Death to Plastic!

By Kaatje Harrison
EDGI541 Issues in Sustainability
Everyone has seen images of our copious amounts of garbage, mixed, rotting, with
literally tons of plastic and metals intermixed. Its not just the smell that makes me sick; the
plastics weather (not break down) in such a way that they contaminate waters with phthalates
and get into the fish supply by being mistaken as plankton (Tanner, 2014). Why are so many
recyclable materials intermixed in our garbage? How could plant based plastic replacements
(aka bioplastics) help this situation? It is from this perspective that I started this digital artifact,
as a technology appraisal of these new green replacements to plastic.
Solving this problem is not so easy, however, because it might be as Annie Leonard
(2014), a sustainability expert, would describe as a solution that continues to perpetuate
consumption; that it subscribes to the old way of thinking or status quo. In really looking at
this issue, however, we need two solutions: one that reduces our dependence on toxic petroleumbased plastics, and the other that addresses our legacy of plastic waste in our landfills and
oceans.
Plastic has some great properties: it is durable, flexible and easily molded into any shape
(Wang & Yao, 2013). So if we can get these properties more sustainably from bio-plastic, that is
wonderful; however, what we really need to be looking at is reducing our consumption of
disposable goods and resources, so that we are using less single-use items. For those things that
remain, packaging and shipping needs, moderate need of disposable ware in restaurant and food
service (still using dishes first!) we can look at bioplastic as the solution (Biopak, 2010; PBS
Planet Forward, 2012). While we gain in reduction of toxicity in the environment, reduction of
waste / environmental degradation, and saving thousands of gallons of oil in plastic creation,
however, we lose in the big-agriculture creation of these raw materials, its impact on land-use
and the food supply (Biello, 2010).
Where we need to be moving to is a reduction of use model; using our own coffee mugs
and water jugs especially, but striving for a zero-waste model that means 90% of waste is
diverted from the landfill and reused or recycled (Howard, 2013; Zero Waste Alliance, n.d.).
Right now, the EPA (2013) estimates our plastic recycling at 9.5%! As appalling as that is, 26%

Death to Plastic!

of all plastic bottles are recycled (the easiest type), a more promising percentage but still
inexcusably low (EPA, 2013). The rest of our plastics use is more difficult, in food packages,
clamshells and other packages, mixed use plastics and metals, etc. These need to be replaced by
sustainable bio-plastics or alternative packaging.
For our legacy of plastics and metals in our landfills, Mike Biddle (2011), a selfdescribed garbage man wants to mine these resources to stop virgin creation of petroleumbased plastics, and solely reuse what is in our landfills. The model of the landfill has changed;
rather than encapsulating and consequently mummifying garbage in landfill capsules, a
simultaneous treatment and mining facility can be used to create a more sustainable landfill,
contributing energy solutions as well as re-supplying raw materials (Hidgins et al., 2010).
Taking that one step further, would be the larger goals of Zero waste (90% reuse) that San
Francisco and other communities are adopting (Zero Waste Alliance, n.d.).
To address the vast problem of plastic in our oceans and waterways, the Pacific gyre, the
trash vortex in the sea, as well as the microscopic particles of plastic that end up killing fish who
inadvertently eat it, Wang & Yao (2013) have found bacteria, ironically and full-circle, that
comes from landfills, that actually consume and remove phthalates from water. Other
researchers are also looking at different bacteria to consume and solve this problem, hopefully
one day addressing the solid plastic waste that is out there (Wang & Yao, 2013).
Education is necessary in hoping to tackle this problem. Sugata Mitra (2010), an
educational researcher, notes that we have an ironic problem -- good teachers don't want to go
to just those places where they're needed the most. To address this, he favors teaching in the
Cloud using child-driven inquiries and collaboration to naturally learn following childrens
intrinsic interests (Mitra, 2010). Moreover, he found that their initial understanding as well as
long-term retention remained at the same levels (76% proficiency), which is a much better
retention rate, and indeed overall learning rate than most conventional teaching (Mitra, 2010).
Without education and critical thinking in tackling these environmental problems, we cannot see
the effects of our actions (in consuming coffee cups and single use water bottles, for instance).
The better education we have about sustainability issues as well as conventional education,
hopefully we will avoid the educational paradox where more highly educated people consume
more resources (McKeown, 2002).

Death to Plastic!

By reducing our consumption, using reusable materials where possible, and 100%
recycled or bio-plastics where necessary, we can address our current plastic addiction. That
doesnt go far enough though in curing our plastic problem; we need to mine and recycle the
legacy of plastics in our landfills and oceans to fully deal with the legacy of our copious plastic
use. Further, we need good education that addresses both critical thinking and sustainability
challenges.
References
Bailey, F. (2012, March 21). What Can YOU Do to Reduce Plastic Consumption. Retrieved May 4, 2015,
from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GVMEPczIFKc
Berlfein, J. (1990, January 21). AMERICA'S LANDFILLS: MUMMIFIED TOMBS OF TRASH.
Retrieved May 4, 2015, from http://www.deseretnews.com/article/83091/AMERICASLANDFILLS--MUMMIFIED-TOMBS-OF-TRASH.html?pg=all
Biddle, M. (2011, July 11). We can recycle plastic. Retrieved May 5, 2015, from
http://www.ted.com/talks/mike_biddle
Biello, D. (2010, October 26). Plastic from Plants: Is It an Environmental Boon or Bane? Retrieved May
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Retrieved May 4, 2015, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qANWN0TKH0A

Death to Plastic!
Howard, B. (2013, June 18). How Cities Compost Mountains of Food Waste. Retrieved May 4, 2015,
from http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2013/06/130618-food-waste-composting-nyc-sanfrancisco/
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Images:
Sugata Mitra http://www.huffingtonpost.com/sugata-mitra/2013-ted-prize_b_2767598.html
Background Tree Image www.prezi.com From Roots to Results
Zero Waste Image http://3blmedia.com/media/images/lfinfographic2_0.jpeg

Death to Plastic!
Portlands Municipal Compost System http://www.cloacina.org/blog/wpcontent/uploads/2010/10/Portland_composting2000x1500RGB.jpg
Plastic in our oceans, Pacific Gyre http://www.bluebird-electric.net/oceanography/ocean_pictures/SeaNetWorld-Map-Great-Oceanic-Garbage-Patches-10-Year-Plan.JPG
Mike Biddle, Garbage Man Plastic Recycler http://www.mbapolymers.com/home/images/2013/images/news/201310/mb-champions-of-recycling.jpg
Modern, treatment and Mining Landfill http://www.waste-managementworld.com/content/dam/etc/medialib/platform-7/wmw/articles/print-articles/volume11/issue_3/10695.res/_jcr_content/renditions/pennwell.web.600.325.gif
Plastic Recycling http://rolla.k12.mo.us/uploads/media/recycle-PLASTIC1_ONLY.jpg