Plastic Use and Greenwashing… The Big Lie(s).
While I realize that I have been on an environmental kick over the last few articles, I would like to cover one more topic before I move onto other social issues of interest. My last article dealt with our trash and covered the spectrum of trash material that Solid Municipal Waste facilities have to deal with. In this article, I am going to focus on the very specific trash item of plastics. Are they really recyclable? Or have we been “greenwashed” into believing that our recycling practices can control the plethora of plastic that has been produced and dumped. Have “we, the consumers” been lied to by corporate America for the almighty dollar? Greenwashing… The Lie. For starters, lets begin with the term “greenwashing”. “Greenwashing is essentially when a company or organization spends more time and money on marketing themselves as being sustainable than on actually minimizing their environmental impact. It’s a deceitful advertising method to gain favor with consumers who choose to support businesses that care about bettering the planet.” So who would I say are the ultimate Greenwashers..? Who Started the Recycling Lie? I’m old enough to remember the now famous 1971 “Crying Indian” commercial, which was designed to draw attention to the growing issue of our waste management. It was put out by the Keep America Beautiful campaign, which was “formed in 1953 when a group of corporate and civic leaders met in New York City to bring the public and private sectors together to develop and promote a national cleanliness ethic.” They have a statement on their lead page: At Keep America Beautiful, we believe in the shared responsibility to build and maintain clean, green, and beautiful spaces.That’s why we take action every day to improve and beautify communities across America. I underlined the key words from the KAB Goal that stands out. “Shared responsibility” to maintain clean, green and beautiful spaces. The irony behind this is who actually founded KAB: the packaging companies, to divert blame from the industry and make the consumers feel responsible for the waste crisis. WHY would the plastic producers do such a thing? Greenwashing for Profits… “When states began responding to the litter problem, the packaging and beverage industry worried the message would undermine their business models. Their profits demanded disposable cans and food packaging. So they founded Keep America Beautiful, which put the litter problem back on the people and out of the hands of corporations. The packaging industry relied on convincing people they needed to buy more stuff and that these items would undergo a cycle of becoming trash almost immediately. Society had to be trained to dispose of single-use plastic. The bottle and can industry used the power of advertising to convince consumers that the things they were reusing, like glass bottles, were garbage.” Basically, by the 1960’s protesters were putting the blame of the growing waste problem onto the packaging industries. They blamed the industries for causing the proliferation of disposable items and depleting natural resources. “Keep America Beautiful practiced a sly form of propaganda. Since the corporations behind the campaign never publicized their involvement, audiences assumed that the group was a disinterested party.” A Brief History of Plastics Unfortunately for our growing global material needs, plastics have become a necessary evil. Let’s dig a little into the history of plastic so we can better understand WHY the invention of plastic was actually necessary, at the time. According to the Science History Institute: The first synthetic polymer was invented in 1869 by John Wesley Hyatt, who was inspired by a New York firm’s offer of $10,000 for anyone who could provide a substitute for ivory. The growing popularity of billiards had put a strain on the supply of natural ivory, obtained through the slaughter of wild elephants. By treating cellulose, derived from cotton fiber, with camphor, Hyatt discovered a plastic that could be crafted into a variety of shapes and made to imitate natural substances like tortoiseshell, horn, linen, and ivory. This discovery was revolutionary. For the first time human manufacturing was not constrained by the limits of nature. Nature only supplied so much wood, metal, stone, bone, tusk, and horn. But now humans could create new materials. This development helped not only people but also the environment. Advertisements praised celluloid as the savior of the elephant and the tortoise. Plastics could protect the natural world from the destructive forces of human need. The creation of new materials also helped free people from the social and economic constraints imposed by the scarcity of natural resources. Inexpensive celluloid made material wealth more widespread and obtainable. Could it be said that plastic “saved” the elephants..? Overly simplified, but somewhat truthful for the time. The limitations of natural resources were being felt, and the innovation of plastic would allow a new freedom in what was used to manufacture materials. So, yes, initially a win for all involved, both Nature and Man. Expansion of Plastic Usage The initial invention of natural plastic in 1869 lead to other innovations: -The invention of Bakelight in 1907, which was made from completely synthetic materials to help with the insulation of the newly growing electrical power lines, -To the invention of nylon in 1935 to help with the needs of WWII, which replaced silk for parachutes, and was used for body armor, etc. “During World War II plastic production in the United States increased by 300%.” The issue then became what to do with all that plastic production once the initial wartime use had faltered… So we have the advent of Tupperware in 1948, and “the example of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) invented in 1941, to show how versatile these cheap new materials could be. Today it is used to make fizzy drinks bottles, because it is strong enough to hold two atmospheres of pressure… [It is also used to make] a soft winter glove, as well as a sheet of plastic for wrapping flowers. “It’s the same material,” [says Andrea Sella]. The only
