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Pollution from Plastics - Videos

- Plastic Wars (Youtube - Frontlne PBS (full film))
Have efforts to solve the plastic pollution problem made it worse? Go inside the battle over plastics, recycling and what’s at stake. (53 minutes)
- The Plastic Problem (Youtube - PBS Newshour (full film))
By 2050 there will be more plastic than fish in the oceans. It’s an environmental crisis that’s been in the making for nearly 70 years. Plastic pollution is now considered one of the largest environmental threats facing humans and animals globally. (54 minutes)
- Plastics 101 (Youtube - National Geographic)
Once a completely natural product, much of today's plastic is man-made and largely dependent upon fossil fuels. From polymers to nurdles, learn how plastic is created and what we can do to slow the lasting repercussions this material will have on both our planet and our lives. (6 minutes)
- A Plastic Wave (Youtube)
A surf photographer, business owner and father of two is seeing more and more plastic wash ashore his beloved home beach. In a bid to discover the route of this problem he embarks on a journey of discovery to educate himself and understand more about the problem. Along the way, he discovers some alarming issues. Plastic pollution is a very real threat to the future of our planet, the animals that inhabit our oceans and ultimately the human race. The problem is far worse than it seems on the surface and we need to act now to ensure we protect the future for ourselves and our planet. (24 minutes)
- Plastics Industry Insiders Reveal the Truth About Recycling (Youtube - Frontlne PBS))
Three top executives who represented the plastics industry at a pivotal moment shed new light on the industry’s efforts to overcome growing concern about plastic waste by pushing recycling -- despite the fact that "there was never an enthusiastic belief that recycling was ultimately going to work in a significant way." (3 minutes)
- Great Pacific Garbage Patch (Youtube Ted Talk)
Beth Terry, the founder of My Plastic Free Life, shares her story of plastic free living. (12 minutes)
- Great Pacific Garbage Patch Explained (Youtube Ted Talk)
In depth analysis from 2018. (2 minutes)

- Bag It Movie
Investigation into plastics and their effect on our waterways, oceans, and even our bodies. About the full movie. (3 minute intro or 78 minute documentary)
- The Bay vs. The Bag (YouTube)
On the Golden Gate Headlands, a bike-rider sits down to enjoy a sandwich. Her plastic wrapper blows away, only to come back to her in force with millions of other bags in a great wave that overwhelms her. (3 minutes)
- The Majestic Plastic Bag (YouTube)
This "nature documentary" from Heal the Bay tracks the tenacious migration of "the majestic plastic bag" from a grocery store parking lot to the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. (4 minutes)
- Midway Journey - Plastic Beach (YouTube)
Beach cleaned by humans, then plastic particles wash ashore with each wave. Crabs walking and eating plastic on the strand. (2 minutes)
- Plastic Challenge 2009 (YouTube)
Beth Terry's classic video on the total plastic she had to throw away in 2009 (3.6 pounds) See also earlier challenge. (5 minutes)
- Midway Journey (YouTube)
Impact of plastics on Albatross on the Midway Atoll. (4 minutes)
- Plastic Paradise (Vimeo Trailer)
This is a trailer, but long enough to be full of a lot of information. (6 minutes)
- Saving Inky (Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3) (YouTube)
The story of a beached whale that is nursed back to life in an aquarium when researchers finally discover (and remove) plastic in its belly. (18 minutes)

- Story of Bottled Water (Animated Video at Story of Stuff)
Annie Leonard’s quick, comprehensive look at the wasteful and expensive bottled water craze. (8 minutes)
- Plastic State of Mind (YouTube)
Fun song about bringing your own shopping bags. (2 minutes)
- Bring Your Canvas Bag (YouTube)
This is a hoot, a real mood-lifting song after all the depressing news. (3 minutes)
- Intolerable Beauty (Photographs)
Photos of the wastefulness of consumer culture, expressed in the vast numbers of electronics and other items discarded daily. Hear Photographer Chris Jordan’s story (Culture Unplugged TED Lecture Video). (11 minutes)
From Green Sangha's successful Rethinking Plastics Campaign.