PLASTIC IS NOW PROBLEM
THE quotation “plastics are the future” comes from the film The Graduate featuring Dustin Hoffmann and Anne Bancroft.
Hoffmann plays a new graduate and “plastics are the future” is advice given to him by one of his parents’ neighbours.
The film presents Hoffmann as a disaffected individual who has little idea about possible career plans and seems only politely interested in plastics.
It also shows a dichotomy between the generations. His parent’s generation who fought in WW2 is juxtaposed against the 1960s with its background of civil rights and the hippie generation.
Plastics in this context seems to represent a boring but steady career path for the older generation who value consumer goods, stability and affluence.
Looking at this line from a 51-year-old film we have the benefit of hindsight.
The huge expansion and multiple uses of plastic have made it ubiquitous in all aspects of our lives. For me personally it is also something of a light bulb moment.
The “plastics are the future” quote has almost a prophetic meaning. The increasing use of plastic, particularly single use, has not happen overnight.
Plastic is light, cheap and strong but it has been estimated to take 500 years to biodegrade.Plastic will, however, break up into smaller pieces over time creating micro plastics.
The Precious Plastic Project started in Holland asks us to put a value on plastic to move away from a throwaway society in an attempt to eliminate waste.
A chance viewing of The Graduate gave me plenty to reflect upon. In 1967 plastics may have seemed like the future but they are definitely now affecting our future and even the state of our planet.
We have very serious problems with plastic pollution/waste. Less than 10 per cent of plastic is recycled worldwide.
Drowning in Plastic (Liz Bonnin) is a very informative and harrowing programme looks at plastic pollution in the Arctic and remote coral beds, the threats to the lives of sea birds, fish and mammals from discarded plastic, and how less developed poorer parts of the world face an unequal struggle against plastic garbage.
Access to landfill and incineration are often absent from these areas leaving large formations of abandoned plastic. Julie Stubbins Accrington