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