Grass Roots Health Podcast Episode # 26: There is Plastic Pollution All Around Us. Should I Care? An Interview with Janice Brahney, Ph.D.

This past summer, I visited a Native American Museum in the Ozark Mountains. An Iroquois saying on a painting caught my attention: “We should consider the results of every decision on the next seven generations that follow us.” Smart people were the Iroquois!

Unfortunately, we adults in modern times have not been smart. Plastic pollution will be the legacy that we leave our children, grandchildren, and at least, the next seven generations of our descendants. We are leaving those that follow in our footsteps a “plastic pollution disaster.” 

The problem with plastics is that they are not biodegradable, and they take up to 1,000 years to decompose. Only 10% of plastic waste is recycled.

Therefore, most of our plastics just sit there in the soil in landfills as an environmental pollutant. Worse yet, about 11 million tons of plastic enter our oceans yearly, affecting fish, other marine life, humans, and ecosystems.    

Listen and learn about plastic pollution as host Tim Jordan interviews Janice Brahney, Ph.D. about this issue.

Resources for this podcast:

• Utah State University Website: usu.edu

• Quinney College of Natural Resources at Utah State University: qcnr.usu.edu

• Department of Watershed Sciences at Utah State University: qcnr.usu.edu/wats/

• Blog: (2024). “Plastic Pollution is All Around Us. You Should Care.” https://1795group.com/plastic-pollution-is-all-around-us/

• Plastic Pollution Coalition: Plastic Pollution Facts. https://www.plasticpollutioncoalition.org/learn/plastic-pollution-facts

• Denver Post Article (2020). Carried by Wind and Rain, Plastic Pollution is Contaminating Rocky Mountain National Park and Other Western Wildernesses. https://www.denverpost.com/2020/06/11/plastic-pollution-wind-rocky-mountain-national-park/

• Audubon Society Article (2020). Microplastics are Literally Raining on our National Parks and Wilderness Areas. https://www.audubon.org/news/microplastics-are-literally-raining-our-national-parks-and-wilderness-areas

• Wired Article (2020): Plastic Rain is the New Acid Rain https://www.wired.com/story/plastic-rain-is-the-new-acid-rain/

• Animation Narrated by Dr. Janice Brahney: https://x.com/voxdotcom/status/1289321212569559040

• Utah State Today Article (2022). USU Professor Studying How Plastic Moves Its Way Through Bear River System. https://www.usu.edu/today/story/usu-professor-studying-how-plastic-moves-its-way-through-bear-river-system

• Florida Today Article (2023). New Study Shows Some May be Breathing in the Equivalent of a Credit Card of Plastic Weekly. https://www.floridatoday.com/story/news/2023/06/14/study-finds-some-may-be-inhaling-a-credit-card-worth-of-plastic-weekly/70309006007/

• Utah State Today Article (2024). New Research Finds that Dust in Atmosphere is Feeding Algae in Mountain Lakes.