high fashion to folk art.

01:19:14.167 --> 01:19:16.133
In India, I met an entrepreneur

01:19:16.167 --> 01:19:20.267
starting the first
bioplastic bag company,

01:19:20.300 --> 01:19:22.933
and in Australia,
an ex-plastic producer

01:19:22.967 --> 01:19:26.700
showed me his new line
of bio-based packaging.

01:19:26.733 --> 01:19:29.467
Numerous environmental groups
also came forward

01:19:29.500 --> 01:19:32.333
with easy steps
to conscious consumerism.

01:19:32.367 --> 01:19:35.367
And one scientist has pioneered
a new field of study

01:19:35.400 --> 01:19:37.133
called green chemistry,

01:19:37.167 --> 01:19:39.500
where the toxicity,
biodegradability,

01:19:39.533 --> 01:19:41.267
and the potential for recycling

01:19:41.300 --> 01:19:43.833
drive the invention
of new materials.

01:19:43.867 --> 01:19:48.567
If there are safer alternatives
on the market, why not change?

01:19:48.600 --> 01:19:51.700
If plastic can be designed
to be infinitely recyclable,

01:19:51.733 --> 01:19:54.367
would we even need landfills?

01:19:54.400 --> 01:19:55.933
Instead of cheerleading plastic

01:19:55.967 --> 01:19:58.367
as a cheap and disposable
material,

01:19:58.400 --> 01:20:02.567
why not cherish it as the finite
and valuable material it is?

01:20:02.600 --> 01:20:05.100
I hope I've shown
we could do much better.

01:20:05.133 --> 01:20:06.667
The important thing to remember

01:20:06.700 --> 01:20:09.800
is that we as consumers
have done nothing wrong,

01:20:09.833 --> 01:20:12.733
despite what some
in the plastic industry might say.

01:20:12.767 --> 01:20:15.133
And truthfully,
I don't even think the industry

01:20:15.167 --> 01:20:17.300
set out
to create toxic materials

01:20:17.333 --> 01:20:18.967
that would never go away.

01:20:19.000 --> 01:20:21.867
All of us got swept up
in the plastic promise,

01:20:21.900 --> 01:20:22.900
one that would free us

01:20:22.933 --> 01:20:25.033
from the constraints
of nature and time.

01:20:25.067 --> 01:20:29.167
But now 100 years have passed
since plastic appeared.

01:20:29.200 --> 01:20:33.333
It's time to rethink our relationship
to synthetic materials.

01:20:33.367 --> 01:20:36.967
As you have seen,
a world of experts agree.

01:20:37.000 --> 01:20:38.267
Thank you for watching.

01:20:42.933 --> 01:20:44.800
Am I an environmentalist?

01:20:45.667 --> 01:20:46.667
Am I what?

01:20:46.700 --> 01:20:47.700
An environmentalist.

01:20:48.933 --> 01:20:50.367
Absolutely.

01:20:50.400 --> 01:20:53.200
This is, um...

01:21:01.867 --> 01:21:03.367
Um...

01:21:03.400 --> 01:21:04.433
I'm - I've -

01:21:05.433 --> 01:21:06.500
Environmentalist?

01:21:06.533 --> 01:21:08.100
Hmm.

01:21:13.633 --> 01:21:15.167
I consider myself a scientist.

01:21:15.200 --> 01:21:17.400
A closet environmentalist,
I would say.

01:21:20.867 --> 01:21:22.467
Oh, jeez, that's a good one.

01:21:32.000 --> 01:21:33.700
I'm a chemical engineer.

01:21:33.733 --> 01:21:35.367
I'm chemist.

01:21:35.400 --> 01:21:37.567
That is a good question.

01:21:37.600 --> 01:21:39.567
To a certain degree, yes.

01:21:39.600 --> 01:21:40.667
To a certain degree, yes.

01:21:44.300 --> 01:21:45.867
(woman)
I've now dedicated my life

01:21:45.900 --> 01:21:48.367
to working with something
that's environmentally friendly,

01:21:48.400 --> 01:21:49.720
and I see that
as the way forward.

01:21:52.367 --> 01:21:54.533
You ask me
if I'm an environmentalist.

01:21:54.567 --> 01:21:55.833
Yes, I am.

01:21:55.867 --> 01:21:56.867
Yes, I am.

01:21:56.900 --> 01:21:58.067
I'm - yeah, I am.

01:21:58.100 --> 01:22:00.900
I'm what is known
as a congenital environmentalist.

01:22:00.933 --> 01:22:02.533
[laughs]

01:22:06.967 --> 01:22:09.567
Well, I don't know that I'd
consider myself an environmentalist.

01:22:09.600 --> 01:22:10.600
On the other hand,

01:22:10.633 --> 01:22:12.300
I don't want to do anything bad
for the environment.

01:22:12.333 --> 01:22:14.013
I just want to do good
for the environment.

01:22:14.500 --> 01:22:16.233
I am an environmentalist.

01:22:16.267 --> 01:22:19.800
I am as much an environmentalist
as you'll ever meet.

01:22:24.167 --> 01:22:29.000
I have a lot of sympathy
with many environmental causes.

01:22:29.033 --> 01:22:32.300
I'm a member of the
Butte County Environmental Group.

01:22:32.333 --> 01:22:33.500
I am an environmentalist.

01:22:33.533 --> 01:22:36.067
No, I'm not a tree hugger,
if that's what you mean.

01:22:36.100 --> 01:22:37.833
No, it's whatever
you think it means.

01:22:37.867 --> 01:22:40.667
No, I am an environmentalist
as such, yeah.

01:22:46.167 --> 01:22:49.067
You might say I'm a -
some people will say -

01:22:49.100 --> 01:22:50.433
am I an environmentalist?

01:22:50.467 --> 01:22:52.467
Absolutely.

01:22:52.500 --> 01:22:53.900
We're farmers by trade,

01:22:53.933 --> 01:22:55.733
so farmers are
the first environmentalists.

01:22:57.067 --> 01:22:58.433
I think a pragmatic one.

01:23:02.633 --> 01:23:05.133
Most of my friends think
I'm quite a hippie,

01:23:05.167 --> 01:23:06.933
vegetarian, tree hugging.

01:23:06.967 --> 01:23:09.533
But I just think
there's more of us -

01:23:09.567 --> 01:23:11.200
there's more of us
arriving each day,

01:23:11.233 --> 01:23:17.367
and the more momentum it has,
the better the planet will be.

01:23:36.767 --> 01:23:39.067
(woman)
♪ Says she, ♪

01:23:39.100 --> 01:23:41.400
♪ "You all must be ♪

01:23:41.433 --> 01:23:45.267
♪ the change you wish to see" ♪

01:23:45.300 --> 01:23:48.067
♪ If I talk my speak
but my walk is weak ♪

01:23:48.100 --> 01:23:50.033
♪ show me ♪

01:23:50.067 --> 01:23:53.633
♪ just how to be ♪

01:23:53.667 --> 01:23:57.200
♪ the change I wish to see ♪

01:23:59.933 --> 01:24:02.633
♪ I endeavor to shed light
on blindness ♪

01:24:02.667 --> 01:24:05.033
♪ speak my mind
with patience and kindness ♪

01:24:05.067 --> 01:24:06.400
♪ You know what I'm doing ♪

01:24:06.433 --> 01:24:07.700
♪ I'm scoping for hope ♪

01:24:07.733 --> 01:24:10.533
♪ There's no better time
to share how we cope ♪

01:24:10.567 --> 01:24:13.333
♪ But it's not our own
Mama Earth's timeline ♪

01:24:13.367 --> 01:24:16.200
♪ We all have our own
steady rate of decline ♪

01:24:16.233 --> 01:24:19.000
♪ to use as a context
for our worry ♪

01:24:19.033 --> 01:24:21.600
♪ with one more day
would you slow down or hurry? ♪

01:24:21.633 --> 01:24:23.600
♪ Says she, ♪

01:24:23.633 --> 01:24:25.900
♪ "You all must be ♪

01:24:25.933 --> 01:24:29.900
♪ the change you wish to see" ♪

01:24:29.933 --> 01:24:32.667
♪ if I talk my speak
but my walk is weak ♪

01:24:32.700 --> 01:24:34.933
♪ show me ♪

01:24:34.967 --> 01:24:38.233
♪ just how to be ♪

01:24:38.267 --> 01:24:42.067
♪ the change I wish to see ♪

01:24:43.767 --> 01:24:46.867
♪ Give me a green, green valley
and a clean, clean lake ♪

01:24:46.900 --> 01:24:49.800
♪ a solar-powered homestead
so I don't take ♪

01:24:49.833 --> 01:24:52.167
♪ more than my share
of what is there ♪

01:24:52.200 --> 01:24:55.633
♪ I'll make a ginger tea
to soothe me ♪

01:24:55.667 --> 01:24:57.800
♪ dance to music that moves me ♪

01:24:57.833 --> 01:25:00.600
♪ it's amazing
just what can be found ♪