0:00:21.093,0:00:22.093
Ta-da!

0:00:22.133,0:00:24.275
(Laughter)

0:00:24.976,0:00:26.364
I am honored to be here,

0:00:26.388,0:00:28.365
and I'm honored to talk about this topic,

0:00:28.389,0:00:30.214
which I think is of grave importance.

0:00:30.238,0:00:31.461
We've been talking a lot

0:00:31.485,0:00:37.428
about the horrific impacts of plastic[br]on the planet and on other species,

0:00:37.452,0:00:39.460
but plastic hurts people, too...

0:00:39.951,0:00:41.333
Especially poor people.

0:00:42.000,0:00:45.158
And both in the production of plastic,

0:00:45.182,0:00:47.900
the use of plastic[br]and the disposal of plastic,

0:00:47.924,0:00:51.161
the people who have[br]the bull's-eye on their foreheads

0:00:51.613,0:00:53.303
are poor people.

0:00:54.727,0:00:56.893
People got very upset

0:00:56.928,0:01:00.007
when the BP oil spill happened,

0:01:00.031,0:01:01.491
for very good reason.

0:01:01.515,0:01:03.139
People thought, "Oh, my God.

0:01:03.163,0:01:05.939
This is terrible, this oil...[br]It's in the water.

0:01:05.963,0:01:09.881
It's going to destroy[br]the living systems there.

0:01:09.905,0:01:11.339
People are going to be hurt.

0:01:11.363,0:01:12.854
This is a terrible thing,

0:01:12.878,0:01:15.213
this oil is going to hurt[br]the people in the Gulf."

0:01:15.237,0:01:17.307
What people don't think about is:

0:01:17.331,0:01:19.490
What if the oil had made it[br]safely to shore?

0:01:20.084,0:01:22.775
What if the oil actually got[br]where it was trying to go?

0:01:23.314,0:01:27.311
Not only would it have been burned[br]in engines and added to global warming,

0:01:27.335,0:01:30.696
but there's a place called "Cancer Alley,"

0:01:30.720,0:01:32.855
and the reason it's called "Cancer Alley"

0:01:32.879,0:01:35.507
is because the petrochemical industry

0:01:35.531,0:01:37.687
takes that oil and turns it into plastic

0:01:37.711,0:01:39.891
and in the process, kills people.

0:01:40.414,0:01:43.462
It shortens the lives of the people[br]who live there in the Gulf.

0:01:43.486,0:01:47.280
So oil and petrochemicals are not[br]just a problem when there's a spill;

0:01:47.304,0:01:49.014
they're a problem when there's not.

0:01:49.038,0:01:51.445
And what we don't often appreciate

0:01:51.469,0:01:53.143
is the price that poor people pay

0:01:53.167,0:01:55.278
for us to have these disposable products.

0:01:55.693,0:01:57.838
The other thing[br]we often don't appreciate is,

0:01:57.862,0:02:00.962
it's not just at the point of production[br]that poor people suffer.

0:02:00.986,0:02:03.159
Poor people also suffer[br]at the point of use.

0:02:03.636,0:02:05.721
Those of us who earn[br]a certain income level,

0:02:05.745,0:02:07.686
we have something called choice.

0:02:08.170,0:02:10.636
The reason why you want[br]to work hard and have a job

0:02:10.660,0:02:12.331
and not be poor and broke

0:02:12.355,0:02:14.796
is so you can have choices,[br]economic choices.

0:02:15.192,0:02:19.277
We actually get a chance[br]to choose not to use products

0:02:19.301,0:02:22.241
that have dangerous,[br]poisonous plastic in them.

0:02:22.442,0:02:24.977
Other people who are poor[br]don't have those choices.

0:02:25.001,0:02:26.975
So low-income people often are the ones

0:02:26.999,0:02:30.983
who are buying the products that have[br]those dangerous chemicals in them

0:02:31.007,0:02:32.446
that their children are using.

0:02:32.470,0:02:36.294
Those are the people who wind up[br]ingesting a disproportionate amount

0:02:36.318,0:02:38.485
of this poisonous plastic in using it.

0:02:38.509,0:02:41.987
And people say, "Well, they should[br]just buy a different product."

0:02:42.166,0:02:45.301
Well, the problem with being poor[br]is you don't have those choices.

0:02:45.325,0:02:47.413
You often have to buy[br]the cheapest products.

0:02:47.437,0:02:50.416
The cheapest products[br]are often the most dangerous.

0:02:50.440,0:02:52.036
And if that weren't bad enough...

0:02:52.060,0:02:55.481
If it wasn't just the production[br]of plastic that's giving people cancer

0:02:55.505,0:02:57.009
in places like Cancer Alley,

0:02:57.033,0:03:00.541
and shortening lives and hurting[br]poor kids at the point of use...

0:03:00.565,0:03:02.648
At the point of disposal,

0:03:02.672,0:03:05.930
once again, it's poor people[br]who bear the burden.

0:03:06.202,0:03:08.807
Often, we think we're doing a good thing:

0:03:08.831,0:03:12.479
You're in your office, drinking[br]your bottled water or whatever it is,

0:03:12.503,0:03:15.262
and you think to yourself,[br]"I'm going to throw this away.

0:03:15.286,0:03:18.816
No... I'm going to be virtuous.[br]I'm going to put it in the blue bin."

0:03:18.840,0:03:20.872
You think, "I put mine in the blue bin."

0:03:20.896,0:03:24.460
And then you look[br]at your colleague and say,

0:03:24.484,0:03:27.598
"Why, you cretin![br]You put yours in the white bin."

0:03:27.960,0:03:30.246
And we use that as a moral tickle.

0:03:30.270,0:03:32.015
We feel so good about ourselves.

0:03:32.039,0:03:35.294
If we... well, OK, I'm just... me.

0:03:35.318,0:03:37.018
Not you, but I feel this way often.

0:03:37.042,0:03:38.676
(Laughter)

0:03:38.700,0:03:41.591
And so we kind of have[br]this moral feel-good moment.

0:03:42.020,0:03:44.826
But if we were to be able[br]to follow that little bottle

0:03:45.416,0:03:46.881
on its journey,

0:03:46.905,0:03:49.470
we would be shocked[br]to discover that, all too often,

0:03:49.494,0:03:51.824
that bottle is going to be put on a boat,

0:03:52.749,0:03:54.926
it's going to go all the way[br]across the ocean

0:03:55.586,0:03:56.902
at some expense,

0:03:56.926,0:04:00.445
and it's going to wind up[br]in a developing country, often China.

0:04:01.269,0:04:02.857
I think in our minds, we imagine

0:04:02.881,0:04:05.341
somebody's going to take[br]the little bottle and say,

0:04:05.365,0:04:08.626
"Oh, little bottle! We're so happy[br]to see you, little bottle."

0:04:08.650,0:04:10.476
(Laughter)

0:04:10.500,0:04:12.864
"You've served so well."

0:04:12.888,0:04:13.911
(Laughter)

0:04:13.935,0:04:15.776
He's given a little bottle massage,

0:04:15.800,0:04:17.476
a little bottle medal.

0:04:17.500,0:04:19.697
And they say, "What would[br]you like to do next?"

0:04:19.721,0:04:22.070
The little bottle says,[br]"I just don't know ..."

0:04:22.094,0:04:23.420
(Laughter)

0:04:23.444,0:04:25.507
But that's not actually what happens.

0:04:26.590,0:04:27.740
You know?

0:04:28.000,0:04:31.650
That bottle winds up getting burned.

0:04:32.817,0:04:36.439
The recycling of plastic[br]in many developing countries

0:04:36.463,0:04:39.613
means the incineration of the plastic,[br]the burning of the plastic,

0:04:39.637,0:04:42.063
which releases incredible toxic chemicals

0:04:42.087,0:04:43.920
and, once again, kills people.

0:04:43.944,0:04:47.664
And so, poor people[br]who are making these products

0:04:47.688,0:04:50.450
in petrochemical centers[br]like Cancer Alley,

0:04:50.474,0:04:53.552
poor people who are consuming[br]these products disproportionately,

0:04:53.576,0:04:57.090
and then poor people who,[br]even at the tail end of the recycling,

0:04:57.114,0:04:58.876
are having their lives shortened.

0:04:58.900,0:05:02.496
They're all being harmed... greatly...

0:05:02.520,0:05:07.007
By this addiction that we have[br]to disposability.

0:05:07.384,0:05:09.866
Now, you think to yourself...[br]I know how you are...

0:05:09.890,0:05:13.360
You say, "That sure is terrible[br]for those poor people.

0:05:14.678,0:05:17.566
It's just awful. Those poor people.

0:05:18.216,0:05:20.347
I hope someone does[br]something to help them."

0:05:21.002,0:05:22.728
But what we don't understand is...

0:05:24.165,0:05:25.966
Here we are in Los Angeles.

0:05:25.990,0:05:28.121
We worked very hard[br]to get the smog reduction

0:05:28.145,0:05:29.700
happening here in Los Angeles.

0:05:29.724,0:05:30.955
But guess what?

0:05:30.979,0:05:34.334
Because they're doing so much[br]dirty production in Asia now,

0:05:34.358,0:05:37.966
because the environmental laws[br]don't protect the people in Asia now,

0:05:37.990,0:05:42.032
almost all of the clean air gains[br]and the toxic air gains

0:05:42.056,0:05:43.928
that we've achieved here in California

0:05:43.952,0:05:46.868
have been wiped out[br]by dirty air coming over from Asia.

0:05:48.071,0:05:50.777
So we all are being hit.[br]We all are being impacted.

0:05:50.801,0:05:53.555
It's just that the poor people[br]get it first and worst.

0:05:53.579,0:05:56.770
But the dirty production,[br]the burning of toxins,

0:05:56.794,0:05:59.054
the lack of environmental[br]standards in Asia,

0:05:59.078,0:06:01.571
is actually creating so much[br]dirty air pollution,

0:06:01.595,0:06:03.012
it's coming across the ocean,

0:06:03.036,0:06:05.150
and has erased our gains[br]here in California.

0:06:05.174,0:06:07.068
We're back where we were in the 1970s.

0:06:07.092,0:06:09.019
And so we're on one planet,

0:06:09.043,0:06:11.988
and we have to be able to get[br]to the root of these problems.

0:06:12.012,0:06:15.070
The root of this problem, in my view,

0:06:15.094,0:06:17.599
is the idea of disposability itself.

0:06:18.138,0:06:21.159
You see, if you understand the link

0:06:21.183,0:06:24.911
between what we're doing[br]to poison and pollute the planet

0:06:24.935,0:06:27.376
and what we're doing to poor people,

0:06:27.400,0:06:31.534
you arrive at a very troubling[br]but also very helpful insight:

0:06:32.436,0:06:34.684
In order to trash the planet,

0:06:34.708,0:06:36.375
you have to trash people.

0:06:36.923,0:06:39.863
But if you create a world[br]where you don't trash people,

0:06:39.887,0:06:41.376
you can't trash the planet.

0:06:41.700,0:06:44.166
So now we are at a moment

0:06:44.190,0:06:47.038
where the coming together[br]of social justice as an idea

0:06:47.062,0:06:48.676
and ecology as an idea,

0:06:49.511,0:06:50.796
we finally can now see

0:06:50.820,0:06:53.385
that they are really,[br]at the end of the day, one idea.

0:06:53.409,0:06:56.296
And it's the idea that we don't have[br]disposable anything.

0:06:56.605,0:06:59.205
We don't have disposable resources.

0:06:59.700,0:07:02.331
We don't have disposable species.

0:07:02.355,0:07:04.911
And we don't have[br]disposable people, either.

0:07:04.935,0:07:06.957
We don't have a throwaway planet,

0:07:06.981,0:07:09.772
and we don't have throwaway[br]children... it's all precious.

0:07:09.796,0:07:12.676
And as we all begin to come back[br]to that basic understanding,

0:07:12.700,0:07:15.676
new opportunities for action[br]begin to emerge.

0:07:16.295,0:07:17.966
Biomimicry,

0:07:17.990,0:07:21.507
which is an emerging science,

0:07:21.531,0:07:24.676
winds up being a very important[br]social justice idea.

0:07:25.136,0:07:27.328
People who are just[br]learning about this stuff:

0:07:27.352,0:07:30.938
biomimicry means respecting[br]the wisdom of all species.

0:07:31.351,0:07:32.515
Democracy, by the way,

0:07:32.539,0:07:35.546
means respecting the wisdom[br]of all people... we'll get to that.

0:07:35.570,0:07:38.356
But biomimicry means[br]respecting the wisdom of all species.

0:07:38.380,0:07:40.890
It turns out we're a pretty[br]clever species.

0:07:40.914,0:07:43.993
We have this big cortex,[br]we're pretty proud of ourselves.

0:07:44.017,0:07:46.580
But if we want to make something hard,

0:07:46.604,0:07:49.118
we say, "I know! I'm going[br]to make a hard substance.

0:07:49.142,0:07:52.676
I know! I'm going to get[br]vacuums and furnaces

0:07:52.700,0:07:54.384
and drag stuff out of the ground

0:07:54.408,0:07:57.297
and get things hot[br]and poison and pollute...

0:07:57.321,0:07:59.542
But I got this hard thing!"

0:08:00.204,0:08:01.354
(Laughter)

0:08:01.378,0:08:02.977
"I'm so clever!"

0:08:03.001,0:08:06.046
And you look behind you,[br]and there's destruction all around you.

0:08:06.070,0:08:07.223
But guess what?

0:08:07.247,0:08:09.793
You're so clever,[br]but you're not as clever as a clam.

0:08:10.104,0:08:11.341
A clamshell is hard.

0:08:11.858,0:08:14.529
There's no vacuums.[br]There's no big furnaces.

0:08:14.553,0:08:16.493
There's no poison. There's no pollution.

0:08:16.517,0:08:21.317
It turns out that other species[br]figured out a long time ago

0:08:21.341,0:08:23.676
how to create many of the things we need

0:08:23.700,0:08:26.676
using biological processes[br]that nature knows how to use well.

0:08:27.363,0:08:31.038
That insight of biomimicry,[br]of our scientists finally realizing

0:08:31.062,0:08:33.470
that we have as much[br]to learn from other species...

0:08:33.494,0:08:36.676
I don't mean taking a mouse[br]and sticking it with stuff.

0:08:36.700,0:08:40.009
I don't mean looking at it from that way,[br]abusing the little species.

0:08:40.033,0:08:43.289
I mean actually respecting them,[br]respecting what they've achieved.

0:08:43.313,0:08:44.870
That's called biomimicry,

0:08:44.894,0:08:48.767
and that opens the door[br]to zero waste production;

0:08:48.791,0:08:50.676
zero pollution production;

0:08:50.700,0:08:52.676
that we could actually enjoy

0:08:52.700,0:08:55.321
a high quality of life,[br]a high standard of living,

0:08:55.345,0:08:56.916
without trashing the planet.

0:08:56.940,0:08:59.980
Well, that idea of biomimicry,

0:09:00.004,0:09:01.892
respecting the wisdom of all species,

0:09:02.966,0:09:06.838
combined with the idea[br]of democracy and social justice,

0:09:06.862,0:09:09.457
respecting the wisdom[br]and the worth of all people,

0:09:09.481,0:09:11.276
would give us a different society.

0:09:11.300,0:09:13.172
We would have a different economy.

0:09:13.196,0:09:15.506
We would have a green society

0:09:15.530,0:09:17.935
that Dr. King would be proud of.

0:09:17.959,0:09:19.276
That should be the goal.

0:09:19.633,0:09:22.601
And the way that we get there[br]is to first of all recognize

0:09:22.625,0:09:24.709
that the idea of disposability

0:09:25.566,0:09:29.676
not only hurts the species[br]we've talked about,

0:09:29.700,0:09:32.451
but it even corrupts our own society.

0:09:32.475,0:09:35.452
We're so proud to live here in California.

0:09:35.476,0:09:37.562
We just had this vote,[br]and everybody's like,

0:09:37.586,0:09:39.324
"Well... not in our state!"

0:09:39.348,0:09:40.869
(Laughter)

0:09:40.893,0:09:43.676
I don't know what those[br]other states were doing, but ..."

0:09:43.700,0:09:45.442
(Laughter)

0:09:45.466,0:09:47.065
Just so proud.

0:09:48.061,0:09:50.412
And, yeah, I'm proud, too.

0:09:50.436,0:09:51.608
But...

0:09:53.160,0:09:56.676
California, though we lead the world[br]in some of the green stuff,

0:09:56.700,0:09:58.676
we also, unfortunately, lead the world

0:09:58.700,0:10:00.240
in some of the gulag stuff.

0:10:01.406,0:10:04.946
California has one of the highest[br]incarceration rates

0:10:04.970,0:10:06.676
of all the 50 states.

0:10:06.700,0:10:08.936
We have a moral challenge[br]in this movement.

0:10:09.817,0:10:14.837
We are passionate about rescuing[br]some dead materials from the landfill,

0:10:14.861,0:10:16.677
but sometimes not as passionate

0:10:16.701,0:10:19.019
about rescuing living beings,[br]living people.

0:10:19.414,0:10:22.533
And I would say[br]that we live in a country...

0:10:22.557,0:10:24.534
Five percent of the world's population,

0:10:24.558,0:10:26.424
25 percent of the greenhouse gases,

0:10:27.072,0:10:29.307
but also 25 percent[br]of the world's prisoners.

0:10:30.084,0:10:32.744
One of every four people[br]locked up anywhere in the world

0:10:32.768,0:10:34.942
is locked up right here[br]in the United States.

0:10:34.966,0:10:37.676
So that is consistent with this idea

0:10:37.700,0:10:40.336
that disposability[br]is something we believe in.

0:10:40.916,0:10:42.075
And yet,

0:10:43.240,0:10:47.762
as a movement that has to broaden[br]its constituency,

0:10:47.786,0:10:49.097
that has to grow,

0:10:49.121,0:10:52.223
that has to reach out[br]beyond our natural comfort zone,

0:10:52.247,0:10:55.160
one of the challenges[br]to the success of this movement,

0:10:55.184,0:10:58.424
of getting rid of things like plastic[br]and helping the economy shift,

0:10:58.448,0:11:01.395
is people look at our movement[br]with some suspicion.

0:11:01.864,0:11:04.460
And they ask a question,[br]and the question is:

0:11:04.484,0:11:06.451
How can these people be so passionate?

0:11:07.246,0:11:10.485
A poor person, a low-income person,[br]somebody in Cancer Alley,

0:11:10.509,0:11:12.943
somebody in Watts,

0:11:12.967,0:11:15.676
somebody in Harlem,[br]somebody on an Indian reservation,

0:11:15.700,0:11:17.918
might say to themselves...[br]And rightfully so...

0:11:17.942,0:11:19.959
"How can these people be so passionate

0:11:20.848,0:11:22.589
about making sure

0:11:22.613,0:11:26.676
that a plastic bottle[br]has a second chance in life,

0:11:26.700,0:11:29.443
or an aluminum can has a second chance,

0:11:29.911,0:11:33.477
and yet, when my child gets in trouble[br]and goes to prison,

0:11:33.501,0:11:35.310
he doesn't get a second chance?"

0:11:35.334,0:11:37.816
"How can this movement[br]be so passionate about saying

0:11:37.840,0:11:40.660
we don't have throwaway stuff,[br]no throwaway dead materials,

0:11:40.684,0:11:43.499
and yet accept throwaway lives

0:11:43.523,0:11:45.840
and throwaway communities[br]like Cancer Alley?"

0:11:45.864,0:11:50.885
And so, we now get a chance[br]to be truly proud of this movement.

0:11:51.438,0:11:53.125
When we take on topics like this,

0:11:53.149,0:11:57.781
it gives us that extra call[br]to reach out to other movements

0:11:57.805,0:12:00.147
and to become more inclusive and to grow,

0:12:00.171,0:12:03.408
and we can finally get out of[br]this crazy dilemma that we've been in.

0:12:03.969,0:12:06.080
Most of you are good, softhearted people.

0:12:07.389,0:12:10.045
When you were younger,[br]you cared about the whole world,

0:12:10.069,0:12:12.965
and at some point, somebody said[br]you had to pick an issue,

0:12:13.838,0:12:15.909
you had to boil your love[br]down to an issue.

0:12:16.282,0:12:17.805
"Can't love the whole world...

0:12:17.829,0:12:21.423
You've got to work on trees[br]or you've got to work on immigration.

0:12:21.447,0:12:24.351
You've got to shrink it down[br]and be about one issue."

0:12:24.375,0:12:26.535
And really, they fundamentally told you,

0:12:27.319,0:12:28.845
"Are you going to hug a tree?

0:12:29.453,0:12:31.580
Or are you going to hug a child? Pick.

0:12:31.604,0:12:33.216
Are you going to hug a tree?

0:12:33.240,0:12:35.309
Or are you going to hug a child? Pick."

0:12:35.333,0:12:37.785
Well, when you start working[br]on issues like plastic,

0:12:37.809,0:12:40.008
you realize the whole thing is connected.

0:12:40.032,0:12:42.812
And luckily, most of us are blessed[br]to have two arms...

0:12:42.836,0:12:44.227
We can hug both.

0:12:44.251,0:12:45.620
Thank you very much.

0:12:45.644,0:12:52.555
(Applause)