Upon watching Ian Connacher’s provocative documentary, “Addicted to Plastic! The Rise and Demise of a Modern Miracle,” I came to one sobering realization: this film with a potent message will probably be outlasted by the plastic bottles, bags and packaging it investigates. But it’s one that we all should see.
Plastic that is not recycled or burned does not decompose, Connacher tells us. It sits in landfills, or gets washed away into the ocean, to be eaten by fish or birds. In fact, the Algalita Marine Research Foundation has nicknamed the ocean “the plastic soup” because there is in each liter there is more plastic than plankton (according to the United Nations, there are more than 46,000 pieces of plastic in every square mile of ocean). They are one of many groups that Connacher follows in his 83 minute film, presented as part of the Share the Earth Environmental Film Series at the UWM Union Theatre, on Wednesday, Feb. 4 at 7 p.m.
He talks to scientists, marine biologists, chemists, activists, CEOs and artists, all doing their part to recycle, reuse and reducepeople who make plastic from corn, orange peels and chicken feathers, and a company whose plastic degrades in water. Artists who turn plastic into jackets, purses and even wedding dresses, and pioneers who save plastic waste from landfills by converting it into railroad ties, lumber, even a plastic amalgamation simply called “fluff.”
Connacher visits Denmark, which, in a sharp comparison to the United States, has a plastic recycling rate of 90 percent, compared with our 40 percent. He travels to Africa and India where farmers and trade workers turn the plastic that litters their streets into eco-chic handbags and baskets. They take apart computers and save every little part in boxes and bags, in case, as Connacher says, “the H falls off of your keyboard.” Small lobbies attempt to ban plastic, only to be met by the bigger, stronger plastic industry who asks them to define a “plastic bag;” their sole aim being circumvention.
But fortunately for viewers, the film isn’t meant to lecture or to scold. Connacher’s narration is honest and unapologetic, though he is non-confrontational. He aims only to expose the emptiness of the plastic promise, that the invention of this modern miracle would free us from the confines of natural resources. Yet now we face the effect this indestructible material has on the world around us. We are not to blame for buying into this promise, he tells us, but now that we know the ramifications, we can no longer ignore our addiction to plastic.
