Beauvilliers+-+Annotation+-+Addicted+to+Plastic

Addicted to Plastic
An annotation by Evan Beauvilliers 1. Addicted to Plastic: Directed by Ian Connacher, Released 2008

2. This film outlines the problems of plastic. The two main problems are that plastics are not biodegradable, so once made they stick around for a long period of time, and that plastics are made from, and contain toxic chemicals. Because plastics do not biodegrade, they are accumulating in landfills. However not all plastics make it to landfills and the result is that the UN reports 46,000 pieces of plastic per square mile of ocean. Where the circular currents of the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Ocean collect materials, this amount is even higher with more plastic than plankton by a factor of ten. Part of the result of this is devastation to marine life including birds. One scientist found that 95% of the birds he dissected had plastic somewhere in their digestive tracts. Regarding the toxic chemicals in plastics, since plastics are so toxic, it is disturbing to learn that they contain harmful materials. The film argues that these materials leach out of the plastics and get into our bodies where they can cause severe problems by altering gene expression or affecting other bodily systems. Meanwhile, the plastic industry (represented in the film by the American Chemistry Council) denies that these materials are harmful at the concentrations in which we are exposed. Independent scientists disagree 90% of the time, with industry scientists claiming there is no problem 100% of the time.

3. This film touches on many types of problems related to plastics. In the political spectrum, the large plastic industry is backed by the government because it is such a large source of funding. The industry wields its economic power to sway the government into ignoring the problems with plastics. The technological problem is that plastics are used for such a wide array of products because they are so versatile. Polymer (plastic) chemistry is a huge field for this reason. The film touches on a few innovations that are making plastics more environmentally friendly, and these technologies must be developed. The behavioral or cultural problem is that the plastic industry advertises a disposable lifestyle (sometimes referred to as a “throw away society”). The problem really is that we listen to this, and so we throw away huge amounts of trash on a daily basis, much of which is plastics, as packaging, disposable items, etc. This is filling our landfills with materials that will not degrade for thousands of years.

4. The most compelling part of the movie would have to be the boat ride near the beginning of the film where the narrator and a boat crew collected plastics from the middle of the ocean. It was extremely disturbing to see such a clear sign of civilization thousands of miles out at sea. It gave real sense of the impact humans are having on the planet and really makes me want to do something about it. As it stands, I refuse to drink bottled water, and this film has only strongly affirmed that conviction. Also compelling were the interviews with the Chemistry Council representative. His arguments were weak and not well backed and it really showed that the industry could not convincingly argue that their products were not harmful. It also hit home because I know that the entire field of chemistry is aware of the problem because in my own experiences here at RPI, every time a chemistry professor retires, there is always a scramble from other professors to get their old plastic carboys (large containers for liquids). The reason for this is that plastic is more convenient that glass, but they leach contaminants into whatever they are storing. Old ones however had already done most or all of the leaching they are going to and so do not contribute as much contamination to experiments. This just shows that it has been known for a long time that plastics are a problem, whether or not people originally made the connection to personal health.

5. The least compelling part of the film would be the ending that gives a few solutions to the plastic problem. While it is great to have alternatives, this part of the film focuses on degradable plastics. The film says little to nothing about reducing our usage. Also, one of the solutions is based on the use of corn to produce a degradable plastic. This has its own problems as corn growth is already overly subsidized and additionally is being used for biofuels, reducing its use as a food in many hungry nations (see ). Using it for plastic will only aggravate the issue.

6. Because the solutions in the film were not very satisfying, it compels me to find out if there are better solutions out there than those in the film, and if so what it would take to implement them. It would also be interesting to see what the corn industries views are on the use of corn for plastic manufacturing. If they were overly enthusiastic about it that would be a sign to look deeper into what problems it might cause as all too often what companies get excited about is something that will greatly increase their profits, most often in some unsustainable manner.

7. This film can address a wide range of audiences. It describes a fair range of problems associated with plastics and gives enough detail to be of interest to general viewers and helpful to academic viewers. Most of the material it presents is equally suitable to both audiences as it gives video footage relating to most of the topics it discusses for ease of assimilation by general viewers while the facts, stats, and experts given enough support of the arguments to satisfy academic viewers.

8. As previously mentioned, the film describes several substitute plastics made by bacteria, from corn, etc. By making the plastics in these different ways, they become at least somewhat degradable (see ). However, as described, these solutions have their own problems and should be considered critically before deciding to develop them. What the film does not mention that it should is reduction in consumption. It mentions that the plastic industry advertises a throw away lifestyle, but it never goes into any detail about reducing the use of plastics as a means of minimizing their impact.

9. The biggest thing the film should do to improve itself for education, is to discuss reducing the use of plastics as a solution to the problem. If you consider much of the current use of plastics it is for storage such as packaging, plastic bottles etc. Not only do alternatives exist to the plastic forms of these things (paper, metal or plastic for example, depending on the exact use) but very often there is excess packaging and the like that is not at all necessary. Just look at bottled water as a huge example. Putting tap water (filtered if necessary) into an aluminum bottle is basically as convenient, healthier, cheaper, and does not generate waste.