RichMichaelAnnotation8

“Addicted to Plastic,” Ian Connacher, 2008
 * 1. Title, Director, Year?**

- plastic dependence (worldwide) - dangers of plastic - pollution - plastic is in “everything”
 * 2. Central Argument?**

- “cost of my disposable lifestyle” - “plastics has become a plague for our oceans” - plastic is dangerously versatile, some people view it as an amazing thing and are hard-pressed to trade it in or stop using it - “throw-away living” - marine life mistake it for food - plastics accumulate pollutants which make their way up the food chain - selling waste to China because we don’t have the resources to deal with it on our own (supposedly) - affects of plastics on water pollution - touching upon the idea that there are “safe amounts of pollutants”
 * 3. Sustainability Problems?**

- cool graphics, easy to read - it’s ridiculous how much plastic is out in the ocean. - dissecting birds and finding plastic…wow - whether it’s collection out in the ocean or on the beaches, plastics are abundant in the pollutant community - the truth about recycling – the semantics of recycling (downcycling) - tough to keep track of all the types of plastic (not like glass) - “we are the problem and we should provide the solution” - the extent to which people go to figuring out loopholes in the definition of the plastic bag in cities that ban them somehow are not surprising - landfill fire in Dehli is pretty shocking - “this has all come from us, poor families don’t waste anything” - Anita Ahuja and her Conserve company, providing jobs and manufacturing bags and jewelry - new-car smell is dosing you with hormones - that’s pretty crazy - abnormal biological developments - some controversy illustrated by opposing theories provided by experts = hard to truly understand the problems - one university professor admits that he has no idea how to solve the problem
 * 4. Persuasive? Compelling?**

- fun and informative, I think this film did a great job of covering the basics and even delving into some of the more complicated – some of the information seemed a bit superfluous, but whatever you didn’t want to absorb, you didn’t have to, the film still conveyed its message very clearly
 * 5. Not Compelling?**

- all the cool and innovative ways to reuse plastic really makes me wonder what I can do to help; maybe I’m missing something; maybe there’s some cool little trick I can think up or even include in my designs as an architect
 * 6. Info to Seek Out?**

- written and described in such a way that there is very little the general public can’t understand – maybe some of the more scientific data could escape a few, but the basic ideas are quite simple
 * 7. Audience?**

- education is needed to make people understand that “their behavior” is causing this damage - Denmark seems to be doing it right (recycling) - incentives, refunds - interesting reuse of plastic – the Texas example – making it into railroad ties - other examples of reuse show that there are possibilities – Padagonia, carpeting, plastic bags into purses, recycling flip-flops into jewelry and decorations - “landfills will be the oil wells of the future” - little village in the Himalayas using plastic alternatives like newspaper - “fluff” production in Tennessee - experts are reducing their plastic use because they are well aware of the issues - it was pretty funny when the director attempted to live his life without plastic - Dr. Kaminsy’s work on “parolisis,” (sp?) turning plastic back into the oil from which it came and Dr. O’Connor’s bacteria counterpart - Sony’s vegetable-based plastic and planning on bio-degradable products - Plantic’s edible plastic (when it dissolves, what does it dissolve into?) - plenty of examples at the end of the film (I didn’t realize there were so many)
 * 8. Actions? Interventions?**

- good use of graphics combined with expert interview, to explain gyres - although humorous, the graphics are definitely insightful - the final clips showing a myriad of examples is just amazing. most of the movie is pretty dreary, but this ending really uplifting - this is probably the first film I’ve seen that actually shows potentially viable solutions
 * 9. Enhance film environmentally? educationally?**