Plastic Paradise: The Great Pacific Garbage Patch (2013) User Reviews

Important problem, lackluster solution

[0versoul · 7/10 · 7 March 2015]

My fellow Californian Angela Sun builds a compelling case against the convenience of plastics in modern living. Plastic's stubborn refusal to break down into its component parts mean it is a persistent pollutant. Plastic enters the world's oceans, is broken into tiny bits, and ingested by marine life and birds. It then makes it's way up the food chain, ultimately into humans.

As the film stated, plastic is the third biggest industry in the USA. Can we afford, ecologically or economically, to turn it off or to leave it running? This film takes the position of halting or diminishing plastic consumption...but what if there is another way? One of the challenges humanity will face as it continues to grow, and it's reach expands, is learning to use the finite resources of the planet (the Solar System, the galaxy) in ever more creative, efficient, and ingenious ways. After all, BPA is a discovery of 1930s chemistry.

Why not use 2015 chemical and physical science to find a way to alter plastics into a more degenerative or reusable compound? Our third largest industry and the second order impacts of those jobs would be maintained and contamination of the world's oceans would be reduced or eliminated. Somewhere in the sometimes rocky marriage of science and industry is a savior (for the ecologists) and an invention (for the entrepreneurs). I gave this documentary 7 of 10 for sounding an alarm that needs to be sounded, but was somewhat lacking in exploring solutions.

The Crisi of Plastic

[siyuluu · 8/10 · 14 December 2021]

"Plastic Paradise" is a documentary. A personal journey to explore the Midway Atoll, one of the most remote places on earth. At the beginning of the film, there were uncomfortable scenes, rotting carcasses of different birds. Then it turned into a commercial film about plastic. The black and white picture and the slightly distorted broadcast sound are not difficult to see. This is an early advertisement. This shows that plastic was born in the early years, a century ago. Plastic is everywhere in our lives today. We drink it, eat it, and wear it. Plastic seems to have become an indispensable part of our daily lives, and it is hard to imagine what would happen if we lost it. After the director asked some people, the story began. Angela came to the island and saw tons of plastic garbage. These plastics may come from all over the world. All kinds of plastic garbage drifted around in the strait to different places. The productivity of plastics is increasing year by year. What's interesting is that a 12-year-old boy found a drifting bottle on a long beach in the sea. Plastic cannot be dissolved and settled in the sea. Marine organisms are often entangled or use plastic as food. This caused many marine animals to lose their lives. With the advancement of science and technology, a lot of chemical waste has also been brought about. The insoluble plastic bag is also a problem we have been seeking to solve. The documentary "Plastic Paradise". Discussed the Pacific Garbage Patch. I remember I read a report. In 1992, 29,000 yellow plastic duckling toys made in China fell into the sea during a Pacific storm. In 2007, when a British female teacher was walking her dog on the beach, she accidentally found a yellow plastic toy duck floating on the sea. After this duck landed in the UK, there were about 10,000 toy ducks. In the next few years, they also went to the UK one after another. Then there are nearly 20,000 toy ducks left in the Pacific trash belt. I learned that the most common plastic in our lives is not only harmful to the ocean but also harmful to our human bodies. What impressed me the most was the small animals. They eat plastic products like food and are entangled in fishing nets or various plastic products when they swim in the ocean. Their lives have also been threatened. Seeing the unplaned carcasses of birds and animals filled with plastic, I feel sad. Because these plastics are probably thrown out of my hands, the plastic products that everyone uses may appear in the belly of birds, fish, and even other marine life. I think we should act to reduce the use of plastics and prevent them from harming entire nature. In the end, Angela went to the plastic production company and asked the businessmen how they felt about the harm caused by plastic, but no one could tell. In the end, Angela went to the plastic production company and asked the businessmen how they felt about the harm caused by plastic, but no one could tell. Businessmen only put their interests first but ignored the common life of mankind.

Plastic waste is a serious problem!

[ShaniseHo · 8/10 · 29 November 2020]

Before I watched this film, I knew that plastic waste is a problem that we been facing but I did not know that it is that serious and how big this problem actually is. The film really opened my eyes that plastic waste is actually incredibly bad for the environment. It is crazy that there is an island that is filled with just plastic waste. The reason for that is because we do not have a solution to getting rid of it. Most of us thinks that as long as those wastes aren't in our area or it's not at a place where we could see it then it means that we got rid of it. However, that is not true, we all know that a lot of plastic waste are dumped into the ocean. Something that most of us have not thought about is, how much harm does that do to the planet?

The plastic in the ocean gets washed up to the shores and as times go by it fills up the land full of plastic just sitting there. the plastics that are in the ocean are being consumed by the animals, which harms their health. In this film, it showed that a lot of animals dies and their stomach is filled with plastic pieces. The film showing these things brings more attention of the world to this problem.

As of right now, we clearly do not have a solution to get rid of plastic waste safely. Therefore we have to start preventing this problem to get any worse. It stated in the film that if consumers do not buy a lot of plastic made products like plastic bags, then companies would stop making them. If no one buys it then they would stop making it. Businesses and companies who makes plastic bags or plastic products do not think about the problem that it would cause. As long as they are making good money then they would not stop.

It stated in the film multiple times that it is our responsibility as consumers to stop buying plastic made products. We know that plastic waste is a problem in this world so why don't we take action and make things better. The video also showed that plastic fishing nets also contributes to this problem. Corals gets tangled up in them and it breaks off the coral heads. A solution to this could be simply just using another material for fishing nets, a material that could be broken down and not adds onto the island of plastic wastes.

Overall this film did a really good job on identifying the problems we are currently facing with plastic waste. Most people don't realize how huge this problem is until they see it with their own eyes. This video was very helpful on trying to get everyone to notice this problem more and take action on this problem. We would not know how important this is if we did not watch this video and get a better understanding of the problem.

Shocking, Heart-Wrenching, Important

[tomlh · 10/10 · 1 March 2015]

Angela Sun brings us a film that might just change your life. The films focus - Man's most destructive invention. Plastic. Plastic. Oh my god, plastic... Plastic is the only substance known to man that never goes away. Think of every piece of plastic you've ever touched, from the toys you played with as children to the coffee lids you use every day. You threw them out, as I did, without a care in the world, not knowing that they're still out there and they're destroying our world. Millions of sea creatures die each year from the billions of tons of plastic in the ocean. And the rate of plastic production is INCREASING.

I beg you, if you have not already seen this movie, please watch it. It's well made, and worthwhile in every sense of the word. It will make your blood boil and head spin. I give this wonderfully made, terribly saddening, illuminating work 10 stars, and if I could give it 11 I would. It changed my life.

Simply Amazing

[diegovreyes · 10/10 · 4 December 2020]

After watching this film, I was stunned. Words could not express the disgust and anger that I felt inside. Millions upon billions of pounds of plastic are dumped into oceans daily, and the numbers are only increasing. In my opinion, this film did a very nice job of bringing light to the ever-growing plastic pollution problem and how we as people can help reduce our waste. Actually, scratch that, This film did an AMAZING job of getting their point across. From the video samples that they shot down to the people they interviewed, each scene leaves the audience sitting on the edge of their seat, dumbfounded as to how a literal ISLAND of plastic and garbage can be left floating in the middle of the Pacific. The amount of effort that was put into this documentary shows, as watchers will feel empowered about the role that they can play in the fight against pollution after having watched this film.

One example that I can provide of this newfound "empowerment" would be the urge to recycle every single plastic item in your household. Once I finished this film, I discovered that I had acquired the burning desire to grab literally every item made out of plastic and recycle it. I'm talking about water bottles, cups, fake flowers, the TV remote, you get the picture. However, recycling won't fix the problem.

As the film states, plastic isn't that easy to get rid of. It never goes away. The plastic that was used in one of your childhood toys is also being used in the bottle that you're drinking water out of daily. Because we keep recycling, the plastic that was used in prior years is making its way back into the products that we use every day. On the other hand, if we simply just toss it to the side and forget about it, plastic will easily make its way into the earth and oceans, contaminating the animals that we depend on for food. So as you can see, recycling nor treating plastic as garbage will solve the problem.

So what can we do? Recycling is merely a temporary solution and straight-up throwing it out won't rectify the issue either. And although science has come farther than it did centuries ago, we still have no way of completely getting rid of our seemingly naturally indestructible man-made material. Well, since we don't have many options left, humanity's best bet will have to be recycling. All we can do for now is continue to use and reuse the plastic that we have until a real solution is found.

Getting back on track, this documentary is astounding. The footage, the interviews, even the way that the scenes were organized made for a perfectly written and perfectly directed production. If I were able to, I would rate this film 20 stars. My apologies, but I can't help but gush over the time and effort that was put into this documentary. An absolute winner. Truly stunning. I would encourage anybody who watches this to share it with their friends.

An effective and engaging film!

[k-88245 · 9/10 · 30 November 2020]

The invention of plastic at first brought convenience for people in consumer countries. It provided us with disposable tools and miscellaneous items that were cheap to replace and easily thrown away. What we failed to realize was that it is a material that does not degrade and continues to pollute the environment in which we rely on to survive. Our ecosystem suffers from the use of plastic and in the documentary ,Plastic Paradise: The Great Pacific Garbage Patch, journalist Angela Sun conducts first-hand research unearthing the damage its usage is causing. The film opens up with a brief history of the invention of plastic and how it has transformed the way we live. Angela Sun and her crew travel to Midway Atoll where thousands of pounds of plastic garbage has been collecting and harming the large population of albatross on the island. This leads to how the plastic debris affects the Midway environment. Sun points out that the plastic debris collects on the island because the network of rotating ocean currents pushes the debris to certain areas. She compares the islands to a comb because the high islands end up catching all the plastic wastes. Thousands of pounds of plastic debris wash up on Midway's shores. It comes from all places of the world and all sorts of garbage coming from the big populations of the world. The documentary shows all the chemically adsorbed plastic ingested by the albatross and even the fish we eat. The plastic also harms the coral reef species mainly from abandoned nylon fish nets. The fish nets are similar to a tumbleweed as it moves across the ocean while breaking off and collecting coral reefs. The documentary mentions how important coral reef life is and how it greatly impacts humans. Angela Sun also referenced a UN study that estimated that there were 640,000 tons of discarded fish nets in the oceans worldwide. A major adversary in the documentary is BPA. Even though in the late 1930's BPA was discovered and used as birth control, BPA is now used as a building block for resins and plastics. BPA is everywhere and we are constantly getting exposed to it despite the harmful effects like neurological problems and cancer. The film also further elaborates on how the persistent organic pollutant is dangerous. Sun also attempts to get information from big corporations in the plastic industry. Dow Chemical, Dupont, Exxon Mobil, and the American Chemistry Council are all mentioned in the film to have downplayed the harmful effects of plastic. Sun compares the plastic industry to the tobacco industry in the ways they manipulate information and delay its regulations. There have been significant gains in the movement such as over 70 U.S cities and communities in 44 countries have banned single use plastic bags. As the film comes to a close, Sun tells us that the amount of plastic in the world will quadruple by the end of 2050. There has to be a positive change in the plastic industry to see a major difference in the decrease of plastic pollution.