The Trashy Truth

[Music]

what do you think of when i say the word

recycling maybe green or clean

possibly even good it’s probably fairly

safe to assume that whatever word or

image

comes to mind when i say the word

recycling is probably fairly positive

and why wouldn’t it be we’ve all been

told to recycle since kindergarten

we’re doing our part to save the planet

right

well listen up because this trashy truth

is going to flip

everything you think you know on its

head to understand the problem with

recycling

we first need to understand why

recycling exists

and from my point of view i see three

main drivers to our recycling dilemma

excessive consumers behavior aka we buy

way too much craft

a shift to more wasteful consumption of

goods like single-use items

and designed obsolescence and a

well-crafted fairy tale of a greener

future for all of our trash

so just how much stuff are we talking

about well

amazon you may have heard of them sold

ten thousand dollars worth of goods

every second in 2020 according to cbs

news

that’s a lot of items packages delivery

trucks and

trash created in just one second

now multiply that out by the whole year

and this is just one company

we buy a lot of stuff and most of that

stuff is made of plastic

now i want you to take a second and

think about what you recently purchased

in the last week

go on i’ll wait you got it

was it a toothbrush a video game

the all-important hand sanitizer maybe

you just wanted some takeout

looking for some new clothing maybe some

leggings or warm fleece

whatever you purchased i’m going to bet

that it was either made of or packaged

in plastic

because everything i just mentioned

contains plastic

so what is plastic and where does it

come from

plastic is a polymer made from

petrochemicals that’s right

oil natural gas and coal all fossil

fuels

all non-renewable resources and while

plastics have done a lot of good for

humanity

think healthcare food quality control

and water and sewer access

has also done a lot of harm in the form

of waste that can’t

or won’t be recycled

this hurt is particularly felt in

disadvantaged communities around the

world

many of whom rely heavily on plastic and

commonly receive

shipping containers worth of our plastic

to dispose of

take this image of a coastal community

in cambodia where the volume of plastic

in the waterway

is choking out marine life embedding

itself into the fish

the community members depend on as a

source of nutrition

and increasing this prevalence of

standing water which is driving up

mosquito populations and the diseases

that they carry

imagine if this waterway was located

behind your home

or is located along the street your

child walked on to get to school

humanity’s relationship with plastic is

endangering the very safety

it is intended to provide because

plastic

left in the environment like on the side

of the road or floating in a waterway

or packed into a landfill will not

decompose

for centuries in fact plastic doesn’t

really decompose in the traditional

sense

it just breaks down into smaller and

smaller pieces

contaminate our waterways and food

supply

every year the world produces 300

million

tons of plastic equivalent to the weight

of the entire human population

according to the un think about that

we produce the weight of humanity in

plastic

every year houston

i think we have a problem now to

understand that problem we need a little

history lesson

our consumption of plastic has steadily

increased since the end of the second

world war

with much of that increase coming in in

the 1980s

much of it attributed to advanced

manufacturing of different types of

plastic

making them more versatile and

affordable

and as plastic availability adaptability

and affordability

took off so did its applications soon

plastic is used in everything from

shopping bags to vacuum cleaners to

facial scrubs

and home siding along with the increase

in single-use convenience

came another change in product

development that is designed

obsolescence

the idea that even if a product isn’t

designed for single use it is designed

to have a limited number of uses

before it breaks or becomes obsolete

manufacturers of technology and

machinery are

masters of this practice everything from

your cell phone and computer

to even the household vacuum cleaner are

designed to have a limited number of

uses

and you know exactly what i’m talking

about right that cell phone update that

won’t take

or the home appliance that needs a new

part that costs just ten dollars less

than a new device

but it wasn’t always this way my mother

a baby boomer

has had the same kirby vacuum cleaner

for the last 30 years

this thing still works backed by a

lifetime warranty too

and while products like this do still

exist they are few and far between and

come with a pretty high price tag

leaving many of us including myself to

opt for affordable

plastic based vacuum cleaner that has an

average lifespan

of only eight years and it’s not just

electronics

clothing is made priced and marketed to

be used only a few times

before it breaks or becomes obsolete to

the newest fashion

trend how often do you opt to repair a

piece of clothing before buying new

this mindset the ease of buying new and

the price of goods

is driving up our waste crisis so what

was that last thing you bought again how

long do you plan on using that

a year a month maybe only a few minutes

as you enjoy your takeout

before you click buy i want you to think

about how long that item is going to be

in your life

and where is going to go when it’s no

longer useful to you

but hey what about recycling isn’t that

the solution

we were all sold this idea that

recycling was the guilt-free solution to

the single-use plastic bottle

the feel-good story of a milk jug being

transformed into a new parked bench

we were made to memorize the three r’s

from the age of six

reduce reuse and recycle

sadly recycling has not turned out to be

the all-in-one solution

we were sold by chemical companies

that’s right

chemical companies designed branded and

lobbied for recycling programs

not because recycling worked or is an

effective way to manage our growing

demand for plastic

but because it gave them a get out of

jail free card to produce as much

plastic as they wanted

because you see the industry believed

and still believes

that if recycling works they can sell

more plastic

now while many under the age of 40 will

have not seen this falling ad on

television

the crying indian has had a long lasting

impact on our relationship with plastic

this ad first aired in 1971 around the

same time as the first earth day

celebration

when the largest mass protests in u.s

history

the pressure to reduce pollution was

high and this ad turned the tables on

who was responsible

wasn’t the packaging in petrochemical

companies that were the problem

but the average citizen who littered me

you we were the problem and held the key

to the solution

all we had to do was recycle mind you

this ad

and the organization behind it keep

america beautiful were promoted by

packaging and beverage corporations

the same companies that were producing

the very plastic products that were

littering the countryside

nonetheless this ad worked americans

started to feel better about plastic and

acceptance of the new material grew

along with new recycling programs but

it’d be a long time before recycling was

universal

many towns didn’t offer curbside

recycling and plastic packaging didn’t

include the iconic chasing arrows

without widespread recycling trash was

piling up and landfills were overflowing

leading many states and local

governments to banning from

plastic and foam packaging the industry

saw these bands as a threat to their

survival and responded by setting up a

handful of demonstration recycling

programs around the country

many of which were not financially

viable in the long run and shut down

after only a few years

but what’s more the same companies that

were producing the very plastic products

that were lining our stores and roadways

designed proposed and lobbied for the

iconic plastic labeling system

you know the chasing arrows with the

number inside

designed to help consumers identify

which plastic was which

the system only added to the confusion

what was actually recyclable

because to you and me a product with

that symbol on it

means it’s recyclable when advocacy

groups requested a change to labeling

system

to make it clear to users which items

were actually recyclable

removing the chasing arrows was a

non-starter for chemical companies

resulting in decades of confusion for

well-intended consumers

because you see all plastic can be

recycled

but not easily or affordably and those

different types of plastic

the number inside the chasing arrow they

need to be separated and cleaned

before they can be recycled a process

has become increasingly difficult

and expensive in recent years the

economic viability of recycling programs

has steadily fallen over time

leading much of what is sorted by

consumers is recycling to being thrown

out

as far as we the consumer can tell

everything we put in the blue bin once a

week is getting recycled

and that is the myth that we have been

sold since kindergarten

that just because it can be recycled

doesn’t mean it is recycled

recycling is a business a business has

to have a sellable product

in order to survive and today what we

have created

with single stream recycling a broken

labeling system

and wishful thinking is a second trash

stream that’s being sent to the other

side of the world

to be picked through and burned

unthinkable deceitful

that’s how i felt when i first learned

this trashy truth

the companies were weighing the value of

future generations against this

quarter’s stock price

sadness and hurt is how i felt when i

first learned that communities in

vietnam were paid just a few dollars a

day

to pick through our plastic trash throw

out the few items that can be easily and

affordably recycled before burning the

rest

giving off toxic fumes including

hydrofluoric acid

sulfur dioxide dioxins and heavy metals

recycling and specifically plastic

recycling

is not the get out of jail free card to

make yourself feel better about using a

plastic cup for your cold brew

we all of us need to focus on the other

two

r’s reduce and reuse and demand better

from the corporations who have profited

from the throwaway culture

they have cultivated and the myth that

consumers are responsible for plastic

waste management

and in turn make those plastic

manufacturers responsible for the

products

they produce through end of life

make your voice heard through your

wallet look for companies that have

strong waste reduction commitments

or provide warranties for their products

so that when the item does break

you don’t have to go out and buy a new

one don’t just challenge yourself to do

more but encourage others to do the same

look for two to three plastic items you

use daily and look for ways to eliminate

them or identify long-lasting reusable

solutions opt for cotton clothing over

synthetic fabrics

explore new biodegradable alternatives

to everything from cell phone cases to

eyeglasses

and don’t discount the pre-love market

from everything from clothing

to furniture advocate for policies and

legislation that reduce our dependence

on plastic

while making sure those policies don’t

have unintended negative consequences on

our most vulnerable community members

there is a chance that we can correct

this dangerous cycle the state of new

york has banned plastic bags

and the city of philadelphia has passed

the plastic bag ban as well

but you can be sure that chemical

companies are taking notice and their ad

machines are hard at work convincing all

of us that recycling works

but we know better and you know better

you have to say something you have to

speak up and demand

change because if you don’t the next

generation will be made of plastic

in more ways than one thank you