On Thursday, June 23rd, the Metuchen Public Library (480 Middlesex Ave., Metuchen) hosted a screening of The Story of Plastic Documentary. Volunteers of the Greater Princeton Branch of AYLUS (GPA) helped the library set up, attended and watched the film, took part in a post-film discussion, and wrote reflections they had on the documentary (what they learned, how their thinking changed, etc).
The Story of Plastic is a searing expose revealing the ugly truth behind plastic pollution and the false solution of plastic recycling. Different from every other plastic documentary you’ve seen, The Story of Plastic presents a cohesive timeline of how we got to our current global plastic pollution crisis and how the oil and gas industry has successfully manipulated the surrounding narrative. From the extraction of fossil fuels and plastic disposal to the global resistance fighting back, The Story of Plastic is a life-changing, Emmy-winning film depicting one of the world’s most pressing environmental issues.
Representing AYLUS and our concerns for plastic pollution and environmental awareness at the event, GPA volunteers (6/23, 3 hrs for all) Sarah Liu, Shannon Liu, Shaylin Lian, Grace Ni, Camila Lin, William Lin, Jonathan Yu, Tom Purui Cui, Victor Yu, Xiaorui Wang, Meiqi Tan, Leia Levarek, Richard Da, Anna Weng, Adam Jiang, Brian Jiang, Gilbert Teng, Zihan Yu, Xing Liao, Jeffrey Jiang, Fiona Fan, Ricky Fan, Sophia Song, Pearl Song, Grant Li, Garland Li, and more, shared the film and their reflections with friends, family, and classmates.
Author: Richard Da (6/24, 3 hrs drafting the following article for AYLUS)
Subject: Documentary
Location: Metuchen Public Library
Before watching the Story of Plastic, I thought that the plastic pollution issue could’ve been solved due to the act and process of recycling. I have also thought about this since a lot of the people I knew recycled
plastic bottles, paper, and plastic cartoons. After watching the documentary, I realized that recycling does not advocate anything. I learned that only 14% of plastics were recycled, and only 2% of it was
actually used to be reused and recycled for other plastic materials. While watching, I found out that being near incinerators can cause a 50% higher chance of getting certain types of cancer, and leukemia. Five great Gyres are in the ocean, carrying large patches of plastic, pellets, and plastic bags and other harmful residues for animals. Whilst I was watching the documentary, I had a sudden realization
that without oil companies and big corporations to be accused of their crimes against the environment and the amount of chemicals they put out, this will never end. We need to stop climate change by spreading awareness of the harmful chemicals and dangers of oil plants and incinerators, and
what happens to the ocean whenever we throw them in our trash bags or garbage bins. Action needs to be taken because sooner or later, it will be too late and incinerators and gas providers like Exxon Mobil would have already gotten their money, and their negative effect towards the environment. Due to this, I have devised plans/action that could be taken in order to stop this ever changing effect. First, we have to take awareness and spread throughout social media that more mandated laws should be implemented in order to stop the pollution of plastics and plastic bags. We should urge people to use reusable bags or to use metal straws. Second, we should pressure the enormous corporations in their crimes against the environment with their chemicals and carbon emissions, and we could start protests or rallies to show and put disappointment on those companies. Seeing The Story of Plastics Documentary really allowed me to see that in order to stop this, we have to unite and stop it as a whole, because without this, Gas corporations will keep on emitting chemicals and incinerators will still be intact. I learned that we can stop this with the power of social media and being united.