0:00:04.976,0:00:06.364
I am honored to be here,

0:00:06.388,0:00:08.365
and I'm honored to talk about this topic,

0:00:08.389,0:00:10.214
which I think is of grave importance.

0:00:10.238,0:00:11.461
We've been talking a lot

0:00:11.485,0:00:17.428
about the horrific impacts of plastic[br]on the planet and on other species,

0:00:17.452,0:00:19.460
but plastic hurts people, too --

0:00:19.951,0:00:21.333
especially poor people.

0:00:22.000,0:00:25.158
And both in the production of plastic,

0:00:25.182,0:00:27.900
the use of plastic[br]and the disposal of plastic,

0:00:27.924,0:00:30.489
the people who have[br]the bull's-eye on their foreheads

0:00:30.513,0:00:32.203
are poor people.

0:00:32.227,0:00:35.304
People got very upset

0:00:35.328,0:00:38.407
when the BP oil spill happened,

0:00:38.431,0:00:39.891
for very good reason.

0:00:39.915,0:00:41.539
People thought, "Oh, my God.

0:00:41.563,0:00:44.339
This is terrible, this oil --[br]it's in the water.

0:00:44.363,0:00:48.281
It's going to destroy[br]the living systems there.

0:00:48.305,0:00:49.739
People are going to be hurt.

0:00:49.763,0:00:51.254
This is a terrible thing,

0:00:51.278,0:00:53.613
this oil is going to hurt[br]the people in the Gulf."

0:00:53.637,0:00:55.707
What people don't think about is:

0:00:55.731,0:00:57.890
What if the oil had made it[br]safely to shore?

0:00:58.484,0:01:01.175
What if the oil actually got[br]where it was trying to go?

0:01:01.814,0:01:05.811
Not only would it have been burned[br]in engines and added to global warming,

0:01:05.835,0:01:09.196
but there's a place called "Cancer Alley,"

0:01:09.220,0:01:11.355
and the reason it's called "Cancer Alley"

0:01:11.379,0:01:14.007
is because the petrochemical industry

0:01:14.031,0:01:16.187
takes that oil and turns it into plastic

0:01:16.211,0:01:18.391
and in the process, kills people.

0:01:18.914,0:01:21.962
It shortens the lives of the people[br]who live there in the Gulf.

0:01:21.986,0:01:25.780
So oil and petrochemicals are not[br]just a problem when there's a spill;

0:01:25.804,0:01:27.514
they're a problem when there's not.

0:01:27.538,0:01:29.945
And what we don't often appreciate

0:01:29.969,0:01:31.643
is the price that poor people pay

0:01:31.667,0:01:33.778
for us to have these disposable products.

0:01:34.193,0:01:36.338
The other thing[br]we often don't appreciate is,

0:01:36.362,0:01:39.462
it's not just at the point of production[br]that poor people suffer.

0:01:39.486,0:01:41.659
Poor people also suffer[br]at the point of use.

0:01:42.136,0:01:44.221
Those of us who earn[br]a certain income level,

0:01:44.245,0:01:46.186
we have something called choice.

0:01:46.671,0:01:49.136
The reason why you want[br]to work hard and have a job

0:01:49.160,0:01:50.831
and not be poor and broke

0:01:50.855,0:01:53.296
is so you can have choices,[br]economic choices.

0:01:53.692,0:01:57.777
We actually get a chance[br]to choose not to use products

0:01:57.801,0:02:00.018
that have dangerous,[br]poisonous plastic in them.

0:02:00.042,0:02:02.577
Other people who are poor[br]don't have those choices.

0:02:02.601,0:02:04.575
So low-income people often are the ones

0:02:04.599,0:02:08.583
who are buying the products that have[br]those dangerous chemicals in them

0:02:08.607,0:02:10.046
that their children are using.

0:02:10.070,0:02:13.894
Those are the people who wind up[br]ingesting a disproportionate amount

0:02:13.918,0:02:16.085
of this poisonous plastic in using it.

0:02:16.109,0:02:19.342
And people say, "Well, they should[br]just buy a different product."

0:02:19.366,0:02:22.501
Well, the problem with being poor[br]is you don't have those choices.

0:02:22.525,0:02:24.613
You often have to buy[br]the cheapest products.

0:02:24.637,0:02:27.616
The cheapest products[br]are often the most dangerous.

0:02:27.640,0:02:29.236
And if that weren't bad enough --

0:02:29.260,0:02:32.681
if it wasn't just the production[br]of plastic that's giving people cancer

0:02:32.705,0:02:34.209
in places like Cancer Alley,

0:02:34.233,0:02:37.741
and shortening lives and hurting[br]poor kids at the point of use --

0:02:37.765,0:02:39.848
at the point of disposal,

0:02:39.872,0:02:43.130
once again, it's poor people[br]who bear the burden.

0:02:43.502,0:02:46.107
Often, we think we're doing a good thing:

0:02:46.131,0:02:49.779
You're in your office, drinking[br]your bottled water or whatever it is,

0:02:49.803,0:02:52.562
and you think to yourself,[br]"I'm going to throw this away.

0:02:52.586,0:02:56.116
No -- I'm going to be virtuous.[br]I'm going to put it in the blue bin."

0:02:56.140,0:02:58.172
You think, "I put mine in the blue bin."

0:02:58.196,0:03:01.760
And then you look[br]at your colleague and say,

0:03:01.784,0:03:04.898
"Why, you cretin![br]You put yours in the white bin."

0:03:05.260,0:03:07.546
And we use that as a moral tickle.

0:03:07.570,0:03:09.315
We feel so good about ourselves.

0:03:09.339,0:03:12.594
If we -- well, OK, I'm just ... me.

0:03:12.618,0:03:14.318
Not you, but I feel this way often.

0:03:14.342,0:03:15.976
(Laughter)

0:03:16.000,0:03:18.891
And so we kind of have[br]this moral feel-good moment.

0:03:19.320,0:03:22.126
But if we were to be able[br]to follow that little bottle

0:03:22.716,0:03:24.181
on its journey,

0:03:24.205,0:03:26.770
we would be shocked[br]to discover that, all too often,

0:03:26.794,0:03:29.124
that bottle is going to be put on a boat,

0:03:30.049,0:03:32.226
it's going to go all the way[br]across the ocean

0:03:32.886,0:03:34.202
at some expense,

0:03:34.226,0:03:37.745
and it's going to wind up[br]in a developing country, often China.

0:03:37.769,0:03:39.357
I think in our minds, we imagine

0:03:39.381,0:03:41.841
somebody's going to take[br]the little bottle and say,

0:03:41.865,0:03:45.126
"Oh, little bottle! We're so happy[br]to see you, little bottle."

0:03:45.150,0:03:46.976
(Laughter)

0:03:47.000,0:03:49.364
"You've served so well."

0:03:49.388,0:03:50.411
(Laughter)

0:03:50.435,0:03:52.276
He's given a little bottle massage,

0:03:52.300,0:03:53.976
a little bottle medal.

0:03:54.000,0:03:56.198
And they say, "What would[br]you like to do next?"

0:03:56.222,0:03:58.570
The little bottle says,[br]"I just don't know ..."

0:03:58.594,0:03:59.920
(Laughter)

0:03:59.944,0:04:02.007
But that's not actually what happens.

0:04:03.090,0:04:04.240
You know?

0:04:04.600,0:04:08.250
That bottle winds up getting burned.

0:04:09.417,0:04:13.039
The recycling of plastic[br]in many developing countries

0:04:13.063,0:04:16.213
means the incineration of the plastic,[br]the burning of the plastic,

0:04:16.237,0:04:18.663
which releases incredible toxic chemicals

0:04:18.687,0:04:20.520
and, once again, kills people.

0:04:20.544,0:04:24.264
And so, poor people[br]who are making these products

0:04:24.288,0:04:27.050
in petrochemical centers[br]like Cancer Alley,

0:04:27.074,0:04:30.152
poor people who are consuming[br]these products disproportionately,

0:04:30.176,0:04:33.690
and then poor people who,[br]even at the tail end of the recycling,

0:04:33.714,0:04:35.476
are having their lives shortened.

0:04:35.500,0:04:39.096
They're all being harmed -- greatly --

0:04:39.120,0:04:43.607
by this addiction that we have[br]to disposability.

0:04:43.984,0:04:46.466
Now, you think to yourself --[br]I know how you are --

0:04:46.490,0:04:49.960
you say, "That sure is terrible[br]for those poor people.

0:04:51.278,0:04:54.166
It's just awful. Those poor people.

0:04:54.816,0:04:56.947
I hope someone does[br]something to help them."

0:04:57.602,0:04:59.328
But what we don't understand is --

0:05:00.765,0:05:02.566
here we are in Los Angeles.

0:05:02.590,0:05:04.721
We worked very hard[br]to get the smog reduction

0:05:04.745,0:05:06.300
happening here in Los Angeles.

0:05:06.324,0:05:07.555
But guess what?

0:05:07.579,0:05:10.934
Because they're doing so much[br]dirty production in Asia now,

0:05:10.958,0:05:14.566
because the environmental laws[br]don't protect the people in Asia now,

0:05:14.590,0:05:18.632
almost all of the clean air gains[br]and the toxic air gains

0:05:18.656,0:05:20.528
that we've achieved here in California

0:05:20.552,0:05:23.468
have been wiped out[br]by dirty air coming over from Asia.

0:05:24.671,0:05:27.377
So we all are being hit.[br]We all are being impacted.

0:05:27.401,0:05:30.155
It's just that the poor people[br]get it first and worst.

0:05:30.179,0:05:33.370
But the dirty production,[br]the burning of toxins,

0:05:33.394,0:05:35.654
the lack of environmental[br]standards in Asia,

0:05:35.678,0:05:38.171
is actually creating so much[br]dirty air pollution,

0:05:38.195,0:05:39.612
it's coming across the ocean,

0:05:39.636,0:05:41.750
and has erased our gains[br]here in California.

0:05:41.774,0:05:43.668
We're back where we were in the 1970s.

0:05:43.692,0:05:45.619
And so we're on one planet,

0:05:45.643,0:05:48.588
and we have to be able to get[br]to the root of these problems.

0:05:48.612,0:05:51.670
The root of this problem, in my view,

0:05:51.694,0:05:54.199
is the idea of disposability itself.

0:05:54.738,0:05:57.759
You see, if you understand the link

0:05:57.783,0:06:01.511
between what we're doing[br]to poison and pollute the planet

0:06:01.535,0:06:03.976
and what we're doing to poor people,

0:06:04.000,0:06:08.134
you arrive at a very troubling[br]but also very helpful insight:

0:06:09.036,0:06:11.284
In order to trash the planet,

0:06:11.308,0:06:12.975
you have to trash people.

0:06:13.523,0:06:16.463
But if you create a world[br]where you don't trash people,

0:06:16.487,0:06:17.976
you can't trash the planet.

0:06:18.300,0:06:20.766
So now we are at a moment

0:06:20.790,0:06:23.638
where the coming together[br]of social justice as an idea

0:06:23.662,0:06:25.276
and ecology as an idea,

0:06:26.111,0:06:27.396
we finally can now see

0:06:27.420,0:06:29.985
that they are really,[br]at the end of the day, one idea.

0:06:30.009,0:06:32.896
And it's the idea that we don't have[br]disposable anything.

0:06:33.205,0:06:35.805
We don't have disposable resources.

0:06:36.300,0:06:38.931
We don't have disposable species.

0:06:38.955,0:06:41.511
And we don't have[br]disposable people, either.

0:06:41.535,0:06:43.557
We don't have a throwaway planet,

0:06:43.581,0:06:46.372
and we don't have throwaway[br]children -- it's all precious.

0:06:46.396,0:06:49.276
And as we all begin to come back[br]to that basic understanding,

0:06:49.300,0:06:52.276
new opportunities for action[br]begin to emerge.

0:06:52.895,0:06:54.566
Biomimicry,

0:06:54.590,0:06:58.107
which is an emerging science,

0:06:58.131,0:07:01.276
winds up being a very important[br]social justice idea.

0:07:01.736,0:07:03.928
People who are just[br]learning about this stuff:

0:07:03.952,0:07:07.538
biomimicry means respecting[br]the wisdom of all species.

0:07:07.951,0:07:09.115
Democracy, by the way,

0:07:09.139,0:07:12.146
means respecting the wisdom[br]of all people -- we'll get to that.

0:07:12.170,0:07:14.956
But biomimicry means[br]respecting the wisdom of all species.

0:07:14.980,0:07:17.490
It turns out we're a pretty[br]clever species.

0:07:17.514,0:07:20.593
We have this big cortex,[br]we're pretty proud of ourselves.

0:07:20.617,0:07:23.180
But if we want to make something hard,

0:07:23.204,0:07:25.718
we say, "I know! I'm going[br]to make a hard substance.

0:07:25.742,0:07:29.276
I know! I'm going to get[br]vacuums and furnaces

0:07:29.300,0:07:30.984
and drag stuff out of the ground

0:07:31.008,0:07:33.897
and get things hot[br]and poison and pollute ...

0:07:33.921,0:07:36.142
But I got this hard thing!"

0:07:36.804,0:07:37.954
(Laughter)

0:07:37.978,0:07:39.577
"I'm so clever!"

0:07:39.601,0:07:42.646
And you look behind you,[br]and there's destruction all around you.

0:07:42.670,0:07:43.823
But guess what?

0:07:43.847,0:07:46.393
You're so clever,[br]but you're not as clever as a clam.

0:07:46.704,0:07:47.941
A clamshell is hard.

0:07:48.458,0:07:51.129
There's no vacuums.[br]There's no big furnaces.

0:07:51.153,0:07:53.093
There's no poison. There's no pollution.

0:07:53.117,0:07:57.917
It turns out that other species[br]figured out a long time ago

0:07:57.941,0:08:00.276
how to create many of the things we need

0:08:00.300,0:08:03.276
using biological processes[br]that nature knows how to use well.

0:08:03.963,0:08:07.638
That insight of biomimicry,[br]of our scientists finally realizing

0:08:07.662,0:08:10.070
that we have as much[br]to learn from other species --

0:08:10.094,0:08:13.276
I don't mean taking a mouse[br]and sticking it with stuff.

0:08:13.300,0:08:16.609
I don't mean looking at it from that way,[br]abusing the little species.

0:08:16.633,0:08:19.889
I mean actually respecting them,[br]respecting what they've achieved.

0:08:19.913,0:08:21.470
That's called biomimicry,

0:08:21.494,0:08:25.367
and that opens the door[br]to zero waste production;

0:08:25.391,0:08:27.276
zero pollution production;

0:08:27.300,0:08:29.276
that we could actually enjoy

0:08:29.300,0:08:31.921
a high quality of life,[br]a high standard of living,

0:08:31.945,0:08:33.516
without trashing the planet.

0:08:33.540,0:08:36.580
Well, that idea of biomimicry,

0:08:36.604,0:08:38.492
respecting the wisdom of all species,

0:08:38.966,0:08:42.838
combined with the idea[br]of democracy and social justice,

0:08:42.862,0:08:45.457
respecting the wisdom[br]and the worth of all people,

0:08:45.481,0:08:47.276
would give us a different society.

0:08:47.300,0:08:49.172
We would have a different economy.

0:08:49.196,0:08:51.506
We would have a green society

0:08:51.530,0:08:53.935
that Dr. King would be proud of.

0:08:53.959,0:08:55.276
That should be the goal.

0:08:55.633,0:08:58.601
And the way that we get there[br]is to first of all recognize

0:08:58.625,0:09:00.709
that the idea of disposability

0:09:01.566,0:09:05.676
not only hurts the species[br]we've talked about,

0:09:05.700,0:09:08.451
but it even corrupts our own society.

0:09:08.475,0:09:11.452
We're so proud to live here in California.

0:09:11.476,0:09:13.562
We just had this vote,[br]and everybody's like,

0:09:13.586,0:09:15.324
"Well -- not in our state!"

0:09:15.348,0:09:16.869
(Laughter)

0:09:16.893,0:09:19.676
I don't know what those[br]other states were doing, but ..."

0:09:19.700,0:09:21.442
(Laughter)

0:09:21.466,0:09:23.065
Just so proud.

0:09:24.061,0:09:26.412
And, yeah, I'm proud, too.

0:09:26.436,0:09:27.608
But ...

0:09:29.160,0:09:32.676
California, though we lead the world[br]in some of the green stuff,

0:09:32.700,0:09:34.676
we also, unfortunately, lead the world

0:09:34.700,0:09:36.240
in some of the gulag stuff.

0:09:37.406,0:09:40.946
California has one of the highest[br]incarceration rates

0:09:40.970,0:09:42.676
of all the 50 states.

0:09:42.700,0:09:44.936
We have a moral challenge[br]in this movement.

0:09:45.817,0:09:50.837
We are passionate about rescuing[br]some dead materials from the landfill,

0:09:50.861,0:09:52.677
but sometimes not as passionate

0:09:52.701,0:09:55.019
about rescuing living beings,[br]living people.

0:09:55.414,0:09:58.533
And I would say[br]that we live in a country --

0:09:58.557,0:10:00.534
five percent of the world's population,

0:10:00.558,0:10:02.424
25 percent of the greenhouse gases,

0:10:03.072,0:10:05.307
but also 25 percent[br]of the world's prisoners.

0:10:06.084,0:10:08.744
One of every four people[br]locked up anywhere in the world

0:10:08.768,0:10:10.942
is locked up right here[br]in the United States.

0:10:10.966,0:10:13.676
So that is consistent with this idea

0:10:13.700,0:10:16.336
that disposability[br]is something we believe in.

0:10:16.916,0:10:18.075
And yet,

0:10:19.240,0:10:23.762
as a movement that has to broaden[br]its constituency,

0:10:23.786,0:10:25.097
that has to grow,

0:10:25.121,0:10:28.223
that has to reach out[br]beyond our natural comfort zone,

0:10:28.247,0:10:31.160
one of the challenges[br]to the success of this movement,

0:10:31.184,0:10:34.424
of getting rid of things like plastic[br]and helping the economy shift,

0:10:34.448,0:10:37.395
is people look at our movement[br]with some suspicion.

0:10:37.864,0:10:40.460
And they ask a question,[br]and the question is:

0:10:40.484,0:10:42.451
How can these people be so passionate?

0:10:43.246,0:10:46.485
A poor person, a low-income person,[br]somebody in Cancer Alley,

0:10:46.509,0:10:48.943
somebody in Watts,

0:10:48.967,0:10:51.676
somebody in Harlem,[br]somebody on an Indian reservation,

0:10:51.700,0:10:53.918
might say to themselves --[br]and rightfully so --

0:10:53.942,0:10:55.959
"How can these people be so passionate

0:10:56.848,0:10:58.589
about making sure

0:10:58.613,0:11:02.676
that a plastic bottle[br]has a second chance in life,

0:11:02.700,0:11:05.443
or an aluminum can has a second chance,

0:11:05.911,0:11:09.477
and yet, when my child gets in trouble[br]and goes to prison,

0:11:09.501,0:11:11.310
he doesn't get a second chance?"

0:11:11.334,0:11:13.816
"How can this movement[br]be so passionate about saying

0:11:13.840,0:11:16.660
we don't have throwaway stuff,[br]no throwaway dead materials,

0:11:16.684,0:11:19.499
and yet accept throwaway lives

0:11:19.523,0:11:21.840
and throwaway communities[br]like Cancer Alley?"

0:11:21.864,0:11:26.885
And so, we now get a chance[br]to be truly proud of this movement.

0:11:27.438,0:11:29.125
When we take on topics like this,

0:11:29.149,0:11:33.781
it gives us that extra call[br]to reach out to other movements

0:11:33.805,0:11:36.147
and to become more inclusive and to grow,

0:11:36.171,0:11:39.408
and we can finally get out of[br]this crazy dilemma that we've been in.

0:11:39.969,0:11:42.080
Most of you are good, softhearted people.

0:11:43.389,0:11:46.045
When you were younger,[br]you cared about the whole world,

0:11:46.069,0:11:48.965
and at some point, somebody said[br]you had to pick an issue,

0:11:49.838,0:11:51.909
you had to boil your love[br]down to an issue.

0:11:52.282,0:11:53.805
"Can't love the whole world --

0:11:53.829,0:11:57.423
you've got to work on trees[br]or you've got to work on immigration.

0:11:57.447,0:12:00.351
You've got to shrink it down[br]and be about one issue."

0:12:00.375,0:12:02.535
And really, they fundamentally told you,

0:12:03.319,0:12:04.845
"Are you going to hug a tree?

0:12:05.453,0:12:07.580
Or are you going to hug a child? Pick.

0:12:07.604,0:12:09.216
Are you going to hug a tree?

0:12:09.240,0:12:11.309
Or are you going to hug a child? Pick."

0:12:11.333,0:12:13.785
Well, when you start working[br]on issues like plastic,

0:12:13.809,0:12:16.008
you realize the whole thing is connected.

0:12:16.032,0:12:18.812
And luckily, most of us are blessed[br]to have two arms --

0:12:18.836,0:12:20.227
we can hug both.

0:12:20.251,0:12:21.620
Thank you very much.

0:12:21.644,0:12:28.555
(Applause)