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The Graduate Nailed It with “Just One Word… Plastics”

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Published by Hubert Den Draak under Reuse/Recycle

Rubber Duck“Just one word… plastics.”

The well-known one-liner from Mike Nichols’ classic movie The Graduate (1967) is uttered to the eponymous Benjamin (Dustin Hoffman) by Mr. McGuire, one of his dad’s buddies. But Ben, a rudderless young man who is unsure of where he’s headed, knows at least one thing: it’s not going to be plastics, which stand for everything that’s wrong and phony in society.

The irony is that this movie planted the relatively obscure word plastics firmly into the consciousness of the movie-going audiences of that time. And legend has it that a year after the movie’s release, the fledgling plastic industry took off like a rocket.

Flash-forward more than 40 years, and the plastics rocket is sputtering and beginning to nose downward. We produce too much of the stuff, we recycle precious little, it degrades too slowly, and it can be toxic. What more do you want?

Plastics have had their run. Here are the facts that concern me most (I promise to stop short of paralyzing you):

  • Plastics production is increasing at 3.5% per year; every twenty years the amount of plastic we produce doubles
  • The world now produces over 200 million tons of plastic per year; around half is discarded after less than a year’s time
  • Plastics are not biodegradable; they photo-degrade, breaking down into toxic chemicals that contaminate soil, waterways, and oceans, and they enter the food chain
  • 96% of the world’s plastic is not recycled and ends in landfills and the oceans. In the U.S. alone, we dispose of 185 lbs of plastic per person per year
  • Scientists estimate that plastic can persist in the environment anywhere from 400 to 1,000 years
  • Many plastic baby bottles and metal can liners contain toxic bisphenol-A, now outlawed in Canada
  • On a larger scale, the Great Pacific Garbage Patch is a swirling mess of plastic waste, more than twice the length of the continental U.S… and growing
  • Plastics are oil-based products; the amount of crude oil needed to manufacture a water bottle, fill it with water, and transport it amounts to about 0.35 liter (approx. 12 fluid ounces)

Even though we may realize that plastics do us more harm than good, the question is: can we live without them?

The easy answer: no, we can’t. The honest answer: we need to find a way. If not all at once, then one step at a time.

If you’re reading this, it’s likely you’ve already decided to reduce your use of plastics. Your heightened awareness may even be leading (as in my case) toward a healthy aversion.

Take EnviroWoman, for example. She’s in the midst of year three in her campaign to eliminate plastic from her life. Last year she used less than a pound in total. She’s a self-proclaimed (nearly) plastic-free, cruelty-free vegetarian. But fear not — she at least admits to being a chocoholic.

Or consider Modbury, the first plastic bag-free town in Great Britain. They’ve succeeded in banning plastic bags from stores and have inspired 10 other towns to achieve the same goal, with another 136 towns in the planning stages.

Give yourself credit for all of the things you’re already doing to reduce your dependence on plastic. Pick another from the list below and give it a go:

  1. Refuse all plastic grocery bags — including produce bags — and bring your own shopping bags (more and more municipalities are banning the plastic ones anyway).
  2. Instead of buying shampoo in bottles, go for the shampoo bars (they’re better for you, too).
  3. Shop in the bulk section of your grocery store. If you’re lucky enough to have a country market or farm nearby, get your sweet bippy over there right away.
  4. Have young kids? Consider cloth diapers or gDiapers.
  5. Need detergent? Use baking soda and vinegar.
  6. Thirsty? Drink tap water and carry your own water bottle.

Getting sick and tired of finding alternatives? Just relax for a bit and give it a break. A new idea will come along soon enough.

Watching “The Graduate” again the other day, I was struck that there’s nothing in Benjamin’s house that looks undeniably like plastic. No kidney-shaped Formica coffee tables, no plastic shampoo bottles, not even a Ziploc bag in sight.

That alone, compared with the ubiquitous presence of plastic in our contemporary society, should give a consumer pause. As Mr. McGuire whispered to end his conversation with Ben: “Shhh… ‘Nuff said. That’s a deal.”

Recommended reading:
Algalita Marine Research Foundation
Earth911
Ecologist
Health Observatory’s Smart Plastics Guide
Life Without Plastic
Plastics Europe
ReusableBags.com
Wikipedia

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8 Responses to “The Graduate Nailed It with “Just One Word… Plastics””

  1. alice hancock says:
    April 23, 2009 at 7:17 pm

    Ahh, don’t refuse all “plastic” bags. There is a type of “plastic” bag that breaks down on its own and uses less energy to recycle than paper bags. Bring your own back is only good for singles or couples. Not practical for families. In our region Earthfare uses them http://tinyurl.com/cezna6. Only drink tap water if it is filtered, buy your own undercounter filter.

    Also, cloth diapers end up using more energy to clean than using a product like gdiapers. But, mothers, don’t go nuts where you are stressed trying to be green. If in need use disposables. Just limit. I actually had to switch from cloth to disposables because of a skin condition my son had. Disposable were more hygienic if they soiled himself allowing his skin to heal.

    Reply
  2. Martha says:
    April 24, 2009 at 7:44 am

    I went to the Marin farmers market yesterday where I bought a flat of strawberries. Organic, vine-ripened, juicy, deep red all the way through…the very best!

    While I was there I stopped by the booth run by the market organizers. They have a large display about our heavy use of plastics. They also describe the damage caused by the usual culprits — plastic bags, Styrofoam, hot cup lids, plastic cutlery, and plastic water bottles — then follow each with a list of alternatives, including the now-familiar reusable tote bags, canteens, containers, and cutlery.

    They provide a good list of sources of alternatives, which I’ll pass along here:

    For Individuals:
    ECO EXPRESS – http://ecoexpress.com
    GREEN HOME – http://greenhome.com
    REUSABLEBAGS.COM – http://reusablebags.com

    For Businesses:
    BIOBAG USA – http://biobagusa.com
    EARTHWARE BIODEGRADABLES – http://earthwarebiodegradables.com
    EXCELLENT PACKAGING & SUPPLY – http://excellentpackaging.com
    GREEN EARTH OFFICE SUPPLY – http://greenearthofficesupply.com
    GREEN HOME – http://greenhome.com

    Reply
  3. Billy Jones says:
    April 24, 2009 at 10:30 am

    Thanks for pointing this out.

    Reply
  4. Eco Links to Green Your Weekend | FollowGreen.com says:
    May 1, 2009 at 8:06 am

    [...] how the word plastic came to be so quickly associated with everything tacky and buck-chasing? Green Design has the answer (one of my favorite films, in fact), and goes on to nicely summarize just where we are with this [...]

    Reply
  5. Uncle B says:
    May 25, 2009 at 9:47 am

    Plastics – The ultimate recyclable! and so abused by mankind, what arrogant sops we are! Presented with a product that can be remolded almost infinitely, a perpetually useful commodity, we blame industry and the plastic itself for our sloven disrespect for its most valuable feature, its recycleability! Sick, Sick, bastards of the Green community, hearken to the bleak voice calling from the wilderness! Recycle, recycle!reuse! Plastics are almost indestructible, and we will see a day when we will forage on all fours, for broken bits and reclaim from the sea, this life-saving commodity we toss indiscriminately by the way! I do not waste food, and with the same religious reverence, I do not toss plastic – I keep it, recycle it, reuse it, and hold it in great esteem, for I am truly Green and respect it for its great value to the green world. One day I will build a Green-house from recycled pop-bottles, Hyundai made a light-weigh car body from them, life itself can be supported by their chemical characteristics, and the sickness that is waste will fall hard on the fools that partake of this environmentally unfriendly curse of mankind – the indiscriminate dispersion of one of the greatest resources ever devised by mankind! Asshvls! Asshvles Asshvls! You deserve to die in infamy, and our new Eco-Meritocracy will rise from your ashes, and build a new and better world on the resources you wasted. May you languish in Hell, and may your children regret your birth! Eco-Heathens! Now, go shvt in a lake, like a good Yankee Doodle, eh!

    Reply
  6. Joshua Mauldin says:
    July 14, 2009 at 1:20 pm

    Can you tell us where you got the figure stating that 96% of plastics aren’t recycled, or support how you arrived at that number?

    Reply
  7. simon says:
    July 14, 2009 at 1:37 pm

    I’d also like to see the source for the 96% figure.

    thanks!

    also, I’d like to refute the point above that “plastics” can be remoulded infintely. this isn’t true.

    Reply
  8. Sam Leppanen says:
    July 14, 2009 at 2:11 pm

    I believe the 96% figure comes from Algalita Marine Research Foundation. http://www.algalita.org

    Reply

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