WEBVTT - Are Single-Use Plastics Really That Bad?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain Stuff production of iHeart Radio, Hey brain

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<v Speaker 1>Stuff Lauren Vogelbaum here. In early January of China joined

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<v Speaker 1>the growing movement of more than a hundred and twenty

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<v Speaker 1>countries pledging to ban single use plastics. The country of

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<v Speaker 1>one point four billion citizens is the number one producer

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<v Speaker 1>of plastic waste in the world. It topped sixty million

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<v Speaker 1>tons in but China announced that it plans to outlaw

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<v Speaker 1>the production and sale of nondegradable bags by the end

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<v Speaker 1>of twenty in major cities and everywhere by two, as

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<v Speaker 1>well as single use straws by late market selling produce

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<v Speaker 1>will have until five to follow suit. The push to

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<v Speaker 1>ban plastic took center stage in with massive promotions like

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<v Speaker 1>the hashtag stop Sucking campaign, which featured stars like NFL

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<v Speaker 1>quarterback Tom Brady pledging to give up single use plastic

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<v Speaker 1>straws now. Countries and companies are saying no to plastics

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<v Speaker 1>by the dozens, and consumers are following along with them,

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<v Speaker 1>and they're serious. In Kenya, for example, any citizen caught

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<v Speaker 1>using plastic bags for trash or groceries can face four

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<v Speaker 1>years of imprisonment and finds of up to thirty eight

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<v Speaker 1>thousand dollars. As the plastic span movement hits major milestones,

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<v Speaker 1>such as China's latest announcement, we decided to take a

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<v Speaker 1>moment to unpack the bottles, bags and straws that are

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<v Speaker 1>causing this global stir. So what is single use plastic?

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<v Speaker 1>True to its name, a single use plastic is disposable

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<v Speaker 1>plastic that's designed to be used once and then tossed

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<v Speaker 1>or recycled. This includes everything from plastic water bottles and

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<v Speaker 1>produced bags to disposable plastic razors and plastic ribbons. Really,

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<v Speaker 1>any plastic item you use and then immediately discard. While

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<v Speaker 1>these items can be recyclable, that's hardly the norm. We

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<v Speaker 1>spoke via email with Megan Weldon of the blog and

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<v Speaker 1>waste prevention shop Zero Waste Nerd. She said, in reality,

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<v Speaker 1>very few plastic items can be processed into new materials

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<v Speaker 1>and products. Unlike glass and aluminum, plastic isn't processed into

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<v Speaker 1>the same item it was when it was collected by

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<v Speaker 1>a recycling center. The quality of plastic is downgraded, so

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<v Speaker 1>eventually and inevitably that plastic will still end up in

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<v Speaker 1>a landfill. Take a plastic water bottle. Most bottles say

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<v Speaker 1>they can be recycled and based solely on their easily

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<v Speaker 1>recyclable p et composition, they could be, but nearly seven

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<v Speaker 1>out of ten bottles end up in landfills or tossed

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<v Speaker 1>as litter. This problem increased when China decided to stop

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<v Speaker 1>accepting and recycling plastic in for municipalities. That meant recycling

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<v Speaker 1>became significantly pricier, and according to The Atlantic, many are

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<v Speaker 1>now simply opting for the budget friendly landfill over recycling

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<v Speaker 1>pair This landfill first approach. With the world's ever growing

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<v Speaker 1>plastic consumption, humans produce almost twenty thousand plastic bottles her

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<v Speaker 1>second according to The Guardian, and America's waste grew by

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<v Speaker 1>four point five percent from It's no wonder the world

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<v Speaker 1>is overflowing with plastic waste, and I think banning all

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<v Speaker 1>of this plastic is overkilled. There are some very solid

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<v Speaker 1>reasons why it makes sense. First, the plastic and landfills

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<v Speaker 1>doesn't just go away. According to Weldon, a plastic bag

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<v Speaker 1>takes ten to twenty years to degrade, while a plastic

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<v Speaker 1>bottle takes almost five hundred years, and even when it's gone,

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<v Speaker 1>it's remnants remain. We also spoke by email with Katherine Kellogg,

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<v Speaker 1>author and founder of the waste reduction website Going Zero Waste.

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<v Speaker 1>She explained plastic never breaks down or goes away. It

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<v Speaker 1>only breaks into smaller and smaller pieces until there's so

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<v Speaker 1>microscopic that they can be found in our air and

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<v Speaker 1>our drinking water. Some grocery stores have switched to biodegradable

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<v Speaker 1>plastic shopping bags as a way to meet consumers in

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<v Speaker 1>the middle, but research shows that this is hardly a

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<v Speaker 1>savvy solution. One study from researchers at the University of

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<v Speaker 1>Plymouth in England analyzed eighty single use plastic grocery store

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<v Speaker 1>bags made of biodegradable plastic over the course of three years,

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<v Speaker 1>their goal to determine just how biodegradable these bags really were.

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<v Speaker 1>Their findings were published in the journal Environmental Science and Technology.

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<v Speaker 1>They found that soil and seawater didn't lead to bag degradation. Instead,

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<v Speaker 1>after those three years, three of the four types of

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<v Speaker 1>biodegradable bags were still sturdy enough to hold up to

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<v Speaker 1>five pounds of groceries that's about two point two kilos,

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<v Speaker 1>and the non biodegradable bags performed the same. The biodegradable

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<v Speaker 1>bags exposed to sun did break down, but that's not

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<v Speaker 1>necessarily a positive either. The small particles from that degradation

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<v Speaker 1>can quickly spread throughout the environment. Think air, ocean, or

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<v Speaker 1>the belly of hungry animals who mistake plastic fragments for food.

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<v Speaker 1>Another reason many countries are prohibiting single use plastics is

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<v Speaker 1>because they shouldn't be reused, despite our best and engines.

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<v Speaker 1>As many municipalities for go recycling, it's tempting to take

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<v Speaker 1>matters into your own hands by reusing plastic bottles and containers.

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<v Speaker 1>And sure, this may work for bags, but experts say

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<v Speaker 1>to take caution when it comes to plastic bottles or

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<v Speaker 1>food containers. One study in Environmental Health Perspectives showed that

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<v Speaker 1>all plastics used in food containers and plastic bottles could

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<v Speaker 1>release harmful chemicals if used repeatedly. This includes those said

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<v Speaker 1>to be free of b p A, a controversial chemical

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<v Speaker 1>that's been linked to hormone disruption. While researchers are still

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<v Speaker 1>analyzing the safety of repeated plastic reuse, experts recommend glass

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<v Speaker 1>or metal to avoid potentially harmful chemicals, and according to Weldon,

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<v Speaker 1>it's time we adopt a reuse mindset. Be at cotton

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<v Speaker 1>produce bags, stainless steel, straws, or full on zero waste.

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<v Speaker 1>She said, the worst thing about any single use item

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<v Speaker 1>is that we devalue something to the point that we

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<v Speaker 1>intend to throw it away. The convenience culture has normalized

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<v Speaker 1>destructive behavior, and as a result, we produce millions of

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<v Speaker 1>tons of it every single year. If we change our

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<v Speaker 1>mindset on what we consume, will be more aware of

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<v Speaker 1>the single use plastic we use and how we can

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<v Speaker 1>avoid it. Today's episode was written by Stephanie Vermillion and

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<v Speaker 1>produced by Tyler Clang. Brain Stuff is a production of

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<v Speaker 1>I Heart Radios How Stuff Works. For more on this

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<v Speaker 1>and lots of other multi use topics, visit our home planet,

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<v Speaker 1>how stuff Works dot com. And for more podcasts from

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