HomeMy WebLinkAboutBag It flyerBag It, the Movie
What starts as a film about plastic bags evolves into a wholesale investigation into plastic's
effects on our oceans, environment, and bodies. We see how our crazy-for-plastic world has
finally caught up to
This well-made and funny documentary, starts with personal bag use it but evolves into a very
thorough discussion of the impact of all plastics – in nature, in our lives, in our bodies and in our
children’s bodies.
At least 50 experts are interviewed. They ask about single use plastic, where does it go when
we throw it away? “Where is away?” as our landfills and ocean fill up with plastic waste. In one
scene an interviewee filled a single-use plastic bottle 25% with oil and stated that it is how
much it crude oil – a non-renewable natural resource, it takes to make the bottle. Then he
added another 15% or so for transporting it to your store. All that for a short drink of water you
can get out of your own faucet!
Particularly of interest is the phalate discussion. Phalates and other harmful chemicals are
added to plastic to make it soft and malleable, and make fragrances last. The film maker was a
soon-to-be dad and makes a playful but challenging examination by using all kinds of kid
products himself and getting tissue tested. It’s a great way to explore what babies are exposed
to from the moment they put a bottle or toy in their mouths, or are washed with shampoo.
From the fish we eat to the stuff we are surrounded by – think bags, bottles, tin cans, hair
spray, rubber duckies, balls, yoga mats, tubing… plastic’s toxins accumulate in our bodies. It’s
an undisclosed and undiscussed health hazard.
Produced in 2010 by Suzan Beraza’s Reel Thing<http://www.reelthing.us/> Films, Bag It has
garnered awards at film festivals across the nation. Sponsored by the Sierra Club licensed to
show this production.