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[Craig] I remember the first time
I saw a picture of a blue whale,
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which was
in a National Geographic magazine.
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A drawing of the whale, and then
a tiny human standing beside it.
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This thing was bigger than any dinosaur.
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And as an eight-year-old,
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I couldn't imagine that
there was anything that big.
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I've followed them since childhood
with the absolute design
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to go and film them myself
at some point.
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00:02:13,546 --> 00:02:15,798
And that was 40 years later.
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00:02:32,148 --> 00:02:35,234
Never had a slate before...
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[Craig]
Dr. Lindsay Porter is a cetacean expert.
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And Ben Fogle is a U.K. adventurer.
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So, Lindsay, just tell me,
what kind of whales
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in particular are we looking for?
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Today, we're looking for the blue whale.
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There are two different types
of blue whale we'll see in the area,
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- the true blues and pygmy blues.
- And how do they differ?
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Pygmy blues are slightly smaller
than true blue whales.
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00:03:01,510 --> 00:03:04,597
When you say "slightly smaller,"
what size are we talking about here?
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00:03:04,722 --> 00:03:06,265
- Twenty-five meters.
- [chuckles]
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[Craig]
Lindsay has such a depth of knowledge
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that she's my first go-to
when I've got a question about a whale.
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So, as the currents and the waves come in,
they create this very productive front,
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00:03:16,901 --> 00:03:20,237
and this is why we think the animals...
the whales, feed here.
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00:03:20,362 --> 00:03:21,802
So, when you say "productive front,"
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00:03:21,906 --> 00:03:25,743
I imagine krill, food,
is being welled up...
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00:03:25,868 --> 00:03:30,247
[Craig] Ben Fogle rowed a boat
across the Atlantic.
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And that meant
that he had a sense of adventure.
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He was a risk-taker.
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From the very first day
we saw them blowing,
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we knew they were there,
but they were very hard to reach.
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00:03:44,845 --> 00:03:46,165
[Lindsay] And fluke up. Oh, nice.
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[Craig] These animals can do
up to 30 kilometers an hour underwater,
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00:03:50,267 --> 00:03:52,728
and they can stay underwater
for a half an hour
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00:03:52,853 --> 00:03:54,939
and go in any direction.
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00:03:56,148 --> 00:03:58,984
When we saw them,
we'd follow them, try to get near them,
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00:03:59,109 --> 00:04:04,031
wait for them to come up again,
and then just never see them again.
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00:04:13,499 --> 00:04:15,876
[Craig] Tell me what
I should be listening out for.
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00:04:16,001 --> 00:04:22,341
For whales, you need to listen
for a low-frequency monotone.
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00:04:22,466 --> 00:04:24,426
And for dolphins...
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00:04:24,551 --> 00:04:27,096
- Oh, can you hear it right there? That?
- [dolphin whistles]
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00:04:27,221 --> 00:04:28,554
- [Lindsay] The whistles?
- [Craig] The high-pitched whistles?
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The high-pitched whistling.
That's dolphins.
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That's the group of dolphins
we just passed.
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00:04:32,351 --> 00:04:35,061
- How far do you think they are?
- They'll still be within a kilometer.
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00:04:35,062 --> 00:04:37,898
- That's a long way to go.
- It's a long way. It's a big ocean.
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00:04:38,023 --> 00:04:39,903
They've got to talk to each other
over distance.
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That's incredible.
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[Craig] We traveled up and down,
50 miles off the coast for two weeks
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00:04:46,699 --> 00:04:49,201
trying to get close to these animals.
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We ran out of time.
We started heading back to port...
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- Oh, look, look.
- [Lindsay] At two o'clock...
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00:04:59,628 --> 00:05:02,798
another blow. Four.
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00:05:02,923 --> 00:05:05,718
And it looks like
he's going to fluke up...
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00:05:06,844 --> 00:05:08,679
and dive.
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00:05:08,804 --> 00:05:11,598
So, he'll probably be down
for another ten minutes or so.
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00:05:11,724 --> 00:05:13,642
Whoosh!
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00:05:20,149 --> 00:05:21,692
[Craig] They look like freight trains,
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00:05:21,817 --> 00:05:26,238
like enormous spaceships
that just travel effortlessly.
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00:05:34,538 --> 00:05:37,458
Every piece of them looked
like something
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00:05:37,583 --> 00:05:44,131
I'd seen on a... reengineered
on an aircraft or on a supercar.
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00:05:44,256 --> 00:05:47,843
When they fluke, they arch like that.
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00:05:47,968 --> 00:05:51,764
Their tail comes up vertically
and drops straight in the water,
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00:05:51,889 --> 00:05:54,600
and you can barely hear a sound.
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[Craig] Wow, look at that!
[laughs] Wow!
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That is just beautiful!
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00:06:27,549 --> 00:06:30,469
[whistles]
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00:06:49,196 --> 00:06:51,356
[Craig] It's the first time
that we believe that anyone
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00:06:51,406 --> 00:06:56,203
has ever filmed
a juvenile pygmy blue whale underwater.
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00:07:26,316 --> 00:07:29,486
[Craig] What do you think it's from, Alex?
Is it from a ship?
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00:07:29,611 --> 00:07:31,822
No, it came from a river.
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[Craig] We were in the Indian Ocean,
off the coast of Sri Lanka, where
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there hasn't been any commercial
fishing because of the civil war.
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00:07:38,871 --> 00:07:42,875
The beaches have been closed
for up to 30 years.
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00:07:43,000 --> 00:07:46,712
We thought this was
a relatively pristine environment.
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00:07:51,425 --> 00:07:52,545
[man]
Floating on the surface
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00:07:52,634 --> 00:07:56,513
and a meter below
was just this horrible, crappy,
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00:07:56,638 --> 00:08:01,058
emulsified mess of oil and bits of,
you know...
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00:08:01,268 --> 00:08:03,395
It's horrible, and looking through it,
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00:08:03,520 --> 00:08:06,690
you could see the tendrils
of the net hanging down.
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00:08:06,815 --> 00:08:10,611
That was certainly one of the most
unpleasant dives I've ever done.
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[woman]
I spent my childhood in the sea.
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00:09:20,764 --> 00:09:22,015
Growing up in Grand Cayman,
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00:09:22,140 --> 00:09:24,893
we didn't have
organized sports after school.
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00:09:25,018 --> 00:09:30,107
We didn't even have a TV until I was 13,
so the sea was my playground.
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00:09:32,943 --> 00:09:35,529
As a free-diver,
it was the place where...
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00:09:35,654 --> 00:09:41,159
I proved myself to myself by traveling
to the absolute edge of myself.
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00:09:43,036 --> 00:09:45,497
[inhales]
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00:09:45,622 --> 00:09:48,959
[exhales]
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00:09:49,084 --> 00:09:52,296
[Tanya] I need to put as much oxygen
in my blood as possible
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00:09:52,421 --> 00:09:55,674
so that I can hold my breath
for the three-and-a-half to four minutes
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00:09:55,799 --> 00:09:57,217
that the dive is gonna take me.
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00:09:57,342 --> 00:09:59,886
[inhales air]
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00:10:10,188 --> 00:10:12,316
[Tanya] Five-hundred and
twenty-five feet is beyond
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00:10:12,441 --> 00:10:15,319
the crushing depth
of Second World War submarines.
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00:10:33,920 --> 00:10:38,133
In pushing so hard,
I learned about limits.
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00:10:40,385 --> 00:10:43,805
I've got a fiery redhead,
and she redefines my limits every day.
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00:10:43,930 --> 00:10:44,931
[audience laughing]
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00:10:46,558 --> 00:10:47,559
Finally for me,
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00:10:47,684 --> 00:10:51,688
it feels like there's a point
to this bizarre gift I have
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of "looking pretty
and holding my breath."
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I have the opportunity
to pay the sea back...
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but I'm learning on my feet.
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00:11:01,907 --> 00:11:05,327
I didn't know that
in the last ten years,
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we've made more plastic
than we did in the century before that.
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00:11:10,248 --> 00:11:14,753
Half of those plastic products
are considered "disposable."
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00:11:14,878 --> 00:11:15,921
But think about it.
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00:11:16,046 --> 00:11:20,634
How can a disposable product be made
of a material that's indestructible?
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Where does it go?
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[indistinct chatters]
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[Tanya] This is a Bryde's whale.
It's dying, taking its final breaths.
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[woman] Oh, my God.
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00:11:36,650 --> 00:11:41,138
[Tanya] It was found to have six square
meters of plastic sheeting inside it.
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00:11:41,263 --> 00:11:43,865
It couldn't eat
and it died of malnourishment.
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00:11:43,990 --> 00:11:49,079
Its digestive system was blocked
and it died a terrible, painful death.
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00:12:06,888 --> 00:12:08,098
That's got a hole in it.
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This is all some of the rubbish
that we found
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00:12:10,517 --> 00:12:14,771
in the floating jetsam
and flotsam in the ocean.
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00:12:14,896 --> 00:12:16,314
We'll get Ben to go through it,
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00:12:16,440 --> 00:12:19,276
but there's even a pack
of unopened biscuits.
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00:12:19,401 --> 00:12:24,281
You can see it's been there for some time,
the mollusks that are growing off it.
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00:12:24,406 --> 00:12:27,367
There's crabs.
There's a crab in there, have a look.
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00:12:30,787 --> 00:12:32,622
So, quite extraordinary.
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00:12:32,747 --> 00:12:36,293
- [man 1] Another one.
- [man 2] Another one. Down here.
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00:12:36,418 --> 00:12:38,418
[Craig] The detritus that's built up
in these areas
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00:12:38,462 --> 00:12:42,215
where they don't have the benefit
of getting rid of the rubbish.
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00:12:42,340 --> 00:12:44,342
Well, we're about 20 miles offshore.
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00:12:44,468 --> 00:12:48,180
It's been trapped in the river mouth
and now it's all flushed out into sea.
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00:12:48,305 --> 00:12:49,931
This is one of the main areas
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00:12:50,056 --> 00:12:51,936
where we're hunting
for the blue whales to film,
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00:12:51,975 --> 00:12:54,269
so this is right in their environment.
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00:12:54,394 --> 00:12:57,230
They feed by opening their mouth
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00:12:57,355 --> 00:12:59,566
and just sucking up
whatever's in their path.
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00:12:59,691 --> 00:13:03,236
They take in
hundreds of gallons of water,
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00:13:03,361 --> 00:13:06,823
they express that water, and
they feed off the krill and tiny fish.
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00:13:06,948 --> 00:13:10,827
But they can't tell the difference
between krill and plastic.
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00:13:10,952 --> 00:13:12,829
Disposable lighters.
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00:13:12,954 --> 00:13:14,831
Just... you know,
this is never gonna degrade.
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00:13:14,956 --> 00:13:18,168
These are gonna be floating there for...
a very long time.
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00:13:18,293 --> 00:13:20,504
They'll break down
to very small particles,
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00:13:20,629 --> 00:13:24,591
and that's if some large marine mammal
doesn't come along and swallow them whole.
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It's got nowhere to go.
This is where it lives now.
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00:13:29,262 --> 00:13:34,809
Well, to contrast that area
of affected ocean by those plastics
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00:13:34,935 --> 00:13:38,688
with the virgin blue water
that you find very close by,
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00:13:38,813 --> 00:13:40,273
well, there's just no comparison.
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The animals of the world deserve
the blue ocean, not that sort of shit.
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[Craig] I started to wonder
what's happening in oceans
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elsewhere on the planet.
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[Tanya] Sixty-three billion gallons
of oil are used every year
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00:14:39,374 --> 00:14:42,252
just to supply the U.S.
with plastic water bottles.
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00:14:44,880 --> 00:14:49,134
The U.S. alone throws away
38 billion bottles every year.
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00:14:49,259 --> 00:14:53,096
That's two million tons of plastic
going into U.S. landfills,
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00:14:53,221 --> 00:14:55,807
and that's only from water bottles.
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00:14:55,932 --> 00:14:58,685
In this year alone,
every single person on the planet
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00:14:58,810 --> 00:15:05,567
will use and dispose about 300 pounds
or 136 kilos, of single-use plastic.
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00:15:05,692 --> 00:15:09,195
[Craig] Plastic is wonderful
because it's durable
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00:15:09,321 --> 00:15:13,158
and plastic is terrible
because it is durable.
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00:15:18,496 --> 00:15:21,082
Almost every piece of plastic ever made
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00:15:21,207 --> 00:15:25,211
is still on the planet
in some form or another.
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00:15:25,337 --> 00:15:27,255
Plastic production globally this year
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00:15:27,380 --> 00:15:31,217
is expected to be
more than 300 million tons.
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Half of which we'll use just once
and then throw away.
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00:15:35,513 --> 00:15:40,101
By 2050, when the population explodes
to almost ten billion people,
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it's expected that plastic production
will triple.
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00:15:43,855 --> 00:15:47,025
The problem with that is...
is that today, only a fraction
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of the plastic that we produce
is recycled.
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00:15:50,820 --> 00:15:52,948
The rest ends up in our environment
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00:15:53,073 --> 00:15:57,786
and it's coating our land and our oceans
like a disease.
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00:16:10,757 --> 00:16:15,387
[Craig] Tasmania smells like freshness.
It smells like salt spray.
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00:16:16,388 --> 00:16:19,015
Primitive. It just smells natural.
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00:16:20,433 --> 00:16:24,187
It has the cleanest air and water
measured anywhere on the planet.
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The ocean to me, is my church,
it's my temple,
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it's my synagogue, it's my mosque.
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It's where I feel the most spiritual.
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It's where I go to work,
where I go for my enjoyment,
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and where I go to think.
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00:16:44,416 --> 00:16:47,961
And it's also the environment
that challenges me
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more than any other environment
that I know.
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00:16:59,889 --> 00:17:02,559
Growing up, my world was...
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00:17:03,685 --> 00:17:05,603
exploring the rock pools...
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00:17:06,938 --> 00:17:11,192
tiny little fish that I could catch
and study and release a day later.
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00:17:14,612 --> 00:17:18,366
My mother was very caring
and very supportive
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00:17:18,491 --> 00:17:20,618
of anything that we wanted to do.
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And she picked up very early on,
I think, my fascination with wildlife.
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I'm fourth-generation journalist.
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00:17:30,587 --> 00:17:32,797
It's believed he's heading to Moscow.
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00:17:32,922 --> 00:17:36,301
We're on a truck
taking rice down to Santa Fe.
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00:17:36,426 --> 00:17:39,721
Okay, it's not live, is it?
Hang on, wait, wait! Whoa!
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00:17:39,846 --> 00:17:44,559
Further outside Katmandu you travel
the worse it seems the damage becomes.
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00:17:44,684 --> 00:17:49,647
Small villages like this one, Sankhu
stood no chance against the moving earth.
191
00:17:49,773 --> 00:17:53,359
These rescue teams have been unable
to access inside this city.
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00:17:57,197 --> 00:18:00,492
[Craig] The town that I grew up in
was an industrial town.
193
00:18:02,243 --> 00:18:06,247
I remember coming out after training
from the surf lifesaving club,
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00:18:06,372 --> 00:18:10,460
where I was a member,
with just stinging red eyes.
195
00:18:10,585 --> 00:18:12,128
So, when I worked for the newspaper,
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00:18:12,253 --> 00:18:15,298
I wanted to investigate
what was causing that.
197
00:18:15,423 --> 00:18:18,093
We started doing testing
on the water in Emu Bay
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00:18:18,218 --> 00:18:22,972
and what we found was that there were
these heavy amounts of organochlorines
199
00:18:23,098 --> 00:18:26,684
and these contain dioxins
which are cancer-causing agents.
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00:18:26,810 --> 00:18:29,437
- [helicopter whirs]
- I put this to the government of Tasmania
201
00:18:29,562 --> 00:18:33,149
and they admitted for the first time
that these dioxins existed,
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00:18:33,274 --> 00:18:35,444
and that they were dangerous.
203
00:18:35,569 --> 00:18:39,464
Within ten years,
all of those industries had closed, and
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00:18:39,489 --> 00:18:42,033
today the fish are back in the water.
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00:18:42,158 --> 00:18:46,037
The water is blue again,
and it's a very beautiful city.
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00:19:03,388 --> 00:19:06,850
We think that when we put
something in the trash
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00:19:06,975 --> 00:19:11,896
or when we just toss it from a boat
or on a beach, that it "goes away."
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00:19:12,021 --> 00:19:14,357
Ah! [stammers]
We're now free of the plastic.
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00:19:17,819 --> 00:19:22,282
[Tanya] Over 80 percent of ocean plastic
leaks from land-based sources.
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00:19:24,993 --> 00:19:27,245
Even if you don't live near the ocean,
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00:19:27,370 --> 00:19:31,291
chances are your plastic garbage
has found its way to the sea.
212
00:19:34,419 --> 00:19:38,131
The Great Lakes in North America
are a good example.
213
00:19:38,256 --> 00:19:40,466
Eighty percent of the litter
along the shorelines
214
00:19:40,592 --> 00:19:43,303
of these majestic lakes is plastic.
215
00:19:44,512 --> 00:19:48,474
What trash doesn't remain on the shoreline
or sink into the lake sediment
216
00:19:48,600 --> 00:19:50,768
flows through the canals
and river system
217
00:19:50,894 --> 00:19:55,023
through the St. Lawrence Seaway
and into the Atlantic Ocean.
218
00:19:55,148 --> 00:19:57,734
These great lakes are just one example.
219
00:19:57,859 --> 00:20:01,487
This level of plastic debris
is found all around the world.
220
00:20:08,703 --> 00:20:11,247
Thousands of years
of agriculture and industry
221
00:20:11,372 --> 00:20:16,419
have made the Med one of the most
polluted bodies of water on the planet.
222
00:20:16,544 --> 00:20:19,088
About eight million tons of plastic
is dumped
223
00:20:19,214 --> 00:20:21,758
into the world's oceans every year.
224
00:20:21,883 --> 00:20:25,678
More than 50 percent of marine debris,
including plastic,
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00:20:25,803 --> 00:20:27,180
sinks to the bottom of the ocean.
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00:20:30,016 --> 00:20:32,602
- Ahoy!
- Hello, Mike!
227
00:20:32,727 --> 00:20:34,604
- Hey, Popov.
- Welcome aboard.
228
00:20:34,729 --> 00:20:35,730
- Good to see you.
- Yeah.
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00:20:35,855 --> 00:20:39,275
[Tanya] I met up with filmmaker,
Mike deGruy, a marine biologist
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00:20:39,400 --> 00:20:42,070
and also an experienced
submersible pilot.
231
00:20:47,408 --> 00:20:51,454
[Tanya] It'll be interesting to see
just how far-reaching it really is.
232
00:20:51,579 --> 00:20:53,248
To be this far offshore
233
00:20:53,373 --> 00:20:58,711
and see whether the plastic that we know
is coming from that direction
234
00:20:58,836 --> 00:21:02,590
is winding up out
in the depths out here, right?
235
00:21:02,715 --> 00:21:07,470
I'm really looking forward to,
of course diving the sub in the Med,
236
00:21:07,595 --> 00:21:11,432
a place that has more fishing impact
than most bodies of water on the planet.
237
00:21:14,602 --> 00:21:17,063
[squeaks]
238
00:21:34,747 --> 00:21:37,250
[speaks in French]
239
00:21:46,926 --> 00:21:50,555
Hey, Mike, it's Tanya. Can you tell me
what you're seeing down there?
240
00:21:52,807 --> 00:21:54,058
[Mike] You turn the light on,
241
00:21:54,183 --> 00:21:56,019
and you're descending
through these particles.
242
00:22:07,030 --> 00:22:09,907
Well, welcome to the bottom
of the ocean, Tanya.
243
00:22:10,033 --> 00:22:13,703
[Mike] I wish you were down here
watching this operation.
244
00:22:15,038 --> 00:22:17,290
If you weren't hogging the sub,
I would be down there.
245
00:22:17,415 --> 00:22:20,293
[submarine whirs]
246
00:22:20,418 --> 00:22:23,087
So, we're just under five meters now.
247
00:22:25,006 --> 00:22:28,551
Almost 1200... About 1200 feet.
248
00:22:28,676 --> 00:22:32,722
- And a plastic bottle.
- You see a plastic bottle. Exactly.
249
00:22:34,724 --> 00:22:38,394
We're now starting to see more
and more plastic.
250
00:22:38,519 --> 00:22:42,648
More and more tires and pieces of metal,
251
00:22:42,774 --> 00:22:47,862
and just absolutely disregard
for the bottom, really.
252
00:22:47,987 --> 00:22:49,947
It's just junk everywhere.
253
00:22:59,582 --> 00:23:04,504
Fishing line is a really dangerous thing
to see in a submarine.
254
00:23:04,629 --> 00:23:08,633
You can get entangled in it and
stuck to the bottom. Not a good thing.
255
00:23:10,885 --> 00:23:13,221
Tanya, this is Remora.
256
00:23:13,346 --> 00:23:19,018
We are right in front of
a pretty good-sized bundle of plastic.
257
00:23:20,019 --> 00:23:24,482
Is there any chance that you can grab
some of it with the manipulator?
258
00:23:24,607 --> 00:23:27,985
[Mike]
That's exactly what we're going to do.
259
00:23:43,000 --> 00:23:46,671
[Tanya] It looks like a lift bag.
Could it be a lift bag?
260
00:23:46,796 --> 00:23:47,713
It's a what?
261
00:23:47,839 --> 00:23:50,258
[men speaking in French]
262
00:23:52,635 --> 00:23:55,721
[Tanya]
We saw unexploded bombs, old parachutes,
263
00:23:55,847 --> 00:23:57,515
and plenty of plastic rubbish.
264
00:23:57,640 --> 00:24:00,309
[machine whirs]
265
00:24:02,395 --> 00:24:05,982
Our scientists commissioned a small,
remotely-operated vehicle
266
00:24:06,107 --> 00:24:09,694
to travel over a mile and a half down
to the deep trenches.
267
00:24:21,455 --> 00:24:23,583
The ROV is coming down.
268
00:24:23,708 --> 00:24:26,586
- [Popov] There they are.
- [Mike] Which is kind of cool.
269
00:24:47,064 --> 00:24:49,901
[Tanya]
Here, where the daylight never reaches,
270
00:24:50,026 --> 00:24:54,363
the eddies and currents have
collected scores of plastic bottles.
271
00:24:56,073 --> 00:24:59,076
This plastic could remain here forever.
272
00:25:32,360 --> 00:25:36,572
You go down, you know, 350, 375 meters,
273
00:25:36,697 --> 00:25:40,493
hit bottom, start moving around,
and immediately start seeing trash.
274
00:25:40,618 --> 00:25:42,453
- Plastic?
- Plastic.
275
00:25:42,578 --> 00:25:46,749
Where in the world can you go anymore
and not find plastic?
276
00:25:51,212 --> 00:25:56,676
[Tanya] Our oceans are driven by five
major circular currents, or "gyres."
277
00:25:56,801 --> 00:26:01,889
These are created by the earth's rotation
and the resulting predominant winds.
278
00:26:02,014 --> 00:26:05,518
Each continent is affected
by these massive systems.
279
00:26:05,643 --> 00:26:08,938
They collect waste flowing
from our rivers and coastlines,
280
00:26:09,063 --> 00:26:11,816
and over time,
anything floating within the gyre
281
00:26:11,941 --> 00:26:15,069
will eventually move
towards the center of the gyre.
282
00:26:25,371 --> 00:26:27,999
[Craig] Our producer, Jo Ruxton,
was familiar with the story
283
00:26:28,124 --> 00:26:31,544
about a huge, floating island of garbage
284
00:26:31,669 --> 00:26:34,964
twice the size of Texas
in the North Pacific.
285
00:26:37,425 --> 00:26:40,261
Jo joined Dr. Andrea Neal and her team
286
00:26:40,386 --> 00:26:44,223
on an expedition
to this Great Pacific Garbage Patch.
287
00:26:44,348 --> 00:26:46,392
So, we're deploying the manta trawl,
288
00:26:46,517 --> 00:26:49,937
and we're going to look
for fine particulates and debris.
289
00:26:50,062 --> 00:26:54,483
This mesh here is 333 microns, which is
in the size range of zooplankton.
290
00:26:56,402 --> 00:26:59,322
[Craig] The manta trawl
captures material on the surface.
291
00:26:59,447 --> 00:27:04,368
It will take anything
the size of a pinhead or larger.
292
00:27:05,911 --> 00:27:09,832
Looking out over the vast expanse
of clear, sparkling water,
293
00:27:09,957 --> 00:27:12,585
there is no plastic in sight.
294
00:27:12,710 --> 00:27:14,879
[indistinct chatter]
295
00:27:18,507 --> 00:27:21,969
[Craig] The contents of the trawl
are emptied and floated.
296
00:27:22,094 --> 00:27:26,349
The tiny pieces of plastic then
reveal themselves to Jo and Dr. Neal.
297
00:27:28,642 --> 00:27:30,853
[Andrea] Scientists estimate
that there are more than
298
00:27:30,978 --> 00:27:35,775
five trillion pieces of plastic afloat
in our oceans worldwide.
299
00:27:39,445 --> 00:27:42,073
[Craig]
There is no "floating island" of plastic.
300
00:27:42,198 --> 00:27:45,576
What exists is far more insidious.
301
00:27:45,701 --> 00:27:49,663
What exists is a kind of "plastic smog."
302
00:27:49,789 --> 00:27:52,041
These tiny pieces
of plastic that are floating
303
00:27:52,166 --> 00:27:55,836
on the surface of the ocean
come from larger pieces.
304
00:27:57,046 --> 00:28:01,217
Over time, the sun's ultraviolet light,
ocean wave action, and salt,
305
00:28:01,342 --> 00:28:05,513
break it up into smaller pieces
called "microplastics."
306
00:28:06,722 --> 00:28:09,934
Microplastics have rough,
pitted surfaces.
307
00:28:12,186 --> 00:28:14,438
Waterborne chemicals
from industry and agriculture
308
00:28:14,563 --> 00:28:18,192
stick to microplastics,
making them toxic poison pills.
309
00:29:00,276 --> 00:29:01,944
There are five ocean gyres,
310
00:29:02,069 --> 00:29:05,531
and the South Pacific
is one of the least studied
311
00:29:05,656 --> 00:29:06,824
next to the Indian Ocean.
312
00:29:06,949 --> 00:29:10,870
I've been to three of the five gyres,
so this will be my number four.
313
00:29:10,995 --> 00:29:13,831
- So, let's go fishing for plastic.
- All right, let's do it.
314
00:29:13,956 --> 00:29:18,252
[Bonnie] My first study was done
in the North Atlantic in 2009.
315
00:29:18,377 --> 00:29:24,049
We took a series of seven samples
and by weight, we then estimated
316
00:29:24,175 --> 00:29:30,139
that the North Atlantic
had 3,440 metric tons
317
00:29:30,264 --> 00:29:33,684
of just microplastics. We're not
even including the larger plastics.
318
00:29:34,977 --> 00:29:36,312
Seems really heavy.
319
00:29:38,898 --> 00:29:42,109
- Maybe we caught a coconut.
- [chuckles]
320
00:29:42,234 --> 00:29:44,034
- Aw, that's... Wow, look at that.
- Oh, yeah.
321
00:29:44,069 --> 00:29:45,949
[Bonnie] You can see
how well this device works.
322
00:29:46,030 --> 00:29:47,322
- [Craig] Yeah.
- It collects everything.
323
00:29:47,323 --> 00:29:50,034
[Craig] They look like
they've just broken off something.
324
00:29:50,159 --> 00:29:53,496
- Yeah, I mean...
- They're very tiny. Look at this.
325
00:29:53,621 --> 00:29:55,998
Michael, I think we've found
our first "nurdle."
326
00:29:56,123 --> 00:29:58,209
- Exactly what that is.
- Preproduction pellets.
327
00:29:58,334 --> 00:30:00,836
Those things float all around the world,
don't they?
328
00:30:00,961 --> 00:30:04,006
- Right. What does it look like to you?
- It looks like a little egg.
329
00:30:10,930 --> 00:30:15,392
[Craig] The sea at night
is one of my favorite times.
330
00:30:15,518 --> 00:30:18,062
It's when the ocean truly comes alive
331
00:30:18,187 --> 00:30:20,898
and you can virtually see
the food chain in action.
332
00:30:29,156 --> 00:30:33,702
Zooplankton feed on phytoplankton.
Small fish feed on zooplankton.
333
00:30:33,828 --> 00:30:35,371
Squid feed on small fish,
334
00:30:35,496 --> 00:30:38,457
and so it goes on,
up and up the food chain.
335
00:30:57,852 --> 00:31:00,019
- [man] There are some myctophids in there.
- [Craig] Oh, wow.
336
00:31:00,020 --> 00:31:02,439
Well, shall we get them on the table
and open them up
337
00:31:02,565 --> 00:31:04,650
and have a look and see what's in there?
338
00:31:04,775 --> 00:31:06,055
[man] We'll start with this guy.
339
00:31:09,655 --> 00:31:13,909
- That's something hard right here.
- Yeah, what's that?
340
00:31:17,997 --> 00:31:20,207
[birds chirp]
341
00:31:20,332 --> 00:31:23,168
This is the very first sample we did,
and it was a night trawl,
342
00:31:23,294 --> 00:31:24,712
so we could catch lantern fish.
343
00:31:24,837 --> 00:31:28,966
After I dried the sample,
I handpicked the pieces of plastic.
344
00:31:29,091 --> 00:31:31,302
This is what we found.
345
00:31:31,427 --> 00:31:34,138
So, what this means
is the feeding that's occurring
346
00:31:34,263 --> 00:31:38,017
on the surface of the ocean has these
plastic fragments floating around,
347
00:31:38,142 --> 00:31:40,352
and is actually intermixing
in the food chain.
348
00:31:40,477 --> 00:31:42,771
You know that plastic doesn't degrade.
349
00:31:42,897 --> 00:31:44,732
Most of the time we say it breaks down
350
00:31:44,857 --> 00:31:47,943
but that's probably not
an accurate way to say it.
351
00:31:48,068 --> 00:31:51,405
It actually breaks up
so it's more, um, proliferated.
352
00:31:51,530 --> 00:31:56,160
And when it's proliferated, there's more
opportunities for plastics to be ingested.
353
00:31:56,285 --> 00:32:00,289
Many of the marine creatures eating this
kind of plastic are in our food chain.
354
00:32:00,414 --> 00:32:03,626
Does that mean, then, that
this plastic is getting inside of us?
355
00:32:03,751 --> 00:32:07,171
The problem is,
these plastics adsorb chemicals
356
00:32:07,296 --> 00:32:08,736
that are free-floating in the ocean.
357
00:32:08,797 --> 00:32:15,179
So when the fish eat the plastics,
those toxins then migrate from the plastic
358
00:32:15,304 --> 00:32:18,390
into the muscles or the fats,
the parts that we like to eat in fish.
359
00:32:18,515 --> 00:32:21,352
Building up in the fish then
as they eat more and more of them.
360
00:32:21,477 --> 00:32:23,729
And so, that's the part we like to eat,
361
00:32:23,854 --> 00:32:26,815
and that's where
these chemicals migrate to.
362
00:32:35,032 --> 00:32:36,659
[rooster crowing]
363
00:32:51,799 --> 00:32:53,801
[indistinct chatter]
364
00:32:53,926 --> 00:32:56,303
[woman] Big crab. Nice.
365
00:32:56,428 --> 00:32:57,638
Oh!
366
00:32:57,763 --> 00:32:59,223
It's a prawn, eh?
367
00:33:00,849 --> 00:33:03,560
[laughs]
368
00:33:25,958 --> 00:33:29,211
- Hello, Rosie. How are you?
- Hi.
369
00:33:29,336 --> 00:33:32,673
- Hi, Bula.
- Hi. Bula, Salota.
370
00:33:32,798 --> 00:33:33,966
Dinner. What are we cooking?
371
00:33:34,091 --> 00:33:37,845
We're having taro leaves
with fish in coconut milk.
372
00:33:37,970 --> 00:33:39,637
That's a very traditional
Fijian village dinner.
373
00:33:39,638 --> 00:33:41,348
Yes, it is. Yes, it is.
374
00:33:41,473 --> 00:33:43,976
It smells really good
except for the smoke.
375
00:33:44,101 --> 00:33:46,812
- Yeah, really making my eyes water.
- Yeah.
376
00:33:47,855 --> 00:33:51,650
- Did you light your fire using plastics?
- Always, yes.
377
00:33:51,775 --> 00:33:54,987
And you do that
every time you cook food?
378
00:33:55,112 --> 00:33:56,405
Three times a day.
379
00:33:56,530 --> 00:33:58,449
Instead of buying kerosene,
380
00:33:58,574 --> 00:34:01,035
you use plastic
because it's easier to burn.
381
00:34:01,160 --> 00:34:03,871
- Much cheaper, easier to find, it's free.
- Much more cheaper.
382
00:34:03,996 --> 00:34:05,622
Very much. And it's free.
383
00:34:05,748 --> 00:34:07,041
I'm feeling that in my eyes.
384
00:34:07,166 --> 00:34:09,793
Do you feel [stammers]
that affects you in any way?
385
00:34:09,918 --> 00:34:14,590
You start having problems in breathing
and you have problems in coughing.
386
00:34:14,715 --> 00:34:19,470
And sometimes you can have headache.
But we...
387
00:34:19,595 --> 00:34:21,638
It doesn't really bother us.
388
00:34:21,764 --> 00:34:24,349
Because, like,
we've used that for a long time.
389
00:34:24,475 --> 00:34:26,685
- So you're used to it. Yeah.
- We're used to it.
390
00:34:26,810 --> 00:34:30,189
Whereas I'm not, which is why
I'm crying right now. [chuckles]
391
00:34:30,314 --> 00:34:32,357
And I hope you're not crying
because of me.
392
00:34:32,483 --> 00:34:35,360
There's no chance. I'm crying
because I won't get to try this food.
393
00:34:35,486 --> 00:34:38,822
What I'd like to do is bring back
a scientist if we can
394
00:34:38,947 --> 00:34:41,075
and do some measurements on the smoke
395
00:34:41,200 --> 00:34:44,953
and just see what kind of chemicals
are being released
396
00:34:45,079 --> 00:34:46,538
from the plastics as you cook.
397
00:34:46,663 --> 00:34:49,958
- [stammers] Would you let us do that?
- Yes, of course.
398
00:34:50,084 --> 00:34:52,724
[Craig] We can have a look
at maybe some of the health implications
399
00:34:52,836 --> 00:34:54,505
of starting the fires with plastic.
400
00:34:54,630 --> 00:34:55,923
[Rosie]
Yes, I think that's a good idea.
401
00:34:57,883 --> 00:35:00,761
[machine whirs]
402
00:35:00,886 --> 00:35:03,263
[Michael] People misuse plastics
for a lot of things.
403
00:35:03,388 --> 00:35:04,973
But for cooking, I mean that's...
404
00:35:05,099 --> 00:35:08,393
for me, it's kind of
very unusual circumstances.
405
00:35:08,519 --> 00:35:10,771
And we wanna have a baseline study
406
00:35:10,896 --> 00:35:13,941
to show what kind of chemicals
we're actually breathing in.
407
00:35:14,066 --> 00:35:17,820
Because the lung is an interface
between that air we're breathing in,
408
00:35:17,945 --> 00:35:21,949
plus the smoke and our blood system,
and then we get it in our systems.
409
00:35:22,074 --> 00:35:23,951
[Craig] What did we find today then
410
00:35:24,076 --> 00:35:26,036
with the experiment that you did
with this device?
411
00:35:26,078 --> 00:35:29,540
I'll show you. These filters are white
when you put them in, but...
412
00:35:29,665 --> 00:35:31,750
That's brown, almost black.
413
00:35:31,875 --> 00:35:33,085
- Yeah.
- This is a mini lung.
414
00:35:33,210 --> 00:35:34,169
This could be what
415
00:35:34,294 --> 00:35:36,504
- they're absorbing into their lungs.
- Yeah, pretty much.
416
00:35:36,505 --> 00:35:39,591
[Craig] This can't be good
for your health, can it?
417
00:35:39,716 --> 00:35:42,678
[Michael] What we know
specifically from this P.A.H
418
00:35:42,803 --> 00:35:46,056
and a combination of those
is that they are cancer-causing.
419
00:35:46,181 --> 00:35:47,516
That's one thing.
420
00:35:48,517 --> 00:35:52,104
But there are also maybe phthalates there
which are evaporating from plastics
421
00:35:52,229 --> 00:35:55,357
which have a large percentage
of the phthalates in there
422
00:35:55,482 --> 00:35:57,442
to give plastic its properties.
423
00:36:01,071 --> 00:36:04,533
If you breathe them, they have,
um, hormone-changing properties,
424
00:36:04,658 --> 00:36:07,161
so-called
"endocrine-disrupting properties."
425
00:36:07,286 --> 00:36:10,330
And all...
lot of other health effects as well.
426
00:36:13,041 --> 00:36:15,335
[Craig]
Professor Sue Jobling is the editor
427
00:36:15,460 --> 00:36:19,923
of the recent World Health Organization
report on endocrine disrupters.
428
00:36:21,717 --> 00:36:25,596
Endocrine disruption
is disruption of the normal functioning
429
00:36:25,721 --> 00:36:27,639
of the body's hormonal system.
430
00:36:27,764 --> 00:36:31,810
They fool the body into thinking
that they are hormones
431
00:36:31,935 --> 00:36:38,400
and then they either block or mimic
the action or production of hormones.
432
00:36:38,525 --> 00:36:42,863
And in doing so, they interfere
with very many bodily processes...
433
00:36:42,988 --> 00:36:47,868
growth, metabolism, reproduction,
and critically, early development.
434
00:36:47,993 --> 00:36:52,623
[Craig] The majority of ocean plastic
comes from just six countries.
435
00:37:09,139 --> 00:37:10,432
[woman] RTHK News.
436
00:37:12,476 --> 00:37:13,810
[man] Billions of plastic pellets
437
00:37:13,936 --> 00:37:16,188
have spilled into Hong Kong's
southern waters
438
00:37:16,313 --> 00:37:20,692
after several containers fell off a ship
when Typhoon Vicente battered Hong Kong.
439
00:37:20,817 --> 00:37:24,738
[Craig] Six containers full of nurdles.
All of them broke up in the storm
440
00:37:24,863 --> 00:37:29,368
and disgorged most of their plastic
bags into the sea. [helicopter whirs]
441
00:37:29,493 --> 00:37:33,330
The vast majority broke open
and the contents spilled out.
442
00:37:51,139 --> 00:37:53,016
Run them through your fingers there.
443
00:37:57,062 --> 00:37:58,562
[Tracey]
Just plastic pellets everywhere. Yeah.
444
00:37:58,563 --> 00:37:59,940
It looked like snow on the beach.
445
00:38:01,525 --> 00:38:04,569
[Craig] On the neighboring Lamma Island,
they found tons of this stuff
446
00:38:04,695 --> 00:38:06,363
that had come ashore.
447
00:38:06,488 --> 00:38:08,365
It seems the company
that made the nurdles
448
00:38:08,490 --> 00:38:11,076
has unwittingly put
their signature on her.
449
00:38:11,201 --> 00:38:14,079
Sinopec, a giant Chinese oil company
450
00:38:14,204 --> 00:38:17,291
that makes nurdles
for distribution worldwide.
451
00:38:32,347 --> 00:38:36,059
Close by are some other sacks,
also ripped open.
452
00:38:36,184 --> 00:38:38,645
The vast majority of them
would have been carried off
453
00:38:38,770 --> 00:38:42,441
by the typhoon
to disperse their contents far and wide.
454
00:38:45,569 --> 00:38:48,947
[Gary] Four of the six are here,
so we've got the one on the top here.
455
00:38:49,072 --> 00:38:51,742
It's the one we found
at Beaufort Island.
456
00:38:51,867 --> 00:38:55,620
It's totally destroyed.
It's a... It's a 40-foot container.
457
00:38:55,746 --> 00:38:57,914
We've been told
it carries a thousand sacks.
458
00:38:58,040 --> 00:39:00,624
- There's still one hasn't been found.
- Still one out there somewhere.
459
00:39:00,625 --> 00:39:02,753
There's a million pellets
of plastic in these bags.
460
00:39:02,878 --> 00:39:06,757
So, every single bag
saves thousands of marine species,
461
00:39:06,882 --> 00:39:08,884
so, every bag counts at this point.
462
00:39:09,009 --> 00:39:10,927
Every day, pellets are
getting washed out
463
00:39:11,053 --> 00:39:13,180
and trying to get
that sense of urgency across.
464
00:39:13,305 --> 00:39:15,640
[Gary]
We put a call to action out on Facebook.
465
00:39:15,766 --> 00:39:18,352
"Go to your local beach,
this is what you're looking for."
466
00:39:18,477 --> 00:39:20,395
These are the bags,
these are the pellets.
467
00:39:20,520 --> 00:39:23,023
You know,
we came up with a rapid action plan.
468
00:39:23,148 --> 00:39:26,985
Get a quick survey of the coast
so we can see the bigger picture.
469
00:39:27,110 --> 00:39:29,863
And from that,
then we isolated some hot spots.
470
00:39:31,031 --> 00:39:35,035
[Craig] "Which beach, Cheung Chau/Mui Wo,
needs more people to help?"
471
00:39:35,160 --> 00:39:36,995
Uh, Beach Number 1.
472
00:39:37,120 --> 00:39:41,041
[Gary] I set up the Facebook page,
"Plastic Disaster Hong Kong"
473
00:39:41,166 --> 00:39:45,837
and it went from 80 to a thousand likes
in a few hours.
474
00:39:45,962 --> 00:39:49,132
And it became pretty much the one place
475
00:39:49,257 --> 00:39:51,384
where all the information
was being posted by everybody.
476
00:39:51,385 --> 00:39:55,138
Even the government were checking it.
Sinopec were checking it.
477
00:39:55,263 --> 00:39:59,684
[Craig] Sinopec sent down people
from their head office.
478
00:39:59,810 --> 00:40:01,686
They had general managers
on the beaches.
479
00:40:01,812 --> 00:40:04,063
[Gary] They have been very responsible.
They have been down.
480
00:40:04,064 --> 00:40:07,442
We had an emergency meeting about it.
They're very concerned
481
00:40:07,567 --> 00:40:09,068
and they're offering
all the assistance they can.
482
00:40:09,069 --> 00:40:11,321
Thanks for helping, guys. Um...
483
00:40:11,446 --> 00:40:14,699
There's some more concentrated pellets
down the end there.
484
00:40:15,784 --> 00:40:17,701
[Craig] Once you let people know
what the problem is,
485
00:40:17,702 --> 00:40:19,371
people have their own ideas
486
00:40:19,496 --> 00:40:23,583
and can contribute their own ingenuity
to help solve the problem.
487
00:40:25,585 --> 00:40:28,839
[Gary] The people of Hong Kong
realized the severity of the problem
488
00:40:28,964 --> 00:40:31,299
and just came out
in their masses to help.
489
00:40:31,425 --> 00:40:33,802
And that is something
that I will never, ever forget.
490
00:40:41,810 --> 00:40:44,271
[speaks in foreign language]
491
00:40:44,396 --> 00:40:47,315
So, this is what they found
in the fish farm.
492
00:40:47,441 --> 00:40:51,111
Pellets like this floating in the sea,
and then they're found in the bags.
493
00:40:51,236 --> 00:40:53,113
We caught three fish.
494
00:40:53,238 --> 00:40:58,910
They cut them open and each fish
had five, six, seven pellets in it.
495
00:40:59,035 --> 00:41:03,540
[speaking in a foreign language]
496
00:41:05,625 --> 00:41:08,378
Because they can't ingest anything?
They can't take in any more food?
497
00:41:08,503 --> 00:41:14,426
[speaking in a foreign language]
498
00:41:14,551 --> 00:41:16,761
[Craig]
Even the supermarkets won't buy them.
499
00:41:16,887 --> 00:41:18,889
So, it's completely destroyed
the local market.
500
00:41:22,184 --> 00:41:25,061
[Tanya] In a recent study published
in Scientific Reports,
501
00:41:25,187 --> 00:41:30,066
U.C. Davis researchers examined 76 fish
slated for human consumption
502
00:41:30,192 --> 00:41:33,653
in Indonesia, and 64 in California.
503
00:41:33,778 --> 00:41:36,281
They found that in both groups,
roughly one quarter
504
00:41:36,406 --> 00:41:39,075
had anthropogenic debris in their guts.
505
00:41:39,201 --> 00:41:42,162
The researchers found plastic
in the Indonesian population
506
00:41:42,287 --> 00:41:45,832
and plastic and textile fibers
in the American one.
507
00:41:47,167 --> 00:41:49,586
When sampling blue mussels
at six locations
508
00:41:49,711 --> 00:41:52,589
along the coastlines of France,
Belgium, and Netherlands,
509
00:41:52,714 --> 00:41:58,678
microplastics were present
in every single organism examined.
510
00:41:58,803 --> 00:42:02,140
When you eat shellfish,
you're often eating the entire animal.
511
00:42:02,265 --> 00:42:04,726
So you're more likely to eat plastic.
512
00:42:28,792 --> 00:42:30,710
[birds chirping]
513
00:42:35,048 --> 00:42:37,300
[Craig] Lord Howe Island
is a world heritage site...
514
00:42:40,011 --> 00:42:43,473
and home to migratory seabirds
like the shearwaters.
515
00:42:43,598 --> 00:42:46,518
Seabirds are incredibly helpful
516
00:42:46,643 --> 00:42:49,145
because they act like an army
of scientists.
517
00:42:49,271 --> 00:42:52,065
They travel thousands of miles
across the ocean.
518
00:42:52,190 --> 00:42:54,818
They pick up plastic
off the surface of the ocean,
519
00:42:54,943 --> 00:42:58,154
they bring it back to their rookeries
where they feed it to their chicks.
520
00:42:58,280 --> 00:43:01,658
And that provides
an incredible amount of scientific data
521
00:43:01,783 --> 00:43:04,744
in terms of where the plastic
comes from, its distribution,
522
00:43:04,869 --> 00:43:06,830
and how it breaks up
on the ocean's surface.
523
00:43:09,749 --> 00:43:12,335
Dr. Jennifer Lavers...
524
00:43:12,460 --> 00:43:17,090
she's devoted her life to studying
the plight of seabirds.
525
00:43:18,675 --> 00:43:21,970
[shearwaters chirp]
526
00:43:22,095 --> 00:43:24,264
Shearwaters are incredible birds.
527
00:43:24,389 --> 00:43:27,892
They migrate thousands of miles,
stopping only here to breed.
528
00:43:31,021 --> 00:43:33,690
All species of shearwater
nest in the earth.
529
00:43:33,815 --> 00:43:37,819
Their parents return from their distant
ocean feeding grounds by night
530
00:43:37,944 --> 00:43:40,030
to feed their chicks in their burrows.
531
00:43:40,155 --> 00:43:44,618
After 70 to 90 days, the chicks
venture aboveground for the first time.
532
00:43:44,743 --> 00:43:47,537
They stretch their wings and
begin developing their flight muscles
533
00:43:47,662 --> 00:43:50,290
[indistinct chatter]
534
00:43:56,338 --> 00:43:58,339
[Jennifer] We're gonna take
some ambient temperature saltwater,
535
00:43:58,340 --> 00:44:00,175
like he would normally be fed
by his parents,
536
00:44:00,300 --> 00:44:02,761
and Ian's just gonna hold
the mouth open here,
537
00:44:02,886 --> 00:44:06,473
and I'm going to, um, put the tube
down into the stomach
538
00:44:06,598 --> 00:44:09,309
if we can get him
to cooperate for a moment.
539
00:44:10,518 --> 00:44:13,605
Have you ever received
serious injury from one of these?
540
00:44:13,730 --> 00:44:18,151
Indeed. Have I ever.
More than I can possibly count.
541
00:44:18,276 --> 00:44:21,780
Depending on how full his stomach is,
we could be here for a little while.
542
00:44:23,823 --> 00:44:27,035
No, still nothin'. Still nothin'.
543
00:44:28,828 --> 00:44:29,788
There we go.
544
00:44:35,543 --> 00:44:37,796
[Craig] Whoa! Look at that.
545
00:44:39,130 --> 00:44:42,092
[Jennifer] Need to get some of the oil
and stuff out of the way.
546
00:44:42,217 --> 00:44:44,761
It's very thick with all that oil in it.
547
00:44:44,886 --> 00:44:48,264
- That's a lot of plastic, isn't it?
- Yeah, and some interesting colors.
548
00:44:48,390 --> 00:44:51,726
The red is quite, quite, uncommon.
549
00:44:51,851 --> 00:44:56,439
It looks like we've got quite a few
of the resin pellets, the nurdles,
550
00:44:56,564 --> 00:44:58,441
lots of microplastics.
551
00:44:58,566 --> 00:44:59,692
Right.
552
00:44:59,818 --> 00:45:05,198
There's no way at 935 grams that
he would be able to take to the air.
553
00:45:05,323 --> 00:45:08,993
I'm gonna make a bit of a note, he's got
some damage to his lower mandible.
554
00:45:09,119 --> 00:45:11,746
Forty-one point seven.
555
00:45:21,131 --> 00:45:22,215
[Craig] Garbage thrown away
556
00:45:22,340 --> 00:45:26,302
in the United States
can make its way to Antarctica.
557
00:45:26,428 --> 00:45:30,432
Plastic in our coastal waters
is pulled into the center of massive,
558
00:45:30,557 --> 00:45:33,935
wind-driven, churning circular gyres.
559
00:45:34,060 --> 00:45:37,605
There are many other ocean currents
also diverting the trash
560
00:45:37,730 --> 00:45:39,983
all around the surface of the ocean.
561
00:45:40,108 --> 00:45:44,404
In reality, it's just one ocean
with no boundaries.
562
00:46:30,408 --> 00:46:32,702
[Jennifer] Yeah,
the stomach is very, very full,
563
00:46:32,827 --> 00:46:36,748
and if we look here, uh,
there's some very dark pieces,
564
00:46:36,873 --> 00:46:38,500
some very light white pieces,
565
00:46:38,625 --> 00:46:42,795
and if you see, you know, as I
push on this, it's absolutely rigid.
566
00:46:42,921 --> 00:46:44,923
Completely...
567
00:46:45,048 --> 00:46:47,342
Completely full of plastic
all the way up.
568
00:46:51,346 --> 00:46:53,348
Ah! Look at that.
569
00:46:53,473 --> 00:46:58,144
Absolutely no doubt that this bird died
as a result of that plastic.
570
00:46:58,269 --> 00:47:01,105
That is literally a gut full of plastic.
571
00:47:01,231 --> 00:47:04,734
- It's quite alarming, isn't it?
- Ah, it's awful.
572
00:47:04,859 --> 00:47:07,445
Range of plastic types and colors.
573
00:47:07,570 --> 00:47:09,730
We've got everything
from the blues and the reds, to...
574
00:47:09,781 --> 00:47:12,367
His stomach's just filled with it.
Big pieces too.
575
00:47:12,492 --> 00:47:14,244
Big, sharp pieces.
576
00:47:20,875 --> 00:47:24,170
Oh, wow, look at the size
of that big, black piece.
577
00:47:24,295 --> 00:47:27,340
That is an enormous piece of plastic.
578
00:47:28,883 --> 00:47:30,301
Unbelievable.
579
00:47:32,345 --> 00:47:34,180
Look at the size of that.
580
00:47:44,816 --> 00:47:50,321
Jen, I counted 234 pieces of plastic
out of that one bird.
581
00:47:50,446 --> 00:47:53,992
- Is that a record?
- Not even close, unfortunately.
582
00:47:54,117 --> 00:47:58,454
So, for the species,
the record is 276 pieces of plastic
583
00:47:58,580 --> 00:48:00,206
inside of one 90-day-old chick.
584
00:48:00,331 --> 00:48:02,292
And that plastic,
when we weighed it out,
585
00:48:02,417 --> 00:48:05,378
accounted for 15 percent
of that bird's body mass.
586
00:48:05,503 --> 00:48:07,630
That's a pretty scary statistic.
587
00:48:07,755 --> 00:48:10,842
If we translate that into human terms,
it gets even worse.
588
00:48:10,967 --> 00:48:12,594
That would be equivalent to you and I
589
00:48:12,719 --> 00:48:16,389
having somewhere around six or eight kilos
of plastic inside of your stomach.
590
00:48:16,514 --> 00:48:21,811
It's equivalent to about 12 pizzas'
worth of food inside of your stomach.
591
00:48:44,514 --> 00:48:48,852
[Tanya] Midway Island is miles away
from any coastline
592
00:48:48,977 --> 00:48:54,358
but it has one of the biggest populations
of Laysan albatross in the world.
593
00:49:10,958 --> 00:49:12,459
Like the shearwater,
594
00:49:12,584 --> 00:49:16,672
their parents have traveled thousands
of kilometers to find food.
595
00:49:35,065 --> 00:49:38,318
It's quite a bit of plastic
for just one little bird.
596
00:49:40,862 --> 00:49:43,156
The parents
were trying to do the right thing.
597
00:49:43,282 --> 00:49:44,866
There's a lot of squid beaks in here
598
00:49:44,992 --> 00:49:48,954
and, um, this purple color
is evidence of the squid ink.
599
00:49:49,079 --> 00:49:51,081
It's just a shame
that every now and then
600
00:49:51,206 --> 00:49:54,293
they got it wrong,
and got it wrong in a bad way.
601
00:49:54,418 --> 00:49:56,420
[flies buzz]
602
00:50:16,440 --> 00:50:20,485
[Jennifer] To try and wrap your mind
around the condition of this animal
603
00:50:20,610 --> 00:50:26,700
and the quality of its life,
really, is quite an overwhelming thing.
604
00:50:26,825 --> 00:50:29,036
I do have some pretty rough days...
have to go home
605
00:50:29,161 --> 00:50:32,622
and really wrap my mind around,
"Where do we go from here?"
606
00:50:32,748 --> 00:50:35,250
[flies buzz]
607
00:50:35,375 --> 00:50:36,815
All week we've been cutting up birds
608
00:50:36,918 --> 00:50:40,130
and this is without a doubt the absolute
worst one that I've come across.
609
00:50:40,255 --> 00:50:42,674
That is an incredible amount of plastic.
610
00:51:28,136 --> 00:51:29,471
[Tanya] I've come to Asinara,
611
00:51:29,596 --> 00:51:34,101
a small island off the northern tip
of Sardinia, to meet with Cristina Fossi
612
00:51:34,226 --> 00:51:39,106
a professor of ecotoxicology
at the University of Siena.
613
00:51:39,231 --> 00:51:44,569
The turtle rescue center here
has just received a loggerhead turtle.
614
00:51:44,694 --> 00:51:47,697
[Cristina] The animals come from Corsica,
right, so from France.
615
00:51:47,823 --> 00:51:52,035
And they have identified the animals
because they have a problem of floating.
616
00:51:52,160 --> 00:51:56,665
So, it was floating in a very unusual way
and then they have discovered
617
00:51:56,790 --> 00:52:02,379
that the cause is the presence of
a large amount of plastic in the stomach.
618
00:52:02,504 --> 00:52:04,171
- [Tanya] These plastics?
- These plastics.
619
00:52:04,172 --> 00:52:08,760
They produce gas and then the animal
is not more able to go down, to dive.
620
00:52:08,885 --> 00:52:12,097
Does he have to perform
a surgery to remove this?
621
00:52:12,222 --> 00:52:16,059
- No, no. He use very simple stuff.
- Yeah.
622
00:52:16,184 --> 00:52:19,104
This one was used to remove the gas
623
00:52:19,229 --> 00:52:23,275
from the intestinal tract,
then he use...
624
00:52:23,400 --> 00:52:24,401
[man] Metronidazole.
625
00:52:24,526 --> 00:52:27,404
It's, uh, an antibiotic,
a normal antibiotic
626
00:52:27,529 --> 00:52:29,865
in order to save the animal
from infection.
627
00:52:29,990 --> 00:52:30,949
Right.
628
00:52:31,074 --> 00:52:35,537
And then the last point
was to use a fat, uh, diet.
629
00:52:35,662 --> 00:52:38,748
- Treat the gas, get everything moving...
- Gas...
630
00:52:38,874 --> 00:52:40,500
- ...and get it out.
- Yes.
631
00:52:40,625 --> 00:52:44,463
[Cristina] So, commonly plastic bag
that's floating on the surface
632
00:52:44,588 --> 00:52:47,507
can be misunderstood as a jellyfish.
633
00:52:47,632 --> 00:52:51,595
And then they can be eating
days after days.
634
00:52:51,720 --> 00:52:54,097
Plastic bags or other pieces of plastic,
635
00:52:54,222 --> 00:52:58,560
obviously the consequence
can be lethal for the animals.
636
00:53:16,244 --> 00:53:19,581
[Tanya] Cristina's name is well-recognized
around the world for her stand
637
00:53:19,706 --> 00:53:22,667
against the killing
of whales and dolphins.
638
00:53:22,792 --> 00:53:26,755
[Cristina]
We use the approach of the skin biopsy
639
00:53:26,880 --> 00:53:29,799
in order to identify
the level of chemicals
640
00:53:29,925 --> 00:53:34,262
and the toxicological effect
on these wild animals.
641
00:53:39,893 --> 00:53:42,354
Today we are moving around
the Gulf of Asinara,
642
00:53:42,479 --> 00:53:48,735
try to see some bottlenose dolphin, then
we collect some microplastic samples.
643
00:53:51,112 --> 00:53:53,490
[Tanya] An increasing number
of dolphins and turtles
644
00:53:53,615 --> 00:53:56,201
in the Mediterranean
are turning up dead.
645
00:53:56,326 --> 00:53:58,912
Cristina's focus
is to get to the bottom of this mystery.
646
00:54:03,708 --> 00:54:07,796
And she has a very unusual way
of getting the information she needs.
647
00:54:09,339 --> 00:54:13,218
[speaks in Italian]
648
00:54:13,343 --> 00:54:15,136
[motor revs]
649
00:54:15,262 --> 00:54:16,846
[speaks in Italian]
650
00:54:18,473 --> 00:54:23,061
[man speaking in Italian]
651
00:54:23,186 --> 00:54:25,438
[Tanya]
How can you get a tiny piece of blubber
652
00:54:25,564 --> 00:54:28,191
from whales and dolphins
without hurting them?
653
00:54:31,236 --> 00:54:32,279
[speaks in Italian]
654
00:54:34,781 --> 00:54:35,907
[speaks in Italian]
655
00:54:37,909 --> 00:54:41,413
[Tanya] The dart bounces off,
taking a small piece of flesh with it,
656
00:54:41,538 --> 00:54:44,833
which the scientists use
to conduct their research.
657
00:54:44,958 --> 00:54:46,876
It's very difficult.
658
00:54:53,925 --> 00:54:55,468
[speaks in Italian]
659
00:54:55,594 --> 00:54:57,262
It may be, I don't know, but...
660
00:54:59,264 --> 00:55:05,604
So, we can start to process the biopsy
that was collected with the darts.
661
00:55:05,729 --> 00:55:08,857
The species is bottlenose dolphins.
662
00:55:08,982 --> 00:55:13,361
That's one of the common species
around the coast
663
00:55:13,486 --> 00:55:17,115
and we suppose also
one of the most polluted ones.
664
00:55:17,240 --> 00:55:21,411
You expect that you're finding
derivatives from plastics
665
00:55:21,536 --> 00:55:24,497
in the blubber of these animals
because they're consuming
666
00:55:24,623 --> 00:55:27,917
other animals that are
directly consuming the plastics.
667
00:55:28,043 --> 00:55:29,044
Exactly.
668
00:55:29,169 --> 00:55:32,213
And so, if the plastics
are in the food chain for the dolphin,
669
00:55:32,339 --> 00:55:33,965
they're also in our food chain.
670
00:55:34,090 --> 00:55:35,091
Exactly.
671
00:55:35,216 --> 00:55:37,677
[motor revs]
672
00:55:45,560 --> 00:55:48,647
[Cristina] We have already
very interesting result,
673
00:55:48,772 --> 00:55:51,983
but I would like to invite you
into the lab.
674
00:55:54,402 --> 00:55:55,779
[Tanya] When animals eat plastic,
675
00:55:55,904 --> 00:55:59,574
they're also consuming
the toxins attached to the plastic.
676
00:55:59,699 --> 00:56:02,160
Toxins pass into the bloodstream.
677
00:56:03,203 --> 00:56:05,914
There, they bio-accumulate
in the fatty tissue
678
00:56:06,039 --> 00:56:08,083
and around the vital organs.
679
00:56:09,501 --> 00:56:13,338
When animals use the stored fat,
the toxins circulate around the body,
680
00:56:13,463 --> 00:56:17,717
interfering with reproduction, metabolism
growth, kidney and liver function.
681
00:56:19,302 --> 00:56:21,054
[beeps]
682
00:56:23,598 --> 00:56:25,725
As we have seen this day,
683
00:56:25,850 --> 00:56:29,062
there is clear evidence
that plankton species
684
00:56:29,187 --> 00:56:33,900
and fin whale, for example,
have a very high level of phthalates,
685
00:56:34,025 --> 00:56:36,486
that we consider
one of the plastic derivatives.
686
00:56:41,491 --> 00:56:46,246
[Cristina] But that data can represent
a real warning sign
687
00:56:46,371 --> 00:56:50,333
of exposure
to the Mediterranean environment,
688
00:56:50,458 --> 00:56:55,505
including humans,
in real toxicological risk.
689
00:57:04,556 --> 00:57:08,101
[indistinct chattering in the distance]
690
00:57:09,102 --> 00:57:10,770
[horn honks in the distance]
691
00:57:30,874 --> 00:57:35,879
[Craig] Smokey Mountain I operated
as a two million-metric ton waste dump
692
00:57:36,004 --> 00:57:37,797
for more than 40 years.
693
00:57:37,922 --> 00:57:40,091
It closed in 1995.
694
00:57:43,553 --> 00:57:46,556
[Craig] This garbage tip
contains so much methane
695
00:57:46,681 --> 00:57:48,433
which was produced
by the garbage within it,
696
00:57:48,558 --> 00:57:52,270
that when it reaches
a certain temperature, it catches fire.
697
00:57:52,395 --> 00:57:55,774
That creates this smoke
that comes out of the top of the pile
698
00:57:55,899 --> 00:57:58,902
and filters over the city of Manila.
699
00:57:59,027 --> 00:58:03,615
So, sweet potatoes, corn, sugar cane,
700
00:58:03,740 --> 00:58:07,702
all growing on 40 years of garbage.
701
00:58:07,827 --> 00:58:12,373
- [woman] Yeah.
- [Craig] You worked here as a 12-year-old.
702
00:58:12,499 --> 00:58:15,460
[woman] Yeah. To earn money
to support my family needs.
703
00:58:15,585 --> 00:58:17,587
And what would you collect up here?
704
00:58:17,712 --> 00:58:21,758
Recyclables,
like bottles, cans, and plastics.
705
00:58:21,883 --> 00:58:24,719
This, uh, local chap here is still
706
00:58:24,844 --> 00:58:27,180
harvesting the plastic
that's in the ground.
707
00:58:27,305 --> 00:58:30,058
- Yeah, lot of plastic.
- It's just everywhere.
708
00:58:30,183 --> 00:58:34,187
- What's the most common disease here?
- [Leticia] Uh, pulmonary.
709
00:58:34,312 --> 00:58:36,815
- Pulmonary, such as tuberculosis,
- Yeah.
710
00:58:36,940 --> 00:58:38,066
Yes, emphysema.
711
00:58:38,191 --> 00:58:41,444
Emphysema, yes.
My father died due to emphysema.
712
00:58:48,785 --> 00:58:54,374
No one knows how much plastic
has accumulated in the sea
713
00:58:54,499 --> 00:58:57,210
in the last 50 years,
but one thing is sure,
714
00:58:57,335 --> 00:58:59,087
the pace has picked up.
715
00:59:02,090 --> 00:59:05,260
[film narrator] The world of plastics
is present everywhere,
716
00:59:05,385 --> 00:59:08,513
yet this presence
is but a premonition of a future world.
717
00:59:08,638 --> 00:59:11,766
Our children will see
a bit of that world
718
00:59:11,891 --> 00:59:14,144
and our grandchildren
will not see the end of it.
719
00:59:30,869 --> 00:59:33,746
[Craig]
The smell is almost indescribable.
720
00:59:33,872 --> 00:59:38,126
It's kind of like a cross
between sewage and oil,
721
00:59:38,251 --> 00:59:39,919
and it's everywhere.
722
00:59:43,173 --> 00:59:46,176
[metal clanking]
723
00:59:46,301 --> 00:59:48,803
[speaks in foreign language]
724
00:59:54,350 --> 00:59:59,480
[Craig] The ground, to within two inches
above it is covered in flies.
725
01:00:00,648 --> 01:00:01,691
[flies buzz]
726
01:00:10,408 --> 01:00:12,619
[man speaks in Tagalog]
727
01:00:12,744 --> 01:00:15,413
- [men speaking indistinctly]
- [chuckles]
728
01:00:15,538 --> 01:00:19,876
[children chattering indistinctly]
729
01:00:21,461 --> 01:00:24,797
[Craig]
I could see a child flying a kite.
730
01:00:24,923 --> 01:00:28,885
You could see the kite
was made from a plastic bag
731
01:00:29,010 --> 01:00:33,932
and he'd fashioned this himself and used
straws as the mainframe for the kite.
732
01:00:35,683 --> 01:00:39,604
If you got behind him
and looked towards the sky,
733
01:00:39,729 --> 01:00:43,191
he could have been any child
anywhere in the world.
734
01:00:43,316 --> 01:00:46,986
[speaks indistinctly]
735
01:00:47,111 --> 01:00:48,571
[chuckles]
736
01:00:52,700 --> 01:00:57,413
[Craig] Every time it rains here,
every time the wind blows offshore,
737
01:00:57,538 --> 01:01:02,627
the sludge, the plastic from all of that
rubbish ends up straight in Manila Bay,
738
01:01:02,752 --> 01:01:06,381
and I guess into the stomachs
of whatever marine animals
739
01:01:06,506 --> 01:01:09,467
are still able to survive in the bay.
740
01:01:12,595 --> 01:01:16,140
A lot of plastic here. I guess a lot
of this is brought in by the river.
741
01:01:16,266 --> 01:01:18,017
Yeah, it came from the Pasig River.
742
01:01:18,142 --> 01:01:22,522
Also it's been washed up
by, uh, the ocean during typhoons
743
01:01:22,647 --> 01:01:27,151
and, uh, also people living here also
throw their garbage in this area
744
01:01:27,277 --> 01:01:29,821
because there are no garbage collectors
745
01:01:29,946 --> 01:01:31,666
coming into the area
to collect the garbage.
746
01:01:31,739 --> 01:01:36,536
How much waste... plastic waste
is put into the waterways here?
747
01:01:36,661 --> 01:01:40,748
- Do you have any idea?
- Uh, around 1500 tons daily.
748
01:01:40,873 --> 01:01:43,084
One thousand five hundred tons every day?
749
01:01:43,209 --> 01:01:44,210
Yes.
750
01:01:49,173 --> 01:01:50,174
[man] One more, one more!
751
01:01:50,300 --> 01:01:52,385
- Ready?
- [man] You go now!
752
01:01:52,510 --> 01:01:55,054
[boys scream]
753
01:01:55,179 --> 01:01:58,516
[boys laugh]
754
01:01:58,641 --> 01:02:00,727
[boy] One, two, three, four!
755
01:02:00,852 --> 01:02:02,478
[boys scream]
756
01:02:02,603 --> 01:02:03,604
Thank you.
757
01:02:03,730 --> 01:02:06,524
Well, I have to say, you're all
much better basketballers than I am.
758
01:02:06,649 --> 01:02:08,443
- I'm so bad. I'm sorry.
- Again, again?
759
01:02:08,568 --> 01:02:11,988
I'm no good at basketball.
You're very good at basketball. This guy.
760
01:02:12,113 --> 01:02:13,823
- Thank you.
- Very good.
761
01:02:13,948 --> 01:02:17,744
- Do you all live here? In Pier 18?
- Yes.
762
01:02:17,869 --> 01:02:20,538
- And you play basketball all the time?
- Yeah.
763
01:02:20,663 --> 01:02:21,998
Do you go to school?
764
01:02:22,123 --> 01:02:23,124
- Yes.
- No.
765
01:02:23,249 --> 01:02:25,752
Yes, you go to school?
You don't go to school? No?
766
01:02:25,877 --> 01:02:26,961
- No.
- No?
767
01:02:27,086 --> 01:02:30,923
- So, what do you do during the day?
- Uh, scavenger work.
768
01:02:31,049 --> 01:02:34,302
Scavenger, yeah?
What do you scavenge for?
769
01:02:34,427 --> 01:02:36,012
- This.
- The plastic?
770
01:02:36,137 --> 01:02:37,180
Plastic.
771
01:02:37,305 --> 01:02:39,557
Ah! And what do you do with the plastic,
once you...?
772
01:02:39,682 --> 01:02:42,143
- Go to the junk shop.
- Yeah?
773
01:02:42,268 --> 01:02:44,896
And what do they
give you for the plastic?
774
01:02:45,021 --> 01:02:48,441
- Money.
- Money. Is it good money?
775
01:02:50,485 --> 01:02:52,862
- What kind of money?
- Money.
776
01:02:52,987 --> 01:02:55,030
- He's asking how much we're earning.
- It's 150 pesos.
777
01:02:55,031 --> 01:02:57,075
- [Craig] Yeah?
- One day.
778
01:02:57,200 --> 01:02:58,201
- For one day?
- Yeah.
779
01:02:58,326 --> 01:03:00,119
And what do you do with the money?
780
01:03:00,244 --> 01:03:01,829
- I give it to my mother.
- Your mother.
781
01:03:01,954 --> 01:03:03,081
- Yeah.
- Yes?
782
01:03:03,206 --> 01:03:05,625
And what does she do with the money?
783
01:03:05,750 --> 01:03:08,795
- Buy the rice.
- The rice. Right.
784
01:03:08,920 --> 01:03:12,882
So you can play, grow up,
be healthy, play good basketball.
785
01:03:13,007 --> 01:03:14,717
Show me. Give me your shot.
786
01:03:30,942 --> 01:03:33,027
[Craig] Most of the waste
created by the individuals
787
01:03:33,152 --> 01:03:35,321
within each of these villages,
towns and cities
788
01:03:35,446 --> 01:03:40,159
generally ends up on the streets
or in their canals.
789
01:03:40,284 --> 01:03:43,121
It's easy to understand
how these sorts of places
790
01:03:43,246 --> 01:03:47,458
become delivery systems
for plastic into our oceans.
791
01:03:52,588 --> 01:03:56,467
[Craig] I understand that this
was ten feet deep in plastic.
792
01:03:56,592 --> 01:04:02,056
Literally ten feet of plastic
that was pulled out of this canal.
793
01:04:02,181 --> 01:04:03,850
First we dredged,
794
01:04:03,975 --> 01:04:07,145
but we realized that we're digging
down to China, we stopped.
795
01:04:07,270 --> 01:04:11,774
[Roel] What we did
was to cover it up with, uh, good soil
796
01:04:11,899 --> 01:04:17,447
and garden soil, and
then we put up, uh, the coco-pillows.
797
01:04:17,572 --> 01:04:20,825
It's, uh, made from coconut husk.
798
01:04:20,950 --> 01:04:25,621
And then we spread it up until there.
We vegetated it in the vetiver grass.
799
01:04:28,624 --> 01:04:32,837
[Craig] The plants take
the rest of the waste out of the water.
800
01:04:32,962 --> 01:04:35,882
- [Roel] Yes.
- [Craig] And now we've got fish swimming.
801
01:04:36,007 --> 01:04:37,257
- [Roel] And turtles.
- [Craig] Wildlife.
802
01:04:37,258 --> 01:04:39,176
[Craig] It's clean enough
for animals to live in now.
803
01:04:39,177 --> 01:04:40,343
[Roel] It's clean enough, yes.
804
01:04:40,344 --> 01:04:41,464
- Is it drinkable?
- Not yet.
805
01:04:41,554 --> 01:04:44,140
- Not yet. Working on that one.
- Working on that one.
806
01:04:44,265 --> 01:04:46,726
[Craig] And so you're going
to do this project now
807
01:04:46,851 --> 01:04:49,228
throughout the canals
and river systems of Manila?
808
01:04:49,353 --> 01:04:53,858
Yes, uh, with the same idea
of putting bioremediation
809
01:04:53,983 --> 01:04:55,526
and phytoremediation together.
810
01:04:58,321 --> 01:05:00,740
[rooster cackles]
811
01:05:09,123 --> 01:05:12,543
[Craig] Do you think that will solve
the plastic pollution problem here?
812
01:05:12,668 --> 01:05:15,046
The one that will solve
the plastic solution
813
01:05:15,171 --> 01:05:17,548
is the behavior of the people
around this area.
814
01:05:17,673 --> 01:05:20,009
So, maybe we'll start with that first
815
01:05:20,134 --> 01:05:22,470
and then we'll solve
everything else afterwards.
816
01:05:25,640 --> 01:05:28,392
[chants]
817
01:05:32,730 --> 01:05:36,317
[Tanya] I'm off to visit the tiny,
isolated coral atoll of Tuvalu
818
01:05:36,442 --> 01:05:38,694
in the South Pacific, near Fiji.
819
01:05:40,446 --> 01:05:45,952
As a mother, I care deeply about
the effects of plastic on our health.
820
01:05:46,077 --> 01:05:49,121
[sings in foreign language]
821
01:06:06,973 --> 01:06:10,768
Tuvalu gained its independence in 1978.
822
01:06:13,104 --> 01:06:17,817
It began importing foreign goods
and food and with that came plastic.
823
01:06:20,444 --> 01:06:25,157
I realized just how tiny this nation was
when I flew in over the atoll.
824
01:06:25,283 --> 01:06:29,036
Tuvalu is a microcosm
of the entire planet,
825
01:06:29,161 --> 01:06:32,623
and they have nowhere
to put the plastic.
826
01:06:32,748 --> 01:06:35,501
During World War II,
in order to build an airstrip
827
01:06:35,626 --> 01:06:39,672
for the Allies in the Pacific theater,
large quantities of coral were dug up
828
01:06:39,797 --> 01:06:43,134
and carted off to be crushed
and mixed for the tarmac.
829
01:06:43,259 --> 01:06:46,929
Gaping holes left behind
are called "borrow pits."
830
01:06:47,054 --> 01:06:50,308
They were never filled back in,
and are now used for refuse.
831
01:07:28,846 --> 01:07:32,642
[fire crackling]
832
01:07:38,356 --> 01:07:42,234
[chickens cackling]
833
01:07:46,781 --> 01:07:49,325
[Tanya] How long have you lived
in this borrow pit?
834
01:07:49,450 --> 01:07:52,119
- [woman] Twenty-five years.
- So, you're 25 years old?
835
01:07:52,244 --> 01:07:54,664
- Yeah.
- In your 25-year lifetime,
836
01:07:54,789 --> 01:07:59,585
have you seen the amount of plastic
in your surrounding community increase?
837
01:07:59,710 --> 01:08:03,005
Yeah. Very increase.
838
01:08:03,130 --> 01:08:08,969
Before, in my early childhood,
I don't see any plastic
839
01:08:09,095 --> 01:08:12,598
because we don't used
to import packaging, plastics.
840
01:08:12,723 --> 01:08:17,395
[Tanya] Tell me what it was like
growing up here as a child.
841
01:08:17,520 --> 01:08:20,690
We always, uh, swim at the borrow pit.
842
01:08:20,815 --> 01:08:26,404
[Marao] We don't know that there is,
uh, "affectiveness" to us.
843
01:08:26,529 --> 01:08:30,574
We just swim and then we go...
We like fishing.
844
01:08:30,700 --> 01:08:33,536
[Tanya] You used to fish out
of the borrow pit and eat the fish?
845
01:08:33,661 --> 01:08:35,204
But you don't do that anymore?
846
01:08:35,329 --> 01:08:38,207
No, we don't eat the fish.
We just feed the pigs.
847
01:08:38,332 --> 01:08:40,291
- [Tanya] You feed the fish to the pigs?
- [Marao] Yeah.
848
01:08:40,292 --> 01:08:42,795
[pigs squeak]
849
01:08:42,920 --> 01:08:48,300
What kind of health problems
are you seeing people suffer from?
850
01:08:48,426 --> 01:08:52,054
Flu. Some people, they get cancer.
851
01:08:52,179 --> 01:08:56,851
And then some people,
they don't get pregnant.
852
01:08:56,976 --> 01:09:00,354
People in the borrow pit
are having problems conceiving?
853
01:09:00,479 --> 01:09:04,191
If things don't change
in the borrow pit,
854
01:09:04,316 --> 01:09:07,528
but the people stay here,
what do you think will happen?
855
01:09:08,654 --> 01:09:13,284
I think they get disease.
And they don't want to leave.
856
01:09:13,409 --> 01:09:15,202
Like, this is a nice place,
857
01:09:15,327 --> 01:09:22,084
but because of the imported packaging,
they destroy our paradise.
858
01:09:23,794 --> 01:09:26,672
And I want to give good future
for my children.
859
01:09:27,798 --> 01:09:29,592
'Cause I love my children.
860
01:09:46,817 --> 01:09:50,362
[Craig] How does a U.S. Navy
aircraft carrier handle its waste?
861
01:09:50,488 --> 01:09:55,493
With about 4,500 sailors onboard, just
shy of half the population of Tuvalu
862
01:09:55,618 --> 01:09:59,455
the amount of waste generated
every day is enormous.
863
01:09:59,580 --> 01:10:03,209
U.S. Navy is looking for a way
to deal with shipboard waste
864
01:10:03,334 --> 01:10:04,574
without having to go into port.
865
01:10:04,627 --> 01:10:05,795
[brakes squeak]
866
01:10:08,255 --> 01:10:10,135
[Craig]
The belly of the latest aircraft carrier
867
01:10:10,257 --> 01:10:16,472
will be fitted with a gleaming maze of
steel pipes to devour the ship's waste.
868
01:10:16,597 --> 01:10:20,142
PyroGenesis of Montreal
was contracted by the U.S. Navy
869
01:10:20,267 --> 01:10:24,230
to develop a green technology capable
of processing the waste
870
01:10:24,355 --> 01:10:26,273
generated by these sailors.
871
01:10:26,398 --> 01:10:29,735
At the heart of this technology
is a plasma torch
872
01:10:29,860 --> 01:10:33,781
that changes the molecular structure
of whatever is put into it
873
01:10:33,906 --> 01:10:36,492
transforming it back
to its core elements.
874
01:10:36,617 --> 01:10:39,537
Better still, it has no detrimental
effect on the environment,
875
01:10:39,662 --> 01:10:42,498
it runs off its own energy,
and is affordable.
876
01:10:43,666 --> 01:10:45,543
If they could shrink
the plant into the size
877
01:10:45,668 --> 01:10:48,629
of something that you can put
into a shipping container,
878
01:10:48,754 --> 01:10:52,341
take to small islands like Tuvalu,
set it up so that you can put in
879
01:10:52,466 --> 01:10:55,135
all of the rubbish
that's existing on the island,
880
01:10:55,261 --> 01:10:58,681
and have it turn into inert
or nontoxic substances,
881
01:10:58,806 --> 01:11:01,350
that's going to go a long way
to help solving the problems
882
01:11:01,475 --> 01:11:03,102
that exist on islands in the Pacific.
883
01:11:07,898 --> 01:11:12,570
[speaks in a foreign language]
884
01:11:17,825 --> 01:11:23,998
[all singing hymn]
885
01:11:24,123 --> 01:11:26,542
[Craig]
If an innovative, workable solution
886
01:11:26,667 --> 01:11:30,880
like pyrogenesis is not implemented
in places like Tuvalu,
887
01:11:31,005 --> 01:11:34,091
the quality of life
will continue to decline.
888
01:11:34,216 --> 01:11:38,721
The island will eventually be choked
by its own plastic waste.
889
01:11:38,846 --> 01:11:41,765
Combined with the rising sea level
caused by climate change,
890
01:11:41,891 --> 01:11:44,602
Tuvalu's habitability
is under serious threat.
891
01:11:44,727 --> 01:11:48,439
[singing of hymn continues]
892
01:11:57,031 --> 01:11:58,949
One of the kids we've befriended here
893
01:11:59,074 --> 01:12:02,745
has developed
a pretty bad lingering cough.
894
01:12:02,870 --> 01:12:06,248
We think his problems might be linked
to a hobby he shares with his friends,
895
01:12:06,373 --> 01:12:08,751
making jewelry out of melted plastic.
896
01:12:25,684 --> 01:12:28,187
[cooing]
897
01:12:28,312 --> 01:12:31,273
[Craig] Tanya is extremely protective
of her children,
898
01:12:31,398 --> 01:12:33,859
so she's incredibly engaged
in their well-being,
899
01:12:33,984 --> 01:12:36,528
particularly where she has control.
900
01:12:36,654 --> 01:12:39,114
And she has control
over her environment.
901
01:12:40,449 --> 01:12:42,158
- [Craig] This is Charlie, huh?
- [Tanya chuckles]
902
01:12:42,159 --> 01:12:45,079
Surprised he wasn't born
with a face mask. [chuckles]
903
01:12:45,204 --> 01:12:47,604
- Yeah, right? And a nose clip?
- [chuckles] And a nose clip.
904
01:12:47,706 --> 01:12:50,209
It wasn't easy for me to conceive.
I'm an older mom.
905
01:12:50,334 --> 01:12:52,252
I worked really hard for this.
906
01:12:52,378 --> 01:12:55,297
[Tanya] All the time trying to conceive
being really clean in my body.
907
01:12:55,422 --> 01:12:59,093
Went through my entire pregnancy
without taking so much as a Tylenol.
908
01:12:59,218 --> 01:13:02,012
- Throw the line in there, Till.
- Okay.
909
01:13:02,137 --> 01:13:03,806
This is actually Catfish Corner.
910
01:13:03,931 --> 01:13:05,724
[Tanya and Till chuckle]
911
01:13:05,849 --> 01:13:09,770
[Tanya] My kids make me really passionate
about the subject. Annoyingly passionate.
912
01:13:09,895 --> 01:13:12,940
You know. Ask my husband.
He'll roll his eyes.
913
01:13:13,065 --> 01:13:16,819
He goes from this guy
who is washing Ziploc bags
914
01:13:16,944 --> 01:13:20,656
and I think, "Oh, I'm winning!
My husband is washing Ziploc bags!"
915
01:13:20,781 --> 01:13:23,450
I see them drying in the sink
and I'm like, "Yes!"
916
01:13:23,575 --> 01:13:28,998
But then he'll forget and I see,
you know, plastic wrap over a food,
917
01:13:29,123 --> 01:13:30,624
and I'm like, "No!"
918
01:13:30,749 --> 01:13:34,420
Now, you've had a very
healthy, uh, lifestyle.
919
01:13:34,545 --> 01:13:36,630
You haven't been able to control
every aspect of it,
920
01:13:36,755 --> 01:13:40,175
so the likelihood is he may have plastic
in his system.
921
01:13:40,300 --> 01:13:42,386
It's terrifying. It's awful.
922
01:13:42,511 --> 01:13:46,265
And it... you know, [stammers]
it's made me question sometimes,
923
01:13:46,390 --> 01:13:48,726
"Gosh, is even having children
the right thing to do?"
924
01:13:49,977 --> 01:13:51,770
I'm still very, very motivated
925
01:13:51,895 --> 01:13:54,898
to obviously do the right thing
by myself and my family,
926
01:13:55,024 --> 01:13:58,736
but also to try to incite change
927
01:13:58,861 --> 01:14:01,864
where I can as an environmentalist,
as an activist.
928
01:14:01,989 --> 01:14:06,326
I'm optimistic
because it beats the alternative.
929
01:14:12,041 --> 01:14:15,252
[Craig] Austin is a very cool city.
It's environmentally aware.
930
01:14:17,588 --> 01:14:20,841
It was the first city in Texas
to ban the plastic bag.
931
01:14:21,925 --> 01:14:24,011
It's an oasis of eco-friendly people
932
01:14:24,136 --> 01:14:26,889
in a state that's headquarters
for the largest oil companies
933
01:14:27,014 --> 01:14:29,308
and petrochemical plants.
934
01:14:36,732 --> 01:14:41,695
PlastiPure is where
we formulate and test plastics
935
01:14:41,820 --> 01:14:43,906
for their physical characteristics.
936
01:14:44,031 --> 01:14:49,203
On the CertiChem side, where we are here,
we test plastics and other substances,
937
01:14:49,328 --> 01:14:55,125
as well as individual chemicals, uh,
to see if they have estrogenic activity.
938
01:14:55,250 --> 01:14:56,710
[machine beeps and whirs]
939
01:14:56,835 --> 01:15:00,881
A lot of plastics,
perhaps the great majority, probably
940
01:15:01,006 --> 01:15:04,301
release chemicals
that have estrogenic activity.
941
01:15:04,426 --> 01:15:07,513
[Tanya] Estrogenic activity, or "E.A.,"
942
01:15:07,638 --> 01:15:10,808
happens when a chemical
like BPA or phthalate
943
01:15:10,933 --> 01:15:16,313
leaches from plastic and enters the body
where it mimics the hormone estrogen.
944
01:15:16,438 --> 01:15:18,941
Ninety-two point six percent
of Americans
945
01:15:19,066 --> 01:15:24,113
age six and older have detectible levels
of BPA in their bodies.
946
01:15:24,238 --> 01:15:27,574
The levels in children
between six and 11 years of age
947
01:15:27,699 --> 01:15:30,369
are twice as high
as those in older Americans.
948
01:15:31,745 --> 01:15:34,081
[Tanya]
Are all of those chemicals not regulated?
949
01:15:34,206 --> 01:15:40,462
[Dr. Bittner] No, the FDA at present
does not have any regulations
950
01:15:40,587 --> 01:15:46,969
for how many chemicals and what levels
of chemicals having estrogenic activity
951
01:15:47,094 --> 01:15:52,224
can be released from plastics or
from cosmetics or papers or silicones.
952
01:15:52,349 --> 01:15:55,310
So, how is the general public protected
from that kind of thing?
953
01:15:55,435 --> 01:15:57,479
- Uh, they aren't.
- They aren't?
954
01:15:57,604 --> 01:16:01,316
[news reporter] From baby bottles
to sippy cups to food can liners
955
01:16:01,441 --> 01:16:03,652
to water bottles hydrating
the youngest athletes,
956
01:16:03,777 --> 01:16:08,866
consumers have been exposed to a
root chemical called Bisphenol A or BPA.
957
01:16:08,991 --> 01:16:11,994
An artificial sex hormone
used as a core building block
958
01:16:12,119 --> 01:16:16,290
in close to seven billion pounds
of plastic on the market today,
959
01:16:16,415 --> 01:16:18,208
because of its strength and resiliency.
960
01:16:18,333 --> 01:16:21,128
This isn't a weak, uh, contaminant.
961
01:16:21,253 --> 01:16:22,462
This is a powerful contaminant
962
01:16:22,588 --> 01:16:25,841
and it's striking right at the core
of American public health.
963
01:16:25,966 --> 01:16:29,386
When something says that it's BPA-free,
is that something I can trust?
964
01:16:29,511 --> 01:16:36,268
Over 90 percent of all plastics
that don't have BPA,
965
01:16:36,393 --> 01:16:41,190
nonetheless, uh, release chemicals
having estrogenic activity.
966
01:16:41,315 --> 01:16:45,360
So, BPA is not the only bad guy
that we need to be looking out for.
967
01:16:45,485 --> 01:16:48,655
BPA is only one bad guy.
968
01:16:48,780 --> 01:16:51,825
- Like saying, "I've caught Al Capone!"
- Yeah.
969
01:16:51,950 --> 01:16:53,619
- "I've just handled...
- Yeah. [chuckles]
970
01:16:53,744 --> 01:16:55,913
...the criminal problem
in the United States!"
971
01:16:57,539 --> 01:17:00,375
We do quite a bit of this testing
to see where the issues are
972
01:17:00,500 --> 01:17:04,588
but we also use that data to
help manufacturers make safer products.
973
01:17:04,713 --> 01:17:07,049
Right. The average consumer goes,
"Poly-whatta-whatta?"
974
01:17:07,174 --> 01:17:08,383
You know, "I don't get it.
975
01:17:08,508 --> 01:17:11,011
Tell me what is the right one,
what is safe, what isn't."
976
01:17:11,136 --> 01:17:12,346
When we look at baby bottles,
977
01:17:12,471 --> 01:17:14,640
we have to look
at all the different components
978
01:17:14,765 --> 01:17:17,893
that come in contact
with the milk or with the baby.
979
01:17:18,018 --> 01:17:21,188
All of the hard and clear materials
that we've tested
980
01:17:21,313 --> 01:17:23,023
leach these estrogenic chemicals.
981
01:17:23,148 --> 01:17:28,695
Other things, like the nipple, are
generally made from silicone or latex.
982
01:17:28,820 --> 01:17:33,992
Latex, uh, always, from our tests,
has come back positive for E.A.
983
01:17:34,117 --> 01:17:36,437
And silicone generally is positive
for estrogenic activity.
984
01:17:36,495 --> 01:17:41,291
And stainless steel is obviously,
I thought, a better option.
985
01:17:41,416 --> 01:17:43,168
If it doesn't have a liner,
986
01:17:43,293 --> 01:17:46,296
uh, stainless steel, it tends to be fine
and glass tends to be fine.
987
01:17:46,421 --> 01:17:49,841
The colorants, uh, tend
to leach a lot of chemicals,
988
01:17:49,967 --> 01:17:53,303
so we, uh, try to stay away
from colorants when we can.
989
01:17:53,428 --> 01:17:56,139
When we can't,
white and black tend to be...
990
01:17:56,265 --> 01:17:57,808
- The least? Okay.
- The least.
991
01:17:57,933 --> 01:18:01,395
And we've started using a lot more foil
in our house, rather than this stuff.
992
01:18:01,520 --> 01:18:02,645
- Foil is a better option.
- [Tanya] Okay.
993
01:18:02,646 --> 01:18:05,816
We use foil in the lab because foil
doesn't leach these chemicals.
994
01:18:05,941 --> 01:18:11,113
And this, I know, Styrofoam, is
a personal, personal pet peeve of mine.
995
01:18:11,238 --> 01:18:15,701
The likelihood is estrogenic chemicals
will leach out of styrene products.
996
01:18:15,826 --> 01:18:17,077
Cold foods, anything?
997
01:18:17,202 --> 01:18:20,080
Likely, hot fluids would increase
the amount of leaching,
998
01:18:20,205 --> 01:18:21,539
but it'd still be leaching something.
999
01:18:21,540 --> 01:18:26,795
[Dr. Bittner] The majority of plastics
increase the release of chemicals
1000
01:18:26,920 --> 01:18:31,300
having estrogenic activity
after they've been exposed,
1001
01:18:31,425 --> 01:18:33,093
to particularly sunlight.
1002
01:18:33,218 --> 01:18:34,803
[Tanya] How do you not consume it?
1003
01:18:34,928 --> 01:18:38,557
You can't go anywhere
without seeing food wrapped in plastic.
1004
01:18:38,682 --> 01:18:42,144
You can't go to a restaurant
without, you know,
1005
01:18:42,269 --> 01:18:46,356
takeout boxes being in plastic,
hot foods going into plastic.
1006
01:18:46,481 --> 01:18:49,443
My answer there is, well,
demand safer plastic.
1007
01:18:49,568 --> 01:18:53,405
So, what we're gonna do
is go inside a couple of restaurants
1008
01:18:53,530 --> 01:18:56,408
and ask them about, uh...
1009
01:18:56,533 --> 01:18:57,534
We'll ask them for food
1010
01:18:57,659 --> 01:19:00,139
and see if they can't give it to us
in a non-plastic container.
1011
01:19:04,666 --> 01:19:06,546
- Hello, how are you doing?
- Good, how are you?
1012
01:19:06,585 --> 01:19:09,713
I'm not too bad.
Can I get the, um, "Power Plant"?
1013
01:19:09,838 --> 01:19:12,424
Can I get a small "Berry Blast"?
1014
01:19:12,549 --> 01:19:17,304
Hello, there. Um...
Can I get an orange juice, please?
1015
01:19:17,429 --> 01:19:18,512
What can I get you for lunch today?
1016
01:19:18,513 --> 01:19:20,932
- I'm getting the BLT.
- [man] A BLT.
1017
01:19:21,058 --> 01:19:23,935
Do you have anything
not wrapped in plastic?
1018
01:19:24,061 --> 01:19:25,936
- I have nothing to do with the food.
- [Craig chuckles]
1019
01:19:25,937 --> 01:19:29,441
Do you have anything
other than plastic to put it in?
1020
01:19:29,566 --> 01:19:32,986
No. You can buy
our giant little reusables.
1021
01:19:33,111 --> 01:19:35,280
Yeah, but that's still plastic.
1022
01:19:35,405 --> 01:19:37,531
- This one's what we got.
- Without the plastic lid's fine.
1023
01:19:37,532 --> 01:19:39,868
- Is that paper? It is? Great. Yeah.
- Yes.
1024
01:19:39,993 --> 01:19:43,330
- Do you have anything other than plastic?
- We have that one in a cold press.
1025
01:19:43,455 --> 01:19:46,375
It's actually exposed to less oxygen,
so it's way better juice
1026
01:19:46,500 --> 01:19:48,380
with twice the amount
of vitamins and nutrients.
1027
01:19:48,502 --> 01:19:51,588
- That sounds really healthy.
- Yeah, it's the way to go for the balance.
1028
01:19:51,713 --> 01:19:53,340
- Yeah, that sounds great.
- Cool, man.
1029
01:19:53,465 --> 01:19:55,800
But do you serve it in
anything other than plastic containers?
1030
01:19:55,801 --> 01:19:58,595
We have them made, uh,
at our central kitchen every morning,
1031
01:19:58,720 --> 01:20:01,056
and they bring 'em to us
on the cold press juicer,
1032
01:20:01,181 --> 01:20:03,350
so it's ready to go,
bottled for convenience.
1033
01:20:03,475 --> 01:20:04,935
But that's in plastic, yeah?
1034
01:20:05,060 --> 01:20:07,729
- Do you have something not plastic?
- No.
1035
01:20:07,854 --> 01:20:10,607
And you serve all your drinks
in plastic cups as well?
1036
01:20:10,732 --> 01:20:11,775
Yes, sir.
1037
01:20:11,900 --> 01:20:13,527
Keep the straw 'cause that's plastic.
1038
01:20:13,652 --> 01:20:16,321
- I'll have to leave it then, I think.
- Yeah?
1039
01:20:16,446 --> 01:20:17,614
- Yeah.
- Okay, that's okay.
1040
01:20:17,739 --> 01:20:19,825
- Yeah. Okay. Well, thanks very much.
- Yeah.
1041
01:20:19,950 --> 01:20:21,493
All right, what can I get you?
1042
01:20:21,618 --> 01:20:24,371
Yeah, I felt like I was
a bit of an eco-warrior.
1043
01:20:24,496 --> 01:20:28,792
Tell me, what's my food wrapped in?
It's not plastic, is it? [chuckles]
1044
01:20:28,917 --> 01:20:31,128
I'm going to die of something.
1045
01:20:31,253 --> 01:20:34,840
- Yeah, but do you wanna die early or late?
- [man chuckles]
1046
01:20:34,965 --> 01:20:37,509
My boyfriend actually tells me
every single day of my life
1047
01:20:37,634 --> 01:20:39,428
to not be drinking water bottles
from my car
1048
01:20:39,553 --> 01:20:40,833
but if I'm thirsty, I'm thirsty.
1049
01:20:40,887 --> 01:20:43,515
You know what? He's right.
And you've got that wrapped in paper.
1050
01:20:43,640 --> 01:20:44,724
That's good.
1051
01:20:44,850 --> 01:20:46,560
That's impressive for a takeaway place.
1052
01:20:46,685 --> 01:20:48,812
Take the salad and stick 'em in
like, a few of these.
1053
01:20:48,937 --> 01:20:50,937
Yeah, that'd be better
than sticking it in plastic.
1054
01:20:50,939 --> 01:20:53,150
If you could put it maybe
between two paper plates.
1055
01:20:53,275 --> 01:20:55,861
It's just all the chemicals
in this that get into the food.
1056
01:20:55,986 --> 01:20:58,780
You've made such a great sandwich,
by the look of it.
1057
01:20:58,905 --> 01:21:03,201
[Tanya] We gave in to the sales hype of
the '50s that plastic was "disposable,"
1058
01:21:03,326 --> 01:21:05,829
that we could throw it away.
1059
01:21:05,954 --> 01:21:07,706
There is no "away."
1060
01:21:13,503 --> 01:21:17,132
It's so very hard as a parent,
as a mom, as a woman,
1061
01:21:17,257 --> 01:21:20,635
to feel like you can do the best thing,
1062
01:21:20,760 --> 01:21:22,553
you know, that you can do
the right thing anymore.
1063
01:21:22,554 --> 01:21:25,974
Every day, you know,
we're contributing potentially
1064
01:21:26,099 --> 01:21:29,561
to a dreadful health problem later on
down the line.
1065
01:21:37,777 --> 01:21:39,738
No. There's nothing else to put it in.
1066
01:21:39,863 --> 01:21:41,490
Beep, beep, beep.
1067
01:21:44,826 --> 01:21:48,455
What this white stuff is,
is like the worst of the worst.
1068
01:21:49,539 --> 01:21:52,459
[Craig] Like a rubbish bin,
the earth is filling up with the stuff.
1069
01:21:52,584 --> 01:21:54,794
There is nowhere else to put it.
1070
01:21:54,920 --> 01:21:56,630
[Tanya] That's why, as much as possible,
1071
01:21:56,755 --> 01:22:02,636
we choose foods and drinks
that don't have plastic around them.
1072
01:22:02,761 --> 01:22:06,056
[Craig] It starts with the individual
and it starts with us.
1073
01:22:06,181 --> 01:22:09,351
What do you do?
You can't possibly filter out
1074
01:22:09,476 --> 01:22:11,853
these tiny particles
from the entire ocean.
1075
01:22:11,978 --> 01:22:13,563
You can't filter the entire ocean.
1076
01:22:13,688 --> 01:22:17,067
In fact,
so much plastic is in the ocean now
1077
01:22:17,192 --> 01:22:20,028
in a form that we really can't get to it
1078
01:22:20,153 --> 01:22:24,407
that I feel the emphasis needs
to immediately shift
1079
01:22:24,533 --> 01:22:25,742
toward "stop putting it in."
1080
01:22:29,454 --> 01:22:30,579
[Craig] Mike deGruy is right.
1081
01:22:30,580 --> 01:22:33,375
But how do we get to the point
where we can stop putting it in?
1082
01:22:35,168 --> 01:22:37,208
- Hi. That's me.
- I'd like to speak to the manager.
1083
01:22:37,295 --> 01:22:39,631
I notice when I came in here
and ordered, uh,
1084
01:22:39,756 --> 01:22:44,052
my sandwich and my drink,
they both came in plastic containers.
1085
01:22:44,177 --> 01:22:47,472
Our cups are a hundred percent
plant-based so they can be composted.
1086
01:22:47,597 --> 01:22:51,309
You're one of the first places in Austin
I've come to that has an alternative.
1087
01:22:51,434 --> 01:22:52,394
Is that right?
1088
01:22:52,519 --> 01:22:54,270
Best alternative option
I've got for you today.
1089
01:22:54,271 --> 01:22:56,438
That's perfect. I appreciate it.
Least you've got an alternative.
1090
01:22:56,439 --> 01:22:58,319
- Exactly.
- Thank you very much. Appreciate it.
1091
01:22:58,400 --> 01:23:00,068
- Have a great weekend.
- You too.
1092
01:23:00,193 --> 01:23:04,406
Find me some Gala apples
that are not in plastic.
1093
01:23:05,407 --> 01:23:07,866
[Craig] Demand that your supermarket
deliver your food products in paper
1094
01:23:07,867 --> 01:23:09,578
or just as they come.
1095
01:23:09,703 --> 01:23:13,665
They don't need to be wrapped in plastic
and if they are, take the plastic off
1096
01:23:13,790 --> 01:23:15,750
and leave it with them and say,
1097
01:23:15,875 --> 01:23:18,837
"You dispose of it
and dispose of it properly."
1098
01:23:18,962 --> 01:23:21,131
Because once it becomes their problem,
1099
01:23:21,256 --> 01:23:23,466
you'll find that they will do
something about it.
1100
01:23:48,491 --> 01:23:52,245
Don't put your plastic rubbish
in a dumpster
1101
01:23:52,370 --> 01:23:54,331
where you know it's going to landfill.
1102
01:23:58,585 --> 01:24:02,464
[Craig] In 1991, Germany became
the first country in the world
1103
01:24:02,589 --> 01:24:05,800
to pass packaging laws
forcing plastic manufacturers
1104
01:24:05,925 --> 01:24:08,803
to be responsible
for the recycling or disposal
1105
01:24:08,928 --> 01:24:11,431
of any packaging material they sell.
1106
01:24:11,556 --> 01:24:13,099
The industry set up a company
1107
01:24:13,224 --> 01:24:17,937
to oversee plastic waste collection
recognized by the green dot.
1108
01:24:19,147 --> 01:24:21,566
When I was a kid,
we used to run around the neighborhood
1109
01:24:21,691 --> 01:24:24,569
collecting glass bottles
to take to the store
1110
01:24:24,694 --> 01:24:26,529
to collect the 5-cent refund
that we'd get.
1111
01:24:28,239 --> 01:24:31,785
Plastic packaging pretty much killed
the bottle deposit system.
1112
01:24:31,910 --> 01:24:35,205
But here in Germany,
they've reinstated it.
1113
01:24:35,330 --> 01:24:38,833
You can take your plastic bottles
to almost any supermarket
1114
01:24:38,958 --> 01:24:42,754
and put them in this machine.
And what it does is it reads a barcode
1115
01:24:42,879 --> 01:24:45,882
which tells the machine
the kind of plastic that it is,
1116
01:24:46,007 --> 01:24:49,803
that it's recyclable,
and which retailer it comes from.
1117
01:24:49,928 --> 01:24:53,682
So the consumer gets
a 25-cent deposit off every bottle,
1118
01:24:53,807 --> 01:24:55,225
the retailer gets the plastic,
1119
01:24:55,350 --> 01:24:59,145
which they can sell to recyclers
for a lucrative amount of money.
1120
01:24:59,270 --> 01:25:00,855
And on the streets of Germany,
1121
01:25:00,980 --> 01:25:05,568
you very rarely see these things anymore
because everybody recycles them.
1122
01:25:10,657 --> 01:25:13,868
[Craig] The Germans demonstrated
that there is profit to be made.
1123
01:25:15,328 --> 01:25:18,665
Today, recycling
is a lucrative industry.
1124
01:25:23,169 --> 01:25:24,546
Pressure your government.
1125
01:25:24,671 --> 01:25:28,550
Tell them that you do not accept that
plastic should be in the environment.
1126
01:25:28,675 --> 01:25:31,344
The manufacturers of plastic
have their own lobby groups
1127
01:25:31,469 --> 01:25:33,846
and they'll lobby the government
to get the best possible deal
1128
01:25:33,847 --> 01:25:36,808
for them to get their products
into the marketplace
1129
01:25:36,933 --> 01:25:39,394
for the least cost,
and the least cost means
1130
01:25:39,519 --> 01:25:41,980
that they don't have
to be responsible for it.
1131
01:25:42,105 --> 01:25:44,065
If they manufacture it,
they should be responsible
1132
01:25:44,149 --> 01:25:46,443
for its collection
and for its proper disposal.
1133
01:25:46,568 --> 01:25:49,487
[Tanya] We will all be better off
if less plastic is manufactured
1134
01:25:49,612 --> 01:25:50,780
in the first place.
1135
01:25:50,905 --> 01:25:53,783
Scientists are already calling
for governments
1136
01:25:53,908 --> 01:25:57,245
to reclassify plastic
as a hazardous substance.
1137
01:25:57,370 --> 01:26:01,332
Because then, existing laws
about hazardous substances
1138
01:26:01,458 --> 01:26:02,542
will already be in effect.
1139
01:26:02,667 --> 01:26:06,254
Plastic bags and water bottles
are the worst single-use offenders.
1140
01:26:06,379 --> 01:26:10,383
What if we ban them outright
to stop that vicious cycle?
1141
01:26:10,508 --> 01:26:15,638
Rwanda is one of the very few countries
that has banned plastic bags.
1142
01:26:18,433 --> 01:26:23,813
[woman]
Rwanda being an agricultural country...
1143
01:26:23,938 --> 01:26:26,524
whereby we don't have
a lot of industries
1144
01:26:26,649 --> 01:26:30,361
we have tried to assess
the impact of plastic bags
1145
01:26:46,377 --> 01:26:49,088
[man] I think it's a shocking waste
of valuable resources
1146
01:26:49,214 --> 01:26:52,175
that these materials
are being put in the landfill.
1147
01:26:52,300 --> 01:26:56,054
They're so much more valuable.
If we put them in the landfill,
1148
01:26:56,179 --> 01:27:01,309
the cost in Europe is roundabout
a minus 100 pounds a ton, $150.
1149
01:27:01,434 --> 01:27:08,024
But as a useful plastic, it could be
worth plus $1,200, $1,500 a ton.
1150
01:27:08,149 --> 01:27:09,734
So, it's a huge difference in value.
1151
01:27:11,152 --> 01:27:14,656
We actually have the answers now
to recycling most plastics,
1152
01:27:14,781 --> 01:27:17,951
uh, and the challenge really
is to get everyone onboard
1153
01:27:18,076 --> 01:27:21,704
with those ideas, and also to get the
collection infrastructure going right
1154
01:27:21,830 --> 01:27:24,624
so that we get big volumes coming
concentrated in one place,
1155
01:27:24,749 --> 01:27:27,377
so that people can then have
the confidence to invest
1156
01:27:27,502 --> 01:27:29,337
in the recovery technology.
1157
01:27:30,338 --> 01:27:33,424
[Craig] Once sorted, recycled plastics
are brought into factories like this
1158
01:27:33,550 --> 01:27:36,970
where they can become part
of a circular economy,
1159
01:27:37,095 --> 01:27:40,098
cleaned of labels and processed
into newborn nurdles,
1160
01:27:40,223 --> 01:27:42,517
ready to be sold once again.
1161
01:27:43,601 --> 01:27:45,603
As recyclers,
we think governments could do more
1162
01:27:45,728 --> 01:27:47,939
to encourage development
of circular supply chains.
1163
01:27:48,064 --> 01:27:50,775
A lot of recycled plastics
can be used back, as we say,
1164
01:27:50,900 --> 01:27:52,944
in "closed loop,"
back in the same products.
1165
01:27:53,069 --> 01:27:54,863
And that's happening a lot with bottles
1166
01:27:54,988 --> 01:27:57,699
and pots, tubs and trays
from the packaging stream,
1167
01:27:57,824 --> 01:27:59,304
but there are plenty of other outlets
1168
01:27:59,325 --> 01:28:01,369
where a short-life item,
like a piece of packaging
1169
01:28:01,494 --> 01:28:03,121
can go into a long-life application.
1170
01:28:03,246 --> 01:28:05,456
For example, in construction products,
1171
01:28:05,582 --> 01:28:08,793
uh, in automotive,
in making cars and trains
1172
01:28:08,918 --> 01:28:10,295
and airplanes and things like that
1173
01:28:10,420 --> 01:28:13,840
where you can get the performance
of the recycled polymer just as good
1174
01:28:13,965 --> 01:28:16,050
as virgin material
that's come out of the ground.
1175
01:28:16,175 --> 01:28:19,053
You can take it from a bottle one day
to a shirt the next day.
1176
01:28:19,178 --> 01:28:22,849
From that shirt, then it can become
a component in a vehicle.
1177
01:28:22,974 --> 01:28:25,101
It can become something
that's sent to space.
1178
01:28:25,226 --> 01:28:26,603
Through the Plastic Bank,
1179
01:28:26,728 --> 01:28:30,857
we make plastic waste a currency,
so that people in developing countries
1180
01:28:30,982 --> 01:28:35,820
can earn an income while preventing
plastic from entering the ocean.
1181
01:28:37,196 --> 01:28:40,700
[Craig] David Katz and Shaun Frankson
founded the Plastic Bank.
1182
01:28:42,035 --> 01:28:44,746
They established a social plastic
recycling system in Haiti
1183
01:28:44,871 --> 01:28:48,374
that exchanges plastic
for solar cell phone charging,
1184
01:28:48,499 --> 01:28:51,002
sustainable cook stoves and cash.
1185
01:28:51,127 --> 01:28:55,590
[Shaun] It's like a fair-trade plastic
where it's ethically sourced...
1186
01:28:55,715 --> 01:28:58,801
and it's above-market rate income
that they earn.
1187
01:28:58,927 --> 01:29:01,095
The people in need can go
and collect the plastic
1188
01:29:01,220 --> 01:29:02,888
and create a microeconomy
around recycling.
1189
01:29:02,889 --> 01:29:06,726
This is something that we can scale
anywhere in the world.
1190
01:29:06,851 --> 01:29:08,891
[Craig] This is a self-sustaining
social enterprise.
1191
01:29:10,355 --> 01:29:12,773
All of the plastic collected
through the Plastic Bank goes through
1192
01:29:12,774 --> 01:29:16,235
the recycling process
and is sold as "social plastic"
1193
01:29:16,361 --> 01:29:19,656
to be used in manufacturing
by values-aligned brands,
1194
01:29:19,781 --> 01:29:22,033
or it can be used to 3D print.
1195
01:29:22,158 --> 01:29:24,202
They're using it instead
of virgin plastic.
1196
01:29:25,286 --> 01:29:26,996
If you're choosing between two products
1197
01:29:27,121 --> 01:29:29,457
and one's made
of social plastic and one's not,
1198
01:29:29,582 --> 01:29:32,794
you're really choosing between,
"Do I help or do I hurt the planet?"
1199
01:29:33,878 --> 01:29:36,255
Social plastic is really our way
1200
01:29:36,381 --> 01:29:39,926
that we can create an organic,
global infrastructure.
1201
01:29:40,051 --> 01:29:44,764
[Tanya] New technology means that waste
can now be converted into energy.
1202
01:29:46,099 --> 01:29:48,518
In Europe alone,
there are 15 million tons
1203
01:29:48,643 --> 01:29:52,605
of end-of-life plastic
going into landfill every year.
1204
01:29:52,730 --> 01:29:54,691
Cynar, a waste-to-fuel company,
1205
01:29:54,816 --> 01:29:57,819
designed a machine
that turns end-of-life plastic
1206
01:29:57,944 --> 01:29:59,904
like candy wrappers and snack packets,
1207
01:30:00,029 --> 01:30:03,074
which aren't usually recyclable,
into diesel.
1208
01:30:04,158 --> 01:30:07,286
Using a heating process
called "pyrolysis,"
1209
01:30:07,412 --> 01:30:11,791
it turns an environmental problem
into a valuable commodity.
1210
01:30:11,916 --> 01:30:16,295
Each machine can process
about 20 tons of plastic daily,
1211
01:30:16,421 --> 01:30:19,799
making about 18,000 liters of diesel
1212
01:30:19,924 --> 01:30:23,052
or the equivalent
of 113 barrels of oil a day.
1213
01:30:25,054 --> 01:30:26,639
[car engine revving]
1214
01:30:30,601 --> 01:30:33,438
[Craig] Islands like Lord Howe
manage their plastic waste
1215
01:30:33,563 --> 01:30:36,274
with solutions that match
the way they live.
1216
01:30:36,399 --> 01:30:38,759
There is no burning
and there is no landfill on this island.
1217
01:30:38,776 --> 01:30:42,613
Food waste, the garden waste,
paper and cardboard gets composted.
1218
01:30:42,739 --> 01:30:46,033
All the recyclables
are baled and sent back to the mainland,
1219
01:30:46,159 --> 01:30:48,453
and currently the island's
diverting 85 percent
1220
01:30:48,578 --> 01:30:50,037
of all their waste from landfill.
1221
01:30:50,163 --> 01:30:52,081
This is the recycling sorting facility.
1222
01:30:52,206 --> 01:30:55,168
We can separate, we can bale everything.
1223
01:30:55,293 --> 01:30:59,547
You can galvanize a community
to do amazing things.
1224
01:30:59,672 --> 01:31:01,466
[rattling]
1225
01:31:05,386 --> 01:31:08,306
[woman] The whales are diving
into a sea of plastic bottles
1226
01:31:08,431 --> 01:31:12,018
and the bottles were collected
from the Bristol 10K Race.
1227
01:31:13,019 --> 01:31:16,063
[Tanya] It was important to the artist,
Sue Lipscombe,
1228
01:31:16,189 --> 01:31:19,358
to make this sculpture
out of sustainable materials.
1229
01:31:19,484 --> 01:31:24,405
She used recycled plastics
and locally-grown willow.
1230
01:31:24,530 --> 01:31:26,949
[Tanya] There are 70,000 bottles.
1231
01:31:27,074 --> 01:31:28,993
That means in some way,
1232
01:31:29,118 --> 01:31:33,539
up to 70,000 people
have contributed to this art.
1233
01:31:33,664 --> 01:31:37,043
I kick off by telling the kids
something about whales
1234
01:31:37,168 --> 01:31:40,129
and the reaction is just fantastic.
1235
01:31:40,254 --> 01:31:44,425
They love hearing about how big
they are. They really get it.
1236
01:31:44,550 --> 01:31:47,553
They ask you
all sorts of perceptive questions
1237
01:31:47,678 --> 01:31:50,056
an adult might not think about.
1238
01:31:50,181 --> 01:31:52,391
And I really just love
the enthusiasm of the pupils.
1239
01:31:52,517 --> 01:31:55,686
Wouldn't it be great
if politicians 40 years down the line
1240
01:31:55,812 --> 01:31:57,563
still had that same enthusiasm
1241
01:31:57,688 --> 01:31:59,816
that schoolchildren show
when they come here?
1242
01:31:59,941 --> 01:32:01,541
Wouldn't the world be a different place?
1243
01:32:07,949 --> 01:32:11,327
[woman] We've treated the ocean
as a place to throw things,
1244
01:32:11,452 --> 01:32:16,082
dispose of things that we did not
want close to where we thought we live.
1245
01:32:57,081 --> 01:33:00,960
[Craig] In 2015, natural history
broadcaster Sir David Attenborough,
1246
01:33:01,085 --> 01:33:03,629
met with President Barack Obama.
1247
01:33:03,754 --> 01:33:06,924
Obama, who spent his boyhood
in the natural splendor of Hawaii,
1248
01:33:07,049 --> 01:33:08,968
grew up watching Attenborough's films.
1249
01:33:10,303 --> 01:33:14,307
What we're seeing is global trend,
uh, that...
1250
01:33:14,432 --> 01:33:17,268
depend on the entire world
working together.
1251
01:33:17,393 --> 01:33:20,396
- [David] Yes.
- My daughters, I find Malia and Sasha...
1252
01:33:20,521 --> 01:33:23,649
they're much more environmentally
aware, this generation...
1253
01:33:23,774 --> 01:33:25,609
- I believe that.
- ...than some previous generations.
1254
01:33:25,610 --> 01:33:28,696
They think it's, uh, self-apparent
that we've got a problem
1255
01:33:28,821 --> 01:33:30,740
and that we should be
doing something about it.
1256
01:33:30,865 --> 01:33:36,078
I absolutely agree.
And the young people, they care.
1257
01:33:36,203 --> 01:33:38,831
They know that this is the world
that they're gonna grow up in
1258
01:33:38,956 --> 01:33:40,833
and they're going
to spend their lives in.
1259
01:33:40,958 --> 01:33:44,503
But I think it's...
I think it's more idealistic than that.
1260
01:33:44,629 --> 01:33:48,257
They actually believe that humanity,
human species,
1261
01:33:48,382 --> 01:33:52,929
has no right to destroy
and despoil, regardless.
1262
01:33:53,054 --> 01:33:55,414
- They actually feel that very powerfully.
- Right. They do.
1263
01:33:55,514 --> 01:34:00,895
The whole of the ecosystems of the world
are based on a healthy ocean.
1264
01:34:01,020 --> 01:34:06,400
And if that part of the planet
becomes dysfunctional, goes wrong,
1265
01:34:06,525 --> 01:34:09,445
then the whole of life
on this planet will suffer.
1266
01:34:10,488 --> 01:34:12,990
The whole planet is where we live.
1267
01:34:13,115 --> 01:34:19,246
There is no "away" that you can put things
and expect that they're really away.
1268
01:34:19,372 --> 01:34:21,958
This phrase "not in my back yard"...
1269
01:34:22,083 --> 01:34:27,088
the ocean is everyone's back yard
or front yard or living space.
1270
01:34:27,213 --> 01:34:32,426
No matter how you look at it, this
planet is governed by the blue part.
1271
01:34:32,551 --> 01:34:36,430
The world truly is mostly a blue place.
1272
01:34:36,555 --> 01:34:40,226
I'll be just as worried
about Tilly and Charlie
1273
01:34:40,351 --> 01:34:41,686
when they're... [chuckles]
1274
01:34:41,811 --> 01:34:44,355
in their 70s and 80s and I'm long gone.
1275
01:34:44,480 --> 01:34:46,773
I still want them to be healthy
and certainly not suffering
1276
01:34:46,774 --> 01:34:48,734
the effects of
any decisions that I made.
1277
01:35:04,750 --> 01:35:07,169
[Craig]
I wanna go back to where it all started.
1278
01:35:07,294 --> 01:35:09,213
I wanna go back to the whales.
1279
01:35:09,338 --> 01:35:13,426
I wanna go and find the juvenile
that we first saw.
1280
01:35:14,510 --> 01:35:18,681
If whales could talk to us,
I imagine they would ask us,
1281
01:35:18,806 --> 01:35:20,516
"What were we thinking?"
1282
01:35:20,641 --> 01:35:24,145
Every other species on the planet
works towards the benefit
1283
01:35:24,270 --> 01:35:26,856
of the ecology
and environment that it lives in,
1284
01:35:26,981 --> 01:35:30,568
but us humans, we just seem
like passengers on this earth.
1285
01:35:32,028 --> 01:35:34,530
I want to say
to the parents of the juvenile,
1286
01:35:34,655 --> 01:35:38,617
"I'm sorry.
I'm so sorry, on behalf of humanity,
1287
01:35:38,743 --> 01:35:41,954
for putting plastic into your home."
1288
01:35:42,079 --> 01:35:44,874
And I want to say,
"We'll share this story
1289
01:35:44,999 --> 01:35:48,085
because from knowing comes caring
1290
01:35:48,210 --> 01:35:50,880
and from caring comes change."113804
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