On this edition of Your Call, environmental journalist Beth Gardiner discusses her new book, Plastic Inc: The Secret History and Shocking Future of Big Oil’s Biggest Bet.
Gardiner reveals how Big Oil, facing a declining demand for fossil fuels, is investing billions to dramatically increase plastic production despite the enormous environmental and health impacts. She also uncovers how the industry promoted recycling as a sustainable option, despite knowing it could never work at scale.
Beth Gardiner writes: "The plastic-drenched world we live in today didn’t just happen. It was built by an industry that has slowly, steadily – and stealthily – drawn us into its web. These companies saw from the start that pushing ever more plastic into our lives would bring fat profits. So they came up with an endless series of new uses for it, inventing the lucrative idea of disposability, then pumping out a stream of throwaway packaging, cheap toys, and much more. They persuaded us to blame ourselves, and one another, for the resulting waste, to keep us from directing our gaze at their ever-climbing production."
Guests:
Beth Gardiner, environmental journalist, and author of two books: Choked: Life and Breath in the Age of Air Pollution and Plastic Inc: The Secret History and Shocking Future of Big Oil’s Biggest Bet
Resources:
The New York Times: Life in Plastic: It’s Not Fantastic
Mother Jones: Rich Nations’ Plastic Waste Is Burned for Fuel Abroad, Creating Grave Health Risks
Scientific American: How the Fossil-Fuel Industry’s Pivot to Plastic Is Polluting Our Planet
The Atlantic: Brace for the Plastic-Price Hikes
