Single-Use Planet

Join Franciscans for Earth for film and discussion: Single-Use Planet

This 2025 documentary was distributed by public media station KQED in San Francisco. It explores the political, economic, health, and environmental impact of single use plastics.

According to the KQED Press Kit, nearly half of the over 400 million tons of plastic produced each year is made into packaging including grocery bags, food containers, wrappers, plastic bottles, straws and cutlery. This waste doesn’t decompose. It’s estimated over 8 million tons enter the ocean each year, forming massive gyres the size of Texas, and this accounts for only about one percent of the ocean plastic. A study by researchers at the University of California-Davis found that a quarter of the fish at markets in California contained plastic in their guts, mostly in the form of microfibers.