1 00:00:03,800 --> 00:00:06,680 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff to Blow your Mind from how Stuff 2 00:00:06,680 --> 00:00:13,840 Speaker 1: Works dot com. Hey, welcome to Stuff to Blow your Mind. 3 00:00:13,920 --> 00:00:17,160 Speaker 1: My name is Robert Lamb. My name is Julie Douglas. Julie, 4 00:00:18,239 --> 00:00:20,919 Speaker 1: how much plastic is in your life? Like? How much? 5 00:00:21,000 --> 00:00:24,080 Speaker 1: How many plastic things did you encounter, say just this morning, 6 00:00:24,520 --> 00:00:27,960 Speaker 1: just this morning? I didn't count, but I thought about it, 7 00:00:27,960 --> 00:00:30,640 Speaker 1: and I thought, well, if I were to just try 8 00:00:30,680 --> 00:00:34,760 Speaker 1: to live a plastic free existence, I would say that 9 00:00:34,840 --> 00:00:38,479 Speaker 1: about seventy of everything that I touched that was surrounding 10 00:00:38,520 --> 00:00:41,199 Speaker 1: me would just disappear, and I'd be left with like 11 00:00:41,640 --> 00:00:44,880 Speaker 1: a shell of my house and like, you know, maybe 12 00:00:44,920 --> 00:00:50,559 Speaker 1: one last item a glass you Yeah, yeah, I mean 13 00:00:50,560 --> 00:00:52,560 Speaker 1: I was. I was looking around myself, and it's pretty 14 00:00:52,560 --> 00:00:56,200 Speaker 1: startling because like even like now, since I'm using a kindle, 15 00:00:56,240 --> 00:01:00,000 Speaker 1: it's like I'm reading on plastic. I'm I'm certainly we're 16 00:01:00,240 --> 00:01:03,680 Speaker 1: doing all this research and writing on plastic for the 17 00:01:03,720 --> 00:01:05,800 Speaker 1: most part. Occasionally we have an actual book thrown in 18 00:01:05,840 --> 00:01:09,160 Speaker 1: there um or some printouts that came from a machine 19 00:01:09,160 --> 00:01:12,039 Speaker 1: that was made out of plastic, but they're plastic is 20 00:01:12,080 --> 00:01:15,720 Speaker 1: just all over my work life and then my my hobbies. 21 00:01:16,080 --> 00:01:18,959 Speaker 1: I'm like you know if I if I'm painting, at 22 00:01:19,000 --> 00:01:20,840 Speaker 1: least do these little migment miniatures that I paint were 23 00:01:20,840 --> 00:01:22,160 Speaker 1: made out of metal? But now it's cheaper to do 24 00:01:22,200 --> 00:01:24,600 Speaker 1: them out of high grade resins, So they're they're made 25 00:01:24,600 --> 00:01:28,720 Speaker 1: out of plastic. Um. The cats they're pooping into plastic boxes, 26 00:01:28,760 --> 00:01:33,080 Speaker 1: they're eating out of plastic. I'm eating out of plastic um. 27 00:01:33,120 --> 00:01:36,000 Speaker 1: Sometimes there are sometimes glass. I do use glass for 28 00:01:36,080 --> 00:01:38,720 Speaker 1: the food. But but still you go and you buy 29 00:01:38,800 --> 00:01:41,880 Speaker 1: plastic and everything, but you know, everything's like wrapped in 30 00:01:41,880 --> 00:01:46,600 Speaker 1: three different sulfane wrappers. You're not careful, and uh yeah, 31 00:01:46,600 --> 00:01:49,040 Speaker 1: it's just everywhere. I mean even your clothing. To write, 32 00:01:49,160 --> 00:01:52,040 Speaker 1: there are certain types of polyester um, and we think 33 00:01:52,040 --> 00:01:54,160 Speaker 1: of polyester is being like really seventies thing, but that 34 00:01:54,200 --> 00:01:55,880 Speaker 1: the fact of the matter is that there are types 35 00:01:55,920 --> 00:01:58,320 Speaker 1: of polyesters that are really lightweight that you wouldn't even 36 00:01:58,360 --> 00:02:02,320 Speaker 1: know um are in your clothing. That's plastic, plastic components 37 00:02:02,360 --> 00:02:04,680 Speaker 1: in otherwise metal looking objects. I mean, how much of 38 00:02:04,680 --> 00:02:11,280 Speaker 1: our our vehicles are filled with plastics? Earphones plastic, the 39 00:02:11,280 --> 00:02:14,280 Speaker 1: earbuds we stick inside of our bodies are made out 40 00:02:14,280 --> 00:02:17,320 Speaker 1: of plastic. Surgical implants of various kinds are made out 41 00:02:17,320 --> 00:02:20,880 Speaker 1: of it. We store everything in it, we we lie 42 00:02:20,880 --> 00:02:22,239 Speaker 1: down to sleep in it. If you have one of 43 00:02:22,320 --> 00:02:26,040 Speaker 1: those those cool race car beds. Um we have. We 44 00:02:26,120 --> 00:02:28,880 Speaker 1: have remade our world into a plastic line. We protect 45 00:02:28,880 --> 00:02:31,919 Speaker 1: ourselves with it. Teflon if you wuning teflon, that's plastic, 46 00:02:32,400 --> 00:02:36,880 Speaker 1: also used to store like many volatile substances like acids, 47 00:02:37,280 --> 00:02:41,120 Speaker 1: um as well. I mean, it's it's everywhere. And uh 48 00:02:41,520 --> 00:02:44,880 Speaker 1: and the really amazing part too for me, because you know, 49 00:02:44,880 --> 00:02:47,080 Speaker 1: we're stuff to blow your mind, so we really you know, 50 00:02:47,120 --> 00:02:49,480 Speaker 1: we want to focus on that that mind blowing aspect 51 00:02:49,480 --> 00:02:52,360 Speaker 1: of any topic we cover, and certainly plastics may not 52 00:02:52,440 --> 00:02:55,720 Speaker 1: sound that exciting, but think about it. It's something that 53 00:02:56,440 --> 00:02:58,040 Speaker 1: you know, you go back a couple of centuries and 54 00:02:58,160 --> 00:03:00,880 Speaker 1: uh and and there wasn't plastic everywhere. We were having 55 00:03:00,919 --> 00:03:05,840 Speaker 1: to depend on other materials. And now plastic completely envelops us, 56 00:03:05,919 --> 00:03:10,079 Speaker 1: completely surrounds us, and there's no turning back. It's a 57 00:03:10,160 --> 00:03:13,919 Speaker 1: huge innovation. Uh. There's a lot that is actually democratizing 58 00:03:13,960 --> 00:03:16,920 Speaker 1: about it. We'll talk about that later. Uh, but of 59 00:03:16,919 --> 00:03:19,600 Speaker 1: course there are some drawbacks to it, and it's sort 60 00:03:19,639 --> 00:03:23,079 Speaker 1: of one of those things that once you have this technology, 61 00:03:23,400 --> 00:03:25,640 Speaker 1: and you open Pandora's Box. It's not like you're gonna 62 00:03:25,639 --> 00:03:27,600 Speaker 1: go backwards and say, you know what, let's just start 63 00:03:27,639 --> 00:03:30,679 Speaker 1: putting milk into the glass and jukes again. Yeah, you 64 00:03:30,919 --> 00:03:33,160 Speaker 1: can start doing it on a you can try on 65 00:03:33,200 --> 00:03:34,880 Speaker 1: a local level. And certainly i'd look to hear from 66 00:03:34,880 --> 00:03:39,480 Speaker 1: anyone who has given up plastic completely, um because because 67 00:03:39,520 --> 00:03:41,360 Speaker 1: again that would be it's more of an effort than 68 00:03:41,360 --> 00:03:44,240 Speaker 1: you would think. And you're wearing moccasin's right now, right, Yeah, 69 00:03:44,760 --> 00:03:48,080 Speaker 1: even her shoewear would be affected. So I mean, it's 70 00:03:48,120 --> 00:03:50,760 Speaker 1: but certainly on a larger level, on a cultural level, 71 00:03:51,280 --> 00:03:54,080 Speaker 1: it's just impossible to go back these substances that we've 72 00:03:54,080 --> 00:03:55,400 Speaker 1: we've taken. It's like, like you said, it's like a 73 00:03:55,440 --> 00:03:58,480 Speaker 1: Pandora's box. It's like it's like a magical genie has 74 00:03:58,480 --> 00:04:00,360 Speaker 1: given us a gift, and then we just side we 75 00:04:00,440 --> 00:04:02,440 Speaker 1: might want to take it off, and we realize it's 76 00:04:02,720 --> 00:04:07,560 Speaker 1: fused with our skin and in some cases, all right, well, 77 00:04:07,600 --> 00:04:10,560 Speaker 1: let's talk about the ubiquity of plastic. In terms of 78 00:04:10,600 --> 00:04:13,760 Speaker 1: some statistics. It turns out that we make one and 79 00:04:13,800 --> 00:04:17,680 Speaker 1: fifteen million metric tons a year, the equivalent of the 80 00:04:17,680 --> 00:04:21,600 Speaker 1: weight of three hundred and forty seven Empire state buildings, 81 00:04:21,720 --> 00:04:24,040 Speaker 1: and ten per cent of that makes its way to 82 00:04:24,120 --> 00:04:26,920 Speaker 1: the sea. And what gets to the sea has been 83 00:04:26,920 --> 00:04:30,119 Speaker 1: tossed off by ships and oil rigs, and the rest 84 00:04:30,200 --> 00:04:35,240 Speaker 1: comes from floods and sewage. Yeah. Yeah. And then of 85 00:04:35,240 --> 00:04:39,400 Speaker 1: course that plastic winds up wrapped around sea animals or 86 00:04:39,520 --> 00:04:42,760 Speaker 1: or in their bellies more off the not or just 87 00:04:42,839 --> 00:04:48,240 Speaker 1: floating in giant heaps on the surface and the beaches. Yeah, 88 00:04:48,760 --> 00:04:51,279 Speaker 1: and which is nothing is more depressing, by the way 89 00:04:51,279 --> 00:04:53,719 Speaker 1: than walking down a stretch of beach and looking out 90 00:04:53,800 --> 00:04:56,320 Speaker 1: at the horizon and just taking in the wonder of 91 00:04:56,400 --> 00:04:59,880 Speaker 1: nature and then stepping on a lighter or you know, 92 00:05:00,080 --> 00:05:02,840 Speaker 1: six pack ring. It really is depressing. Um. And then 93 00:05:02,839 --> 00:05:05,920 Speaker 1: we Americans produced two hundred and forty pounds of plastic 94 00:05:06,279 --> 00:05:09,680 Speaker 1: per person per year, so that's a little statistic for you. 95 00:05:10,040 --> 00:05:14,240 Speaker 1: And four hundred billion plastic bags are discarded worldwide every year. 96 00:05:14,320 --> 00:05:17,480 Speaker 1: That's another thing to keep in mind. Little plastic bags 97 00:05:17,880 --> 00:05:20,440 Speaker 1: get to the grocery store. But again, if you travel back, uh, 98 00:05:20,760 --> 00:05:22,160 Speaker 1: you know, a couple of centuries, you're not going to 99 00:05:22,240 --> 00:05:26,960 Speaker 1: find this situation. You're not gonna find plastics everywhere. Um. 100 00:05:27,040 --> 00:05:31,080 Speaker 1: One of the more fascinating um little stories of the 101 00:05:31,360 --> 00:05:34,599 Speaker 1: genesis of plastic um comes to comes to us from 102 00:05:34,640 --> 00:05:38,760 Speaker 1: an article called Plastic Fantastic by A. Jennifer Kahn for 103 00:05:39,360 --> 00:05:43,239 Speaker 1: Mother Jones Um. And in this article she she mentions 104 00:05:43,240 --> 00:05:47,719 Speaker 1: how in the eighteen fifties you had this, uh, this 105 00:05:47,800 --> 00:05:51,680 Speaker 1: major manufacturer of Billard's equipment. You know pool. You know 106 00:05:51,680 --> 00:05:54,120 Speaker 1: you're shooting pool. You're you have these pool balls and 107 00:05:54,160 --> 00:05:57,400 Speaker 1: you have to everyone know foot pool is. But but 108 00:05:57,480 --> 00:06:00,640 Speaker 1: to to play pool, you have to have these these objects. Right. Well, 109 00:06:00,720 --> 00:06:02,760 Speaker 1: in the old days you had to make the Billard 110 00:06:02,760 --> 00:06:06,560 Speaker 1: balls out of ivory, okay, and you can only get 111 00:06:06,720 --> 00:06:10,159 Speaker 1: like eight balls out of a single large Asian elephant tusk. 112 00:06:10,880 --> 00:06:14,120 Speaker 1: And while these used to their elephants everywhere they were, 113 00:06:14,160 --> 00:06:16,960 Speaker 1: they were easier to come by. But by this point, uh, 114 00:06:17,000 --> 00:06:20,560 Speaker 1: they were hunted to near extinction um for their ivory. 115 00:06:20,760 --> 00:06:24,960 Speaker 1: So I mean more importantly that that is the whole extinction, 116 00:06:25,040 --> 00:06:27,920 Speaker 1: near extinction of the Asian elephant. There. That's certainly a 117 00:06:28,560 --> 00:06:32,080 Speaker 1: the more pressing concern. But for the purposes of this story, 118 00:06:32,279 --> 00:06:34,880 Speaker 1: where are they going to get more Billard balls? They're like, well, 119 00:06:34,920 --> 00:06:37,240 Speaker 1: that sucks with the elephants. But man's got to play 120 00:06:37,360 --> 00:06:39,880 Speaker 1: play billards, and billards is our business. Ladies got to 121 00:06:39,880 --> 00:06:45,560 Speaker 1: wear a corset another thing. So they need a material 122 00:06:45,600 --> 00:06:49,080 Speaker 1: to replace ivory. So manufacturer Michael Pellan offered a ten 123 00:06:49,160 --> 00:06:52,359 Speaker 1: thousand dollar reward to anyone who could create an artificial 124 00:06:52,400 --> 00:06:56,000 Speaker 1: material that mimicked ivory. So it needs to be pliable, 125 00:06:56,000 --> 00:06:58,800 Speaker 1: it needs to be durable and um. And this was 126 00:06:58,839 --> 00:07:02,200 Speaker 1: the the actual quote is that if any inventive genius 127 00:07:02,240 --> 00:07:06,240 Speaker 1: would discover a substitute for ivory, possess possessing those qualities 128 00:07:06,240 --> 00:07:08,800 Speaker 1: which make it valuable to the billard player, he would 129 00:07:08,800 --> 00:07:12,520 Speaker 1: make a handsome fortune for himself and earn Austin's serious gratitude. 130 00:07:13,320 --> 00:07:16,760 Speaker 1: And so New York chemist John Wesley Hyatt steps up 131 00:07:17,240 --> 00:07:21,680 Speaker 1: and uh, and he creates this compound called celloid. Hi. Who, 132 00:07:21,720 --> 00:07:27,280 Speaker 1: I'll have it right here, Yeah, go for it. And 133 00:07:27,360 --> 00:07:31,720 Speaker 1: so he brings these selloid balls to Michael Pellan, presumably 134 00:07:32,120 --> 00:07:36,000 Speaker 1: collects the reward, and we have billards to this day 135 00:07:36,160 --> 00:07:38,720 Speaker 1: and a few elephants. And this is the first sort 136 00:07:38,720 --> 00:07:41,360 Speaker 1: of tinkering that we see with materials to try to 137 00:07:42,560 --> 00:07:45,960 Speaker 1: replicate other sort of items like ivory. And then you 138 00:07:46,000 --> 00:07:50,120 Speaker 1: have Charles Goodyear who uses volcanization to process natural rubber. 139 00:07:50,240 --> 00:07:53,320 Speaker 1: Now he discovered this in blimps and begin hunting them 140 00:07:53,320 --> 00:07:56,400 Speaker 1: for their plastic, right blimp? No, No, I have that 141 00:07:56,400 --> 00:07:59,160 Speaker 1: that wrong. Yeah, the blimp started hunting him. No, I 142 00:07:59,200 --> 00:08:01,680 Speaker 1: was thinking like the like the Goodyear blimp is a 143 00:08:01,760 --> 00:08:04,400 Speaker 1: natural creature that is hunted for sport and for its 144 00:08:04,480 --> 00:08:07,840 Speaker 1: precious plastics. Yeah, but that's not the case. No, it's not. 145 00:08:08,200 --> 00:08:10,080 Speaker 1: It's not. But that is one of the reasons why 146 00:08:10,080 --> 00:08:12,000 Speaker 1: you rarely see them in the air anymore, right, because 147 00:08:12,000 --> 00:08:15,080 Speaker 1: I've been hunted down pretty pretty much. But um, but 148 00:08:15,200 --> 00:08:18,120 Speaker 1: he did use this volcanization process for Nepal rubber, and 149 00:08:18,280 --> 00:08:20,760 Speaker 1: this actually paved the way for something called thermo setting, 150 00:08:20,760 --> 00:08:23,480 Speaker 1: which melts materials and allows them to be molded into 151 00:08:23,480 --> 00:08:26,200 Speaker 1: a solid shape. And you get about six or seven 152 00:08:26,240 --> 00:08:29,400 Speaker 1: different people who are tinkering with this process. But it's 153 00:08:29,400 --> 00:08:33,319 Speaker 1: not until nineteen o seven when Leo Hendrick Bakeland improved 154 00:08:33,679 --> 00:08:37,760 Speaker 1: phennel formaldehyde reaction techniques and invented the first fully synthetic 155 00:08:37,960 --> 00:08:42,199 Speaker 1: resin to become commercially successful and trade named it bake Light, 156 00:08:42,280 --> 00:08:45,520 Speaker 1: which you may ring a bell for people, doesn't ring 157 00:08:45,559 --> 00:08:48,040 Speaker 1: a bell like that, you're standing out the old timey 158 00:08:48,120 --> 00:08:51,880 Speaker 1: phones um like with a rotary dial. That's like a 159 00:08:51,880 --> 00:08:54,400 Speaker 1: big white product. Oh, let's see, I think bakel I 160 00:08:54,440 --> 00:08:58,720 Speaker 1: hear bake light. I just think easy bake ovens. Plastic. Yeah, 161 00:08:59,320 --> 00:09:02,360 Speaker 1: but fast forwards one and you begin to see that 162 00:09:02,400 --> 00:09:04,920 Speaker 1: there are more and more products that are using plastic, 163 00:09:04,960 --> 00:09:07,600 Speaker 1: particularly when the US military begins to replace some metal 164 00:09:07,640 --> 00:09:10,880 Speaker 1: parts of plastic ones. And we're talking about anywhere anything 165 00:09:10,880 --> 00:09:14,480 Speaker 1: from like bugles to actual combs, because before that, combs 166 00:09:14,480 --> 00:09:16,920 Speaker 1: were made out of rubber, and before rubber, they were 167 00:09:16,920 --> 00:09:19,880 Speaker 1: made out of ivory. Actually, and people are creating a 168 00:09:19,920 --> 00:09:22,440 Speaker 1: lot of these by accident too, or just they're they're 169 00:09:22,520 --> 00:09:27,560 Speaker 1: tinkering with existing formulas. N thirties British researchers um more 170 00:09:27,640 --> 00:09:32,480 Speaker 1: or less accidentally in the created polyethylene um. So I'm 171 00:09:33,120 --> 00:09:34,360 Speaker 1: and you see see a lot of that. Like if 172 00:09:34,400 --> 00:09:36,400 Speaker 1: you look at the list of plastics, there's a long 173 00:09:36,559 --> 00:09:41,880 Speaker 1: list of various very important plastics, each one with with 174 00:09:41,880 --> 00:09:45,520 Speaker 1: certain terroistic characteristics that make it ideal for certain purposes. 175 00:09:46,040 --> 00:09:48,240 Speaker 1: So let's go a little bit into the basics of 176 00:09:48,240 --> 00:09:50,960 Speaker 1: how it's made. Plastics are made from oil, and oil 177 00:09:51,160 --> 00:09:55,200 Speaker 1: is a carbon rich raw material and plastics are large 178 00:09:55,800 --> 00:10:01,360 Speaker 1: carbon containing compounds. Uh. Plastics are polymers, large molecules made 179 00:10:01,360 --> 00:10:05,120 Speaker 1: of repeating units of smaller molecules, and these smaller molecules 180 00:10:05,160 --> 00:10:09,480 Speaker 1: are called monomers, and these are chemically bound together. And 181 00:10:09,559 --> 00:10:11,960 Speaker 1: a polymer is like a chain in which each link 182 00:10:12,080 --> 00:10:14,560 Speaker 1: is a monomer, So think of it that way. Um, 183 00:10:14,600 --> 00:10:17,520 Speaker 1: All plastic is made of carbon, and man made plastic 184 00:10:17,679 --> 00:10:21,480 Speaker 1: uses carbon derived from oil, while biopolymers, which we'll talk about, 185 00:10:22,360 --> 00:10:26,439 Speaker 1: or bioplastics use carbon derived from natural materials. Now, one 186 00:10:26,440 --> 00:10:28,960 Speaker 1: thing to keep in mind about the about the plastics 187 00:10:28,960 --> 00:10:34,120 Speaker 1: made from petroleum and and fossil fuel components. They're not 188 00:10:34,280 --> 00:10:38,680 Speaker 1: huge consumers of those, uh, five of the five percent 189 00:10:38,760 --> 00:10:41,680 Speaker 1: of the energy and uh. And originally, like some of 190 00:10:41,679 --> 00:10:44,640 Speaker 1: the earlier plastics were made from coal tar, which is 191 00:10:44,640 --> 00:10:48,840 Speaker 1: a waste product from from coking coal for incineration. So 192 00:10:49,000 --> 00:10:51,520 Speaker 1: um so so. And that was another thing to keep 193 00:10:51,520 --> 00:10:54,040 Speaker 1: in mind about why plastic exploded all over the place. 194 00:10:54,400 --> 00:10:57,560 Speaker 1: It wasn't. It wasn't because someone said, hey, here's a 195 00:10:57,720 --> 00:11:01,400 Speaker 1: really expensive means of creating something that doesn't work very well, 196 00:11:01,480 --> 00:11:04,440 Speaker 1: let's replace glass and stuff with it. And no, it 197 00:11:04,559 --> 00:11:08,600 Speaker 1: was super useful in in in various areas. But also 198 00:11:08,720 --> 00:11:10,520 Speaker 1: it was cheap to produce. You could produce more or 199 00:11:10,559 --> 00:11:14,000 Speaker 1: less as a byproduct of other activities. Yeah, it wasn't 200 00:11:14,280 --> 00:11:17,200 Speaker 1: basically like captains of industry stepping back and from the factories, 201 00:11:17,200 --> 00:11:20,240 Speaker 1: they're saying, hey, what's that what's that steam or that smoke, 202 00:11:20,320 --> 00:11:23,800 Speaker 1: and can we somehow harness it into something else? So 203 00:11:23,840 --> 00:11:27,480 Speaker 1: as you say, it is a byproduct types of plastic 204 00:11:28,000 --> 00:11:33,319 Speaker 1: polystream which you probably know is styrofoam, uh, polyvinyl chloride PVC, 205 00:11:33,480 --> 00:11:36,199 Speaker 1: like in pipes um you often see that, and plumbing 206 00:11:36,679 --> 00:11:41,600 Speaker 1: and poly vinyl led down chloride thram wrap. UM. You 207 00:11:41,679 --> 00:11:45,080 Speaker 1: mentioned kevlar. There's dacron, which is a coating on pianos 208 00:11:45,120 --> 00:11:50,400 Speaker 1: and guitars. Polyesters on pianos. Yeah, I know. See again, 209 00:11:50,520 --> 00:11:52,679 Speaker 1: your your piano would advantage. I would have thought that, hey, 210 00:11:52,679 --> 00:11:56,040 Speaker 1: the piano, that's a high grade item made well, even 211 00:11:56,080 --> 00:11:58,839 Speaker 1: the keys, you're not making those from ivory these days, right, right, 212 00:11:58,920 --> 00:12:00,880 Speaker 1: So your piano would vantage too if you were trying 213 00:12:00,920 --> 00:12:04,200 Speaker 1: to get rid of all plastic around you. Uh teflon 214 00:12:04,360 --> 00:12:08,880 Speaker 1: polar fleeced again, that's the type of lightweight polyester and 215 00:12:09,080 --> 00:12:13,760 Speaker 1: um in thermoset or thermosetic plastics like polyurethane um, and 216 00:12:13,840 --> 00:12:18,160 Speaker 1: that isn't everything from garden houses, two shoes, and truck seats. 217 00:12:19,040 --> 00:12:22,080 Speaker 1: It's everywhere, all right. So there's just a quick intro 218 00:12:22,200 --> 00:12:25,360 Speaker 1: into our plastic palace that we've built for ourselves, and 219 00:12:25,559 --> 00:12:27,280 Speaker 1: we're gonna take a quick break and when we come back, 220 00:12:27,320 --> 00:12:30,480 Speaker 1: we're going to discuss some of the ramifications of living 221 00:12:30,520 --> 00:12:37,960 Speaker 1: in that plastic cow All right, we're back. So, yeah, 222 00:12:38,000 --> 00:12:42,000 Speaker 1: we've created this enormous plastic world for ourselves. It's great. 223 00:12:42,280 --> 00:12:45,800 Speaker 1: It's made out of everything from PVC to to kevlar. 224 00:12:46,400 --> 00:12:48,760 Speaker 1: It's durable when we need we needed to be durable. 225 00:12:48,760 --> 00:12:51,400 Speaker 1: It's resistant to acids when we needed to be resistant 226 00:12:51,400 --> 00:12:53,679 Speaker 1: to acids. It's bendable when we want it to be 227 00:12:53,880 --> 00:12:56,880 Speaker 1: to be bendable. I mean, it's it's it's it's really 228 00:12:57,559 --> 00:13:01,440 Speaker 1: killing it. Really. It is one of those things that's 229 00:13:01,520 --> 00:13:04,360 Speaker 1: a material that is truly innovative, that you can put 230 00:13:04,400 --> 00:13:07,240 Speaker 1: your imagination into and make anything out of it. The problem, 231 00:13:07,280 --> 00:13:09,480 Speaker 1: of course, is that some plastics don't even break down 232 00:13:09,480 --> 00:13:13,320 Speaker 1: for about a thousand years. So obviously a lot of 233 00:13:13,320 --> 00:13:15,680 Speaker 1: the junk that we're creating, and I say junk in 234 00:13:15,840 --> 00:13:18,360 Speaker 1: in terms of like bags and things that we tend 235 00:13:18,360 --> 00:13:20,400 Speaker 1: to throw away or we think that we're recycling and 236 00:13:20,440 --> 00:13:22,719 Speaker 1: it's just going to be it's a one to one 237 00:13:22,760 --> 00:13:26,320 Speaker 1: proposition where this bottle will be recycled again into another 238 00:13:26,360 --> 00:13:30,360 Speaker 1: bottle is not necessarily the case. Yeah. And also when 239 00:13:30,360 --> 00:13:33,559 Speaker 1: you're dealing with a thousand year period for it to 240 00:13:33,600 --> 00:13:37,080 Speaker 1: break down, um, then you're then then it's not just 241 00:13:37,120 --> 00:13:39,560 Speaker 1: a matter of oh, the snack cake was in plastic 242 00:13:39,559 --> 00:13:41,400 Speaker 1: and now that plastics around for a thousand years. It's 243 00:13:41,400 --> 00:13:44,680 Speaker 1: also like I bought this stool at the furniture store. 244 00:13:44,720 --> 00:13:46,600 Speaker 1: It's made out of plastic, and I'm getting a lot 245 00:13:46,600 --> 00:13:48,600 Speaker 1: of use out of it. But then if you could 246 00:13:48,679 --> 00:13:52,680 Speaker 1: end up throwing it away in ten years, uh, fifty years, 247 00:13:52,920 --> 00:13:54,800 Speaker 1: if it's thrown away at the end of your life, 248 00:13:55,480 --> 00:13:58,480 Speaker 1: if it maybe the last two generations, it's still potentially 249 00:13:58,480 --> 00:14:02,480 Speaker 1: winding up his junk somewhere and continuing to just exist. Yeah. 250 00:14:02,559 --> 00:14:04,959 Speaker 1: And even if you were to recycle it, um, you're 251 00:14:05,000 --> 00:14:08,920 Speaker 1: essentially re melting like say bags and recasting the plastic. 252 00:14:09,280 --> 00:14:12,840 Speaker 1: And according to the United States e p A, manufacturing 253 00:14:12,920 --> 00:14:16,360 Speaker 1: new plastic from recycled plastic requires two thirds of the 254 00:14:16,440 --> 00:14:21,400 Speaker 1: energy used in virgin plastic manufacturing UM. And another problem 255 00:14:21,520 --> 00:14:24,640 Speaker 1: is that the polymer chains break during the process, resulting 256 00:14:24,640 --> 00:14:27,480 Speaker 1: in a lesser product. So again it's not apples to 257 00:14:27,480 --> 00:14:31,160 Speaker 1: Apple's process and it can only be recycled so many times. Also, 258 00:14:31,200 --> 00:14:34,040 Speaker 1: I wanted to mention that a two thousand and eleven 259 00:14:34,200 --> 00:14:38,560 Speaker 1: North Carolina State University UM study published in the Journal 260 00:14:38,760 --> 00:14:43,360 Speaker 1: of Environmental Science and Technology found that a biodegradable plastic 261 00:14:43,400 --> 00:14:47,680 Speaker 1: called pH BO emits more methane than food waste or 262 00:14:47,760 --> 00:14:51,320 Speaker 1: newspaper in landfills, and because it decreate degrades much faster, 263 00:14:51,800 --> 00:14:54,280 Speaker 1: the newspaper will emit that methane in a matter of 264 00:14:54,360 --> 00:14:57,440 Speaker 1: years rather than decades. So it's also a question of 265 00:14:57,480 --> 00:15:00,520 Speaker 1: making stuff that that can break down in a way 266 00:15:00,560 --> 00:15:05,000 Speaker 1: that UM is sustainable for us. Yeah, because you know 267 00:15:05,440 --> 00:15:08,520 Speaker 1: want situation where you're solving one problem, then you're creating 268 00:15:08,560 --> 00:15:11,000 Speaker 1: another that that tends to be with why these things ago? Yeah, 269 00:15:11,040 --> 00:15:13,720 Speaker 1: And then compounding that problem is that the EP estimates 270 00:15:13,800 --> 00:15:17,800 Speaker 1: that two thirds of landfills do not have methane collection capabilities. 271 00:15:18,000 --> 00:15:19,880 Speaker 1: So not only are you creating more methane, but you 272 00:15:19,920 --> 00:15:22,680 Speaker 1: don't have ways to collect it and to make sure 273 00:15:22,680 --> 00:15:25,400 Speaker 1: it doesn't go into the atmosphere. Of course, the big 274 00:15:25,440 --> 00:15:26,520 Speaker 1: thing that I'm sure it has come to a number 275 00:15:26,520 --> 00:15:29,520 Speaker 1: of people's mind already is is b p A. That's 276 00:15:29,600 --> 00:15:31,840 Speaker 1: a big deal these days. I mean, if you're buying something, 277 00:15:32,440 --> 00:15:34,960 Speaker 1: the plastic item to put food in or drink out 278 00:15:35,000 --> 00:15:37,960 Speaker 1: off you, you're probably looking to make sure that it's 279 00:15:38,000 --> 00:15:40,680 Speaker 1: b p A free well. And b p A is 280 00:15:40,720 --> 00:15:45,120 Speaker 1: something that is short for bicenol a, and it is 281 00:15:45,160 --> 00:15:49,640 Speaker 1: an estrogenic chemical, and those types of chemicals are chemicals 282 00:15:49,680 --> 00:15:52,640 Speaker 1: that are body's mistake for the natural hormones and the 283 00:15:52,760 --> 00:15:55,800 Speaker 1: estrogen family, leading to concerns that it can have harmful 284 00:15:55,840 --> 00:15:59,920 Speaker 1: effects um adverse fact effects excuse me, on fetal and 285 00:16:00,040 --> 00:16:05,120 Speaker 1: infant brain development, as well as an increased tendency towards obesity. Okay, 286 00:16:05,160 --> 00:16:09,200 Speaker 1: so this is really ties into our our fears and 287 00:16:09,200 --> 00:16:13,280 Speaker 1: and legitimate concerns about about the obesity epidemics, particularly in 288 00:16:13,320 --> 00:16:16,000 Speaker 1: the United States. The idea that we're eating horrible food 289 00:16:16,880 --> 00:16:18,680 Speaker 1: that's making us fat, and we're also eating it out 290 00:16:18,680 --> 00:16:22,160 Speaker 1: of out of out of these uh, these plastics that 291 00:16:22,400 --> 00:16:25,320 Speaker 1: are essentially giving our body what it thinks is estrogen 292 00:16:25,800 --> 00:16:29,280 Speaker 1: and contributing to that obesity right, and and this is 293 00:16:29,320 --> 00:16:31,360 Speaker 1: not a black and white issue at all. In fact, 294 00:16:31,400 --> 00:16:34,560 Speaker 1: if you think about it, um the plastics have been 295 00:16:34,560 --> 00:16:37,880 Speaker 1: in use or wide use for about fifty years, so 296 00:16:37,920 --> 00:16:40,360 Speaker 1: we don't have all the data yet, but we obviously 297 00:16:40,440 --> 00:16:43,400 Speaker 1: has been We've been collecting them, are collecting that data, 298 00:16:43,480 --> 00:16:45,200 Speaker 1: and there's a lot of information is coming out that 299 00:16:45,920 --> 00:16:48,840 Speaker 1: uh could play into some fearmongering. So we don't want 300 00:16:48,880 --> 00:16:50,680 Speaker 1: to necessarily do that, but we want to try to 301 00:16:50,760 --> 00:16:53,400 Speaker 1: hit some points and get a clearer picture if we can. 302 00:16:53,640 --> 00:16:56,040 Speaker 1: We will not come away from this discussion saying whether 303 00:16:56,120 --> 00:16:59,240 Speaker 1: or not plastic is harmful for us definitively into what 304 00:16:59,320 --> 00:17:01,760 Speaker 1: extent um, but we can at least sort of touch 305 00:17:01,800 --> 00:17:04,280 Speaker 1: on it. There's a two thousand and eleven study by 306 00:17:04,359 --> 00:17:08,359 Speaker 1: Paul Terry and jenkin Chen at the University of Tennessee, 307 00:17:08,440 --> 00:17:13,120 Speaker 1: and the studies called most plastic products released estrogenic chemicals 308 00:17:13,160 --> 00:17:18,240 Speaker 1: and UM parnables. Blogger and chemist Christine Lepisto actually talked 309 00:17:18,240 --> 00:17:20,480 Speaker 1: about this and when of her blog posts, she said 310 00:17:20,480 --> 00:17:24,520 Speaker 1: the study found that over seventy of plastics leached leached 311 00:17:24,640 --> 00:17:29,640 Speaker 1: estrogenic chemicals UM in a wide range of plastic products 312 00:17:29,720 --> 00:17:32,680 Speaker 1: right off the shelf, both with or without package contents, 313 00:17:33,040 --> 00:17:35,120 Speaker 1: and then she said that when the plastics were stressed 314 00:17:35,119 --> 00:17:39,560 Speaker 1: by simulations of typical real world situations like dishwashing or 315 00:17:39,600 --> 00:17:45,800 Speaker 1: microwaving or exposure to sunlight, that percentage actually increased of 316 00:17:45,840 --> 00:17:49,280 Speaker 1: the plastics tested. So, in other words, all plastics may 317 00:17:49,359 --> 00:17:54,200 Speaker 1: leach chemicals that mimic estrogen and UH to a pretty 318 00:17:54,240 --> 00:17:57,520 Speaker 1: large extent here. So we're gonna throw a little bit 319 00:17:57,520 --> 00:17:59,679 Speaker 1: more stats and studies at you just so that you 320 00:17:59,720 --> 00:18:01,720 Speaker 1: guys can kind of get an idea of what's going 321 00:18:01,760 --> 00:18:05,359 Speaker 1: on here. UM. B p A and rat studies. There 322 00:18:05,400 --> 00:18:07,679 Speaker 1: are a ton of them, UM that are pointed on 323 00:18:07,840 --> 00:18:12,800 Speaker 1: to all sorts of problematic scenarios. One of them is 324 00:18:12,880 --> 00:18:15,720 Speaker 1: a two thousand intense study of pregnant rats that were 325 00:18:15,760 --> 00:18:18,920 Speaker 1: dosed with either one point two or two point for 326 00:18:19,560 --> 00:18:23,040 Speaker 1: microgram grams per kilogram per day of b p A, 327 00:18:23,800 --> 00:18:26,040 Speaker 1: and the b p A was actually fed to them 328 00:18:26,119 --> 00:18:29,600 Speaker 1: in the form of sessame oil, and those doses are 329 00:18:29,640 --> 00:18:33,560 Speaker 1: well under the dose of fifty kgs the established amount 330 00:18:33,600 --> 00:18:35,399 Speaker 1: by the e p A is being safe for human 331 00:18:35,440 --> 00:18:38,879 Speaker 1: consumption or exposure. And they found that the male children 332 00:18:38,960 --> 00:18:42,480 Speaker 1: of those rats fed the bp A lowers fertility in adulthood, 333 00:18:42,480 --> 00:18:46,000 Speaker 1: and that the effect they persist for at least three generations. 334 00:18:46,040 --> 00:18:49,640 Speaker 1: So what you're seeing here is um in a fact 335 00:18:49,680 --> 00:18:53,359 Speaker 1: that can carry through generation to generations. So if you 336 00:18:53,400 --> 00:18:55,840 Speaker 1: extrapolate that with a human, you could say, okay, so 337 00:18:56,359 --> 00:18:58,760 Speaker 1: if someone were to be exposed to be p A, 338 00:18:59,680 --> 00:19:03,439 Speaker 1: that at child's grandchildren, even though they were raised in 339 00:19:03,480 --> 00:19:07,120 Speaker 1: a psyche pure environment, their genes actually maybe a bit 340 00:19:07,200 --> 00:19:10,960 Speaker 1: distorted or changed because of that exposure to b p A. 341 00:19:11,400 --> 00:19:14,200 Speaker 1: Because if that's the extrapolation, we're taking this the data 342 00:19:14,240 --> 00:19:16,280 Speaker 1: from rats and trying to figure out how it affects 343 00:19:16,359 --> 00:19:20,280 Speaker 1: us um that, then this is really interesting. At two 344 00:19:20,280 --> 00:19:23,720 Speaker 1: thousand and ninth study of rats looking at endocrine disruption 345 00:19:24,200 --> 00:19:26,920 Speaker 1: found that when pregnant rats were fed b p A 346 00:19:27,680 --> 00:19:32,359 Speaker 1: and another group were fed oral contraceptives that have estrogen 347 00:19:32,400 --> 00:19:36,520 Speaker 1: eminem uh, it was actually the contraceptives that caused genital 348 00:19:36,600 --> 00:19:41,080 Speaker 1: mut mutation and reduced fertility and female offspring, while the 349 00:19:41,240 --> 00:19:45,840 Speaker 1: female b p A offspring rats were unaffected. Okay, so 350 00:19:46,000 --> 00:19:49,560 Speaker 1: this is mudding the waters a bit um, I don't 351 00:19:49,560 --> 00:19:52,440 Speaker 1: know what to be afraid of now, Well, right, um, 352 00:19:52,560 --> 00:19:55,440 Speaker 1: you know we're not obviously going to start feeding all, 353 00:19:55,560 --> 00:19:57,960 Speaker 1: you know, each other oral contraceptives. But they were trying 354 00:19:58,000 --> 00:20:00,760 Speaker 1: to use a control there, So estrogen being in oral 355 00:20:00,840 --> 00:20:03,560 Speaker 1: contraceptives was the control to see, you know, what was 356 00:20:03,600 --> 00:20:06,879 Speaker 1: going to fuss with the system. More turns out it 357 00:20:06,960 --> 00:20:13,000 Speaker 1: was the contraceptives. So then two thousand eleven Forbes magazine, 358 00:20:13,040 --> 00:20:17,240 Speaker 1: there's a article very interesting that says, majestically scientific federal 359 00:20:17,240 --> 00:20:20,040 Speaker 1: study on b p A has stunning finding. So why 360 00:20:20,160 --> 00:20:22,359 Speaker 1: is the media ignoring it? Yeah, it's a great article. 361 00:20:22,440 --> 00:20:24,359 Speaker 1: And the and in the article they quote just in 362 00:20:24,440 --> 00:20:27,239 Speaker 1: Tea Garden um it was part of that study, and uh, 363 00:20:27,320 --> 00:20:30,960 Speaker 1: Tea Garden says, in a nutshell, we can now say, 364 00:20:31,040 --> 00:20:34,240 Speaker 1: for the adult human population exposed to even very high 365 00:20:34,320 --> 00:20:37,800 Speaker 1: dietary levels, blood concentrations of the bioactive form of b 366 00:20:37,920 --> 00:20:40,600 Speaker 1: p A throughout the day are below our ability to 367 00:20:40,720 --> 00:20:43,639 Speaker 1: detect them, and orders of magnitude lower than those causing 368 00:20:43,680 --> 00:20:46,560 Speaker 1: effects and rodents exposed to be p A. So what 369 00:20:46,600 --> 00:20:48,280 Speaker 1: they had done in a twenty four hour period they 370 00:20:48,280 --> 00:20:52,439 Speaker 1: had actually taken human volunteers and fed them foods that 371 00:20:52,480 --> 00:20:54,600 Speaker 1: were you know, exupposed to be p A out of 372 00:20:54,640 --> 00:20:56,440 Speaker 1: can so on and so forth. So it was very 373 00:20:56,440 --> 00:20:59,760 Speaker 1: intentional exposure to b p A. And then that was 374 00:21:00,200 --> 00:21:03,000 Speaker 1: interesting to say that those those b p A levels 375 00:21:03,040 --> 00:21:05,960 Speaker 1: just weren't detected and it was very different from what 376 00:21:06,000 --> 00:21:08,560 Speaker 1: was happening with the rats. So it's telling us a 377 00:21:08,560 --> 00:21:11,520 Speaker 1: different story. Oftentimes, we will, you know, look to animals 378 00:21:11,520 --> 00:21:15,080 Speaker 1: to try to give us some sort of sense of, um, 379 00:21:15,119 --> 00:21:19,320 Speaker 1: you know, what sort of chemicals or environmental conditions could 380 00:21:19,320 --> 00:21:23,160 Speaker 1: possibly affect us as well. But the jury is just 381 00:21:23,160 --> 00:21:25,920 Speaker 1: still out on whether or not or to what extent 382 00:21:26,080 --> 00:21:32,320 Speaker 1: b p A affects us. That being said, certainly, you 383 00:21:32,320 --> 00:21:34,000 Speaker 1: start reading all this stuff and and I know, for 384 00:21:34,119 --> 00:21:36,800 Speaker 1: my own part, I think, well, I'm just gonna steer 385 00:21:36,840 --> 00:21:39,720 Speaker 1: clear of the b p A stuff when possible, just 386 00:21:39,760 --> 00:21:42,080 Speaker 1: to be on the safe side, right Sure, which makes sense, 387 00:21:42,119 --> 00:21:44,400 Speaker 1: and it's good that they took it out of baby bottles, 388 00:21:44,440 --> 00:21:48,399 Speaker 1: and because certainly that those are developmental times that you 389 00:21:48,400 --> 00:21:52,040 Speaker 1: wouldn't want any exposure, you'd want less exposure. Um. But 390 00:21:52,200 --> 00:21:54,480 Speaker 1: where we really see the canary in the coal line 391 00:21:54,480 --> 00:21:57,080 Speaker 1: again is with the animals. And we see this in 392 00:21:57,119 --> 00:22:00,719 Speaker 1: a very concrete way because a canary in the coal 393 00:22:00,760 --> 00:22:03,440 Speaker 1: mine sometimes has plastic inside the canary and the belly 394 00:22:03,480 --> 00:22:06,680 Speaker 1: of the Canary. Yeah. According to Mother Jones, uh, in 395 00:22:06,720 --> 00:22:09,680 Speaker 1: an article called Where Plastic Goes to Kill Each year, 396 00:22:10,400 --> 00:22:16,520 Speaker 1: undegraded plastic chokes to death some one hundred thousand whales, dolphins, seals, manatees, 397 00:22:16,600 --> 00:22:19,160 Speaker 1: plus an unknown number of sea turtles and about two 398 00:22:19,160 --> 00:22:23,520 Speaker 1: million birds. Yeah. I mean, and uh we we sall 399 00:22:23,600 --> 00:22:26,800 Speaker 1: some some articles too where they provide photographic evidence of 400 00:22:26,840 --> 00:22:29,000 Speaker 1: what this looks like like all the plastic pieces that 401 00:22:29,080 --> 00:22:31,960 Speaker 1: were taken from a turtle stomach or or or a 402 00:22:32,080 --> 00:22:34,760 Speaker 1: necropsy of a of a I think one of them 403 00:22:34,800 --> 00:22:40,680 Speaker 1: was an albatross. Ironically enough, that contains all of this plastic, 404 00:22:41,080 --> 00:22:43,280 Speaker 1: these plastic pieces that just wind up there. And it's 405 00:22:43,320 --> 00:22:46,840 Speaker 1: just really disturbing to to think of it, because I mean, 406 00:22:46,880 --> 00:22:48,680 Speaker 1: we've what we've all seen like footage of oh, there's 407 00:22:48,680 --> 00:22:51,119 Speaker 1: an animal and it got its neck cotton m a 408 00:22:51,160 --> 00:22:54,320 Speaker 1: six pack ring, you know, but it's even and that's 409 00:22:54,359 --> 00:22:56,520 Speaker 1: certainly disturbing in and of itself, but but then to 410 00:22:56,520 --> 00:22:58,960 Speaker 1: see that it's just winding up inside the animals and 411 00:22:59,119 --> 00:23:03,200 Speaker 1: causing all this uh, this discomfort, it's uh, it's really sober. 412 00:23:03,440 --> 00:23:05,600 Speaker 1: It was it the albatross too. They were talking about 413 00:23:05,600 --> 00:23:08,760 Speaker 1: the the young before they reach four months of age 414 00:23:08,880 --> 00:23:11,719 Speaker 1: aren't able to regurge tate, so whatever they take in 415 00:23:11,760 --> 00:23:13,800 Speaker 1: cigarette lighters or whatnot just kind of sits in their 416 00:23:13,840 --> 00:23:20,200 Speaker 1: belly for the rest of their lives. Um it's real, yeah, chief, 417 00:23:20,560 --> 00:23:23,320 Speaker 1: So it does remind me of the Simpsons episode where um, 418 00:23:23,320 --> 00:23:25,840 Speaker 1: it's a Lisa episodes of some people might have missed it, 419 00:23:25,880 --> 00:23:30,200 Speaker 1: but where Lisa gets uh Montgomery burns the evil millionaire 420 00:23:30,240 --> 00:23:34,280 Speaker 1: to the open recycling plant and uh and and she 421 00:23:34,320 --> 00:23:36,679 Speaker 1: thinks she's she's changed him because he hit rock bottom, 422 00:23:36,680 --> 00:23:38,720 Speaker 1: he lost the plant. Now he's reached into recycling, he's 423 00:23:38,720 --> 00:23:41,199 Speaker 1: into making the earth better. And then it's revealed that 424 00:23:41,240 --> 00:23:44,080 Speaker 1: his big plan for the plant and is that he's 425 00:23:44,080 --> 00:23:46,440 Speaker 1: going to take all these six pack rings and he 426 00:23:46,680 --> 00:23:50,199 Speaker 1: u has them sewn together into a giant net that 427 00:23:50,280 --> 00:23:52,760 Speaker 1: they then roll out into the ocean and just catch 428 00:23:52,800 --> 00:23:55,600 Speaker 1: all of these of it like everything from whales, the squid, 429 00:23:55,720 --> 00:23:57,600 Speaker 1: and just rolling him in and then turning them into 430 00:23:57,600 --> 00:24:06,040 Speaker 1: this this grotesque meat paste. So wow, all right, well yeah, yeah, 431 00:24:06,240 --> 00:24:09,840 Speaker 1: there's thanks for the uplifting a bit there. Um. Okay, 432 00:24:09,880 --> 00:24:12,679 Speaker 1: so obviously there's a trade off here. Uh, you know, 433 00:24:12,760 --> 00:24:16,320 Speaker 1: we've got plastic in our environment. It's not going away. Um. 434 00:24:16,359 --> 00:24:19,080 Speaker 1: There is a certain amount of adaptability that it provides 435 00:24:19,119 --> 00:24:22,000 Speaker 1: us in convenience in our lives. Um. You know, it's 436 00:24:22,080 --> 00:24:25,840 Speaker 1: used in cars. It makes them lighter and more fuel efficient, 437 00:24:25,880 --> 00:24:29,600 Speaker 1: which is very important. Um. And it makes our existence 438 00:24:29,680 --> 00:24:31,800 Speaker 1: less cumbersome and safer. And I'm thinking about that in 439 00:24:31,880 --> 00:24:36,040 Speaker 1: terms of like something like as basic as an ivy bag. Right, 440 00:24:36,080 --> 00:24:39,240 Speaker 1: that's no longer glass, and it's portable and it's not 441 00:24:39,280 --> 00:24:43,640 Speaker 1: something you have to worry about in an emergency situation. Um. 442 00:24:43,720 --> 00:24:46,879 Speaker 1: And it is somewhat democratizing. I mean, you think about this. 443 00:24:47,000 --> 00:24:50,560 Speaker 1: These products are made cheaply and they're available to nearly everyone. 444 00:24:51,000 --> 00:24:54,879 Speaker 1: Think about if it's an eighteen twenty one and and 445 00:24:54,960 --> 00:24:57,760 Speaker 1: you're trying to better yourself in society, it takes a 446 00:24:57,760 --> 00:24:59,880 Speaker 1: lot of money to go and get a comb made 447 00:25:00,119 --> 00:25:02,720 Speaker 1: of ivory. Yeah, so you're walking around with BedHead all 448 00:25:02,720 --> 00:25:05,960 Speaker 1: the time. Um, you know. But you know, I make 449 00:25:06,040 --> 00:25:08,280 Speaker 1: light of that, but seriously, this is something that would 450 00:25:08,760 --> 00:25:11,600 Speaker 1: would have marked been an outward mark of the halves 451 00:25:11,640 --> 00:25:14,439 Speaker 1: and have nots. So we just take this for granted 452 00:25:14,480 --> 00:25:17,600 Speaker 1: that all these different products and materials are available to 453 00:25:17,680 --> 00:25:20,240 Speaker 1: us and it is somewhat democratizing. And as we touched 454 00:25:20,280 --> 00:25:23,240 Speaker 1: on earlier, I mean, and then the medical industry, plastic 455 00:25:23,280 --> 00:25:26,400 Speaker 1: is everywhere and is often involved in in in UH, 456 00:25:26,880 --> 00:25:30,639 Speaker 1: in gadgets or to or procedures that would just not 457 00:25:30,720 --> 00:25:32,960 Speaker 1: be the same without plastic. And we have plastic implants, 458 00:25:32,960 --> 00:25:36,640 Speaker 1: we have plastic surgical tools, and then when you get 459 00:25:36,640 --> 00:25:39,840 Speaker 1: into the electronic equipment, certainly plastic is a key component. 460 00:25:40,320 --> 00:25:42,040 Speaker 1: The next time you're the doctor's office, look around at 461 00:25:42,080 --> 00:25:45,240 Speaker 1: all the plastic and try to imagine getting your check 462 00:25:45,320 --> 00:25:49,040 Speaker 1: up or procedure done without it. So that actually correlates 463 00:25:49,080 --> 00:25:51,159 Speaker 1: to to life expectancy, right, And I'm gonna get a 464 00:25:51,200 --> 00:25:53,840 Speaker 1: heart transplant if there's not plastic available or these tools 465 00:25:53,880 --> 00:25:57,239 Speaker 1: to make it happen. Um. All right, So when we 466 00:25:57,280 --> 00:26:00,199 Speaker 1: talk about all of these this this junk, all of 467 00:26:00,200 --> 00:26:04,360 Speaker 1: this plastic that we've created, and how it has democratized 468 00:26:04,400 --> 00:26:07,399 Speaker 1: our lives or its has changed us. Um, everything that 469 00:26:07,440 --> 00:26:10,840 Speaker 1: we discard seems like an abstract notion until you start 470 00:26:10,880 --> 00:26:15,320 Speaker 1: thinking about something called the Great Pacific garbage Patch. Yes, 471 00:26:15,600 --> 00:26:17,879 Speaker 1: and this is uh, this is an idea that that's 472 00:26:17,880 --> 00:26:20,520 Speaker 1: certainly captures the imagination. Because I know when I think 473 00:26:20,560 --> 00:26:24,520 Speaker 1: of it. I imagine like some Godzilla sized plastic heat 474 00:26:25,200 --> 00:26:27,880 Speaker 1: or just like an island with its own like plastic 475 00:26:28,200 --> 00:26:30,440 Speaker 1: monsters living on it out in the ocean. That will 476 00:26:30,440 --> 00:26:34,959 Speaker 1: show actually pretty close to what it's becoming. Right, And 477 00:26:34,960 --> 00:26:37,240 Speaker 1: but it's also been kind of a sticking point um 478 00:26:37,320 --> 00:26:41,520 Speaker 1: in arguments about the arguments that basically come down to 479 00:26:41,600 --> 00:26:45,320 Speaker 1: to what degree we should care about pollution and the planet, 480 00:26:45,359 --> 00:26:47,119 Speaker 1: where people are like, oh, the garbage patch is just 481 00:26:47,160 --> 00:26:50,600 Speaker 1: made up by by hippies. It's and then and then 482 00:26:50,680 --> 00:26:52,560 Speaker 1: other people on the other side is no, it's a 483 00:26:52,600 --> 00:26:54,680 Speaker 1: it's a real problem. In the other side, well, let's 484 00:26:54,680 --> 00:26:57,040 Speaker 1: see some photos of it. And this this kind of 485 00:26:57,080 --> 00:26:59,840 Speaker 1: back and forth that's kind of waged over the past 486 00:27:00,320 --> 00:27:02,320 Speaker 1: seven or eight years. I feel well, and there's this 487 00:27:02,400 --> 00:27:05,639 Speaker 1: idea that there's there's it's not just one patch either. 488 00:27:05,680 --> 00:27:08,800 Speaker 1: There are several patches um. But what we're talking about 489 00:27:08,840 --> 00:27:12,440 Speaker 1: is the Texas sized garbage patch in the North Pacific Gyre, 490 00:27:12,440 --> 00:27:15,960 Speaker 1: which holds an estimated three million metric tons of mostly 491 00:27:16,119 --> 00:27:20,240 Speaker 1: plastic trash, six times the mass of the plankton found there. 492 00:27:21,000 --> 00:27:25,679 Speaker 1: And most of this is broken down into microplastics that 493 00:27:25,800 --> 00:27:30,639 Speaker 1: chemically bond with PCBs DDT. We know this is deep, right, 494 00:27:31,280 --> 00:27:34,439 Speaker 1: and endocrine disruptors to make this area a million times 495 00:27:34,480 --> 00:27:37,639 Speaker 1: more toxic than surrounding areas. So the problem here is 496 00:27:37,680 --> 00:27:40,720 Speaker 1: that those little plankton sized flakes that have broken down 497 00:27:40,720 --> 00:27:44,240 Speaker 1: are then mistakenly consumed by jellyfish and small fish that 498 00:27:44,280 --> 00:27:47,600 Speaker 1: are are then consumed by larger fish which that are 499 00:27:47,640 --> 00:27:50,040 Speaker 1: then consumed by us. And so you have so and 500 00:27:50,080 --> 00:27:52,800 Speaker 1: then we up with little plastic pieces and the remnants 501 00:27:52,840 --> 00:27:57,040 Speaker 1: of plastic inside the entire food chain. Yeah, but okay, 502 00:27:57,080 --> 00:28:00,480 Speaker 1: here is the silver lining here, and I love there 503 00:28:00,480 --> 00:28:06,560 Speaker 1: has actually been a bacteria found or several that consume plastic. Okay, 504 00:28:06,640 --> 00:28:08,560 Speaker 1: this and this reminds me to some of the like 505 00:28:08,600 --> 00:28:10,800 Speaker 1: talking about oil spills and the idea that oh we 506 00:28:10,840 --> 00:28:13,680 Speaker 1: do have. You can see some bacteria that is developing 507 00:28:13,680 --> 00:28:18,600 Speaker 1: the ability to consume petroleum uh and so it stands 508 00:28:18,640 --> 00:28:22,440 Speaker 1: to reason that that they also will eventually uh and 509 00:28:22,440 --> 00:28:25,480 Speaker 1: and are developing an appetite for plastic as well. Well. 510 00:28:25,520 --> 00:28:27,560 Speaker 1: And you know, of course there are some concerns with this, 511 00:28:27,800 --> 00:28:30,679 Speaker 1: but for the most part, this is really incredible news 512 00:28:30,800 --> 00:28:33,120 Speaker 1: and you know, there needs to be a lot more 513 00:28:33,680 --> 00:28:37,359 Speaker 1: data involved with it, and uh you know, in terms 514 00:28:37,520 --> 00:28:39,600 Speaker 1: of trying to figure out whether or not this is 515 00:28:40,080 --> 00:28:43,360 Speaker 1: a good sustainable solution. But I wanted to mention that 516 00:28:43,520 --> 00:28:47,520 Speaker 1: Yale has an annual rainforest expedition and laboratory where they 517 00:28:47,560 --> 00:28:50,440 Speaker 1: let students venture into the jungles of Ecuador to search 518 00:28:50,520 --> 00:28:53,920 Speaker 1: for plants and then culture the micro organisms within the 519 00:28:53,960 --> 00:28:57,080 Speaker 1: plant tissue and um one of the students brought back 520 00:28:57,080 --> 00:29:01,760 Speaker 1: a fungus that they found love of too much on polyurethane. 521 00:29:02,240 --> 00:29:05,360 Speaker 1: So and there have been several different um as I 522 00:29:05,400 --> 00:29:08,960 Speaker 1: say about tiers that have been found too much on plastic, 523 00:29:09,000 --> 00:29:10,920 Speaker 1: but I really wanted to talk about this one because 524 00:29:10,960 --> 00:29:17,120 Speaker 1: it's called Pestelopotopas microsphora, and it is the first one 525 00:29:17,120 --> 00:29:20,200 Speaker 1: that anyone has found that that survives solely on a 526 00:29:20,200 --> 00:29:25,000 Speaker 1: steady diet of polyurethane. And it gets even better because 527 00:29:25,200 --> 00:29:28,280 Speaker 1: the fun guy can survive not just on plastic alone, 528 00:29:28,320 --> 00:29:32,520 Speaker 1: but also in anaerobic conditions without any sort of oxygen. 529 00:29:33,160 --> 00:29:36,440 Speaker 1: So then you start to think about landfills and how 530 00:29:36,480 --> 00:29:40,480 Speaker 1: they're basically airless and this is the perfect condition for 531 00:29:40,520 --> 00:29:42,320 Speaker 1: this sort of fun guy, so they could just run 532 00:29:42,440 --> 00:29:46,360 Speaker 1: wild in a like a tightly packed down landfill and 533 00:29:46,400 --> 00:29:49,320 Speaker 1: just eat all the plastic cup exactly. I mean, this 534 00:29:49,360 --> 00:29:51,560 Speaker 1: has a ton of promise. But then, of course there 535 00:29:51,600 --> 00:29:53,760 Speaker 1: are some people who would say, okay, so now that 536 00:29:53,800 --> 00:29:56,040 Speaker 1: you have this fun guy that you know, is it 537 00:29:56,640 --> 00:30:00,640 Speaker 1: breaks down uh plastic and eats it. What happened if 538 00:30:00,720 --> 00:30:03,640 Speaker 1: you know this goes palace. We live in the plastic palace, 539 00:30:03,800 --> 00:30:07,160 Speaker 1: and we're celebrating the emergence of the back of a 540 00:30:07,160 --> 00:30:09,280 Speaker 1: plastic eating back period. Right, So then you're going to 541 00:30:09,320 --> 00:30:12,320 Speaker 1: the Michael Crichton route and you start to think, okay, well, 542 00:30:12,400 --> 00:30:14,800 Speaker 1: in the hospital setting, you certainly wouldn't want, you know, 543 00:30:14,960 --> 00:30:17,960 Speaker 1: the the new hip that's going into your body to 544 00:30:17,960 --> 00:30:21,479 Speaker 1: to have some sort of um bacteria or you know 545 00:30:22,120 --> 00:30:24,480 Speaker 1: that would break down that hip or anything else really 546 00:30:24,480 --> 00:30:25,800 Speaker 1: in any of the tools that are going to be 547 00:30:25,880 --> 00:30:28,400 Speaker 1: used on you. Yeah, the figuring I just painted. It's 548 00:30:28,440 --> 00:30:30,080 Speaker 1: bad enough I have to worry about the kitten eating it. 549 00:30:30,120 --> 00:30:33,560 Speaker 1: I don't want to worry about bacteria eating it as well. Yeah, 550 00:30:33,680 --> 00:30:37,040 Speaker 1: it's it's very interesting proposition and if you want to 551 00:30:37,080 --> 00:30:39,760 Speaker 1: read more about it, you can check out the paper. 552 00:30:39,840 --> 00:30:45,880 Speaker 1: It is called biodegradation of polyester polyurethane by Endo Fight 553 00:30:45,960 --> 00:30:50,160 Speaker 1: It fun guy. Wow, to think about polyester too, being 554 00:30:50,440 --> 00:30:55,040 Speaker 1: susceptible to this. So many great garments. Half of that's right, 555 00:30:55,200 --> 00:30:57,560 Speaker 1: it would take out all the second hand stores. Yeah, 556 00:30:57,960 --> 00:30:59,640 Speaker 1: the big take home out of all of this. Again, 557 00:30:59,680 --> 00:31:02,400 Speaker 1: we've we've built this, this plastic palace. We've build this 558 00:31:02,480 --> 00:31:05,160 Speaker 1: plastic lives for ourselves. It's it's everywhere, and we cannot 559 00:31:05,240 --> 00:31:08,040 Speaker 1: go back. We can't just decide we're not gonna do 560 00:31:08,080 --> 00:31:11,200 Speaker 1: plastic anymore. It's just not gonna happen. But what we 561 00:31:11,240 --> 00:31:12,960 Speaker 1: can do is we can of course manage it. We 562 00:31:13,000 --> 00:31:16,320 Speaker 1: can develop better ways to break down the plastic that 563 00:31:16,360 --> 00:31:19,840 Speaker 1: we have. We can depend more and more on bioplastics 564 00:31:19,880 --> 00:31:23,440 Speaker 1: that are made from things like like corn and uh another, 565 00:31:24,040 --> 00:31:26,720 Speaker 1: biological agents who are not having to depend even a 566 00:31:26,760 --> 00:31:31,080 Speaker 1: little bit on petroleum and and and also just become 567 00:31:31,160 --> 00:31:34,360 Speaker 1: smarter with our use of it, realizing that once you 568 00:31:34,440 --> 00:31:37,600 Speaker 1: create something out of plastic, it's not necessarily something that 569 00:31:37,640 --> 00:31:40,560 Speaker 1: can then be recycled and made hold again. It's you 570 00:31:40,600 --> 00:31:43,280 Speaker 1: need to think of it as a real investment of 571 00:31:43,520 --> 00:31:45,000 Speaker 1: you know, even if it's a small one. So if 572 00:31:45,000 --> 00:31:46,760 Speaker 1: it's you know, something like if it's a if it's 573 00:31:46,760 --> 00:31:51,960 Speaker 1: a choice between taking sixteen snack cakes and individually packaging 574 00:31:52,000 --> 00:31:53,880 Speaker 1: them and then putting them in a larger package. We 575 00:31:53,880 --> 00:31:55,959 Speaker 1: should we should air on the side of putting them 576 00:31:55,960 --> 00:31:58,800 Speaker 1: all in a single bag. You know, just all the 577 00:31:58,840 --> 00:32:00,600 Speaker 1: little things that add up to the whole of just 578 00:32:00,720 --> 00:32:04,280 Speaker 1: using less plastic, using it in a smarter manner, and 579 00:32:04,440 --> 00:32:09,280 Speaker 1: using more sustainable plastics. Yeah, so there you go. That's 580 00:32:09,360 --> 00:32:10,920 Speaker 1: that's a good reminder next time you go to the 581 00:32:10,960 --> 00:32:13,480 Speaker 1: grocery store or you're sorting out to the plastic in 582 00:32:13,520 --> 00:32:16,240 Speaker 1: your life and wondering if everything's realatting recycled into what 583 00:32:16,400 --> 00:32:19,920 Speaker 1: degree we have control over the situation. Yeah, I mean 584 00:32:21,080 --> 00:32:22,880 Speaker 1: one for me, I've been trying more and more to 585 00:32:22,920 --> 00:32:27,480 Speaker 1: avoid individually packaged snack items, you know, because I mean 586 00:32:27,480 --> 00:32:29,200 Speaker 1: it's attractive on one level. You're like, oh, I can 587 00:32:29,200 --> 00:32:30,840 Speaker 1: buy the bag of snack Micks, or I can buy 588 00:32:30,880 --> 00:32:32,960 Speaker 1: the bag of six bags of snack Micks that are 589 00:32:33,080 --> 00:32:35,840 Speaker 1: small and they fit easily into your lunch box. Or 590 00:32:35,880 --> 00:32:39,080 Speaker 1: I can take just a few seconds and and or 591 00:32:39,240 --> 00:32:41,800 Speaker 1: or heaven forbid, use a little will control and take 592 00:32:41,840 --> 00:32:43,680 Speaker 1: the whole bag of snack Micks to work with me 593 00:32:43,920 --> 00:32:47,239 Speaker 1: for the week that never but but still I can 594 00:32:47,280 --> 00:32:49,160 Speaker 1: certainly divide it up. I don't I don't need the 595 00:32:49,200 --> 00:32:53,400 Speaker 1: other little pre made bags already there. But anyway, so 596 00:32:53,920 --> 00:32:57,120 Speaker 1: plastics aside, Let's let's call over the robit and uh 597 00:32:57,280 --> 00:33:01,320 Speaker 1: read a little listener mail. All right, This one comes 598 00:33:01,360 --> 00:33:05,640 Speaker 1: from Jackie Jackie Ritson and says, greetings, Uh, first the 599 00:33:05,760 --> 00:33:08,920 Speaker 1: tried and true cliche awesome podcast. Just listen to the 600 00:33:08,960 --> 00:33:12,200 Speaker 1: cracking episode and have a couple of comments. Personally, this 601 00:33:12,280 --> 00:33:16,040 Speaker 1: is my favorite apparently mythological creature. I suspect this comes 602 00:33:16,040 --> 00:33:19,960 Speaker 1: from a combination of twenty Leagues under the Sea awesome film. 603 00:33:20,080 --> 00:33:22,360 Speaker 1: I always I watched the Disney movie a lot growing up, 604 00:33:22,400 --> 00:33:25,320 Speaker 1: and you was always enamored by the scenes with the 605 00:33:25,360 --> 00:33:29,400 Speaker 1: squid uh and Pirates of the Caribbean, which also fetched 606 00:33:29,400 --> 00:33:33,600 Speaker 1: the cracking um. And she continues. The reason I say 607 00:33:33,680 --> 00:33:36,640 Speaker 1: apparently is because I have a strange desire for one's 608 00:33:36,800 --> 00:33:39,800 Speaker 1: beat to turn up as proof of their existence, which, 609 00:33:40,040 --> 00:33:43,520 Speaker 1: as we discussed in the cracking episode, that's uh what 610 00:33:43,760 --> 00:33:46,800 Speaker 1: some archaeologists are up to as well, curious into the 611 00:33:46,880 --> 00:33:50,560 Speaker 1: is to the existence of a possible um prehistoric cracking. 612 00:33:51,400 --> 00:33:54,360 Speaker 1: She continues, Anyway, you made a comment early on about 613 00:33:54,400 --> 00:33:57,880 Speaker 1: how cephalopods were essentially mythical until the eighteen seventies or 614 00:33:58,240 --> 00:34:01,360 Speaker 1: of sometime around then. It reminded me of one of 615 00:34:01,360 --> 00:34:03,560 Speaker 1: the stories in Kim Newman's book Hound of the of 616 00:34:03,640 --> 00:34:07,960 Speaker 1: the the Ubervilles, all about professional professor Moriarty. A great read. 617 00:34:08,400 --> 00:34:11,600 Speaker 1: Uh this uh my favorite, the Red Planet League, in 618 00:34:11,600 --> 00:34:16,000 Speaker 1: which the professor seeks to destroy his nemesis, the Astronomer 619 00:34:16,200 --> 00:34:20,200 Speaker 1: Royale or the Astronomer Royal, I'm not sure. I can't 620 00:34:20,239 --> 00:34:24,040 Speaker 1: remember his name at the moment the professor plans. The 621 00:34:24,080 --> 00:34:27,280 Speaker 1: Professor's plan involves the use of some rather ugly squid. 622 00:34:27,760 --> 00:34:31,080 Speaker 1: Uh but more I shan't say. Well, that's my email again. 623 00:34:31,080 --> 00:34:33,440 Speaker 1: Great podcast. I'm off to listen to the one on Gigantis. 624 00:34:33,480 --> 00:34:36,160 Speaker 1: Um I had to skip ahead, I mean to the 625 00:34:36,239 --> 00:34:41,040 Speaker 1: Krackens cheers, uh Jackie so uh yeah, so there's some 626 00:34:41,120 --> 00:34:46,400 Speaker 1: favorite Krakens that just reminded me of the artwork that 627 00:34:46,480 --> 00:34:52,080 Speaker 1: you sent the other day of the silkenferred. Yes, yeah, 628 00:34:52,239 --> 00:34:54,640 Speaker 1: if you uh I put we post ended up posting 629 00:34:54,640 --> 00:34:56,399 Speaker 1: it on all the social media things. So go back 630 00:34:56,400 --> 00:34:57,680 Speaker 1: and look at that if you get a chance. It's 631 00:34:57,680 --> 00:34:59,800 Speaker 1: pretty pretty wild. It makes it look like a p 632 00:35:00,120 --> 00:35:02,839 Speaker 1: you want to own. Yeah, I mean, really, you add 633 00:35:02,880 --> 00:35:04,720 Speaker 1: some fur to it and it's amazing what can happen. 634 00:35:05,040 --> 00:35:07,920 Speaker 1: It's it's funny because it reminds me of a dream 635 00:35:08,000 --> 00:35:10,080 Speaker 1: that my wife had. She had a dream where she 636 00:35:10,120 --> 00:35:11,960 Speaker 1: had like a kid in the sized octopus that was 637 00:35:12,040 --> 00:35:15,200 Speaker 1: furry and um, and then her brother was trying to 638 00:35:15,239 --> 00:35:18,800 Speaker 1: take it from her or something but brother. Yeah. So 639 00:35:18,800 --> 00:35:22,240 Speaker 1: so anyway, I always great to hear hear from from listeners, 640 00:35:22,400 --> 00:35:25,480 Speaker 1: and especially there with with their own like personal likes 641 00:35:25,480 --> 00:35:28,759 Speaker 1: and dislikes in their own nostalgia might happen to be 642 00:35:29,280 --> 00:35:32,239 Speaker 1: relearning a particular topic. So so that's great. Thanks for 643 00:35:32,520 --> 00:35:35,360 Speaker 1: writing us. If you would like to write us, particularly 644 00:35:35,360 --> 00:35:38,200 Speaker 1: if you have comments about plastics plastic in your life. 645 00:35:38,200 --> 00:35:40,719 Speaker 1: Have you managed to free yourself from plastic? Do you 646 00:35:40,760 --> 00:35:43,280 Speaker 1: think it's even possible? How much plastic is in your life? 647 00:35:43,560 --> 00:35:46,480 Speaker 1: What is plastic done for you? Um? What are you 648 00:35:46,680 --> 00:35:49,960 Speaker 1: doing to try and uh curb your plastic usage? Then 649 00:35:50,239 --> 00:35:53,160 Speaker 1: right into us. You can find us on Facebook and 650 00:35:53,200 --> 00:35:55,960 Speaker 1: tumbler as stuff to blow your mind, and you can 651 00:35:56,000 --> 00:35:58,239 Speaker 1: also find us on Twitter where we are blow the 652 00:35:58,280 --> 00:36:00,799 Speaker 1: Mind and you can also dry that's a line at 653 00:36:00,800 --> 00:36:09,680 Speaker 1: blew the Mind at discovery dot com For more on 654 00:36:09,719 --> 00:36:12,440 Speaker 1: this and thousands of other topics, visit how stuff works 655 00:36:12,440 --> 00:36:17,440 Speaker 1: dot com.