Plastic is Oil in Disguise

Plastic is everywhere—but how often do we stop to ask where it really comes from?

In this episode of Third Eye on the Prize, we explore the hidden connections among oil, plastic, consumer culture, and the climate crisis.

As renewable energy slowly challenges fossil fuels, another industry is booming: plastic production. What does that mean for our planet, our oceans, and future generations?

Drawing from Beth Gardiner’s new book Plastic Inc., this episode looks at the deeper forces of greed, convenience, denial, and unconsciousness that shape the modern world.

We also ask the spiritual question: how do we respond without falling into despair—or denial?

Walk the middle path.

Keep your third eye on the prize.

Book Mentioned: Plastic Inc. by Beth Gardiner

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:12

Hey listeners, this is Third Eye on the Prize, a podcast that looks at what's happening in the world through a spiritual lens. I don't know about you, but I've been hoping and waiting for decades to see electric vehicles on a mass scale. Truly paperless communication and renewable energy in everyday use. In other words, actually witnessing real healing of Mother Earth's global climate crises. But things seem to be going excruciatingly slowly. As we speak, the U.S. is waging war against Iran. Despite being told this is all about Iran's nuclear capability and their ongoing conflict with Israel, who among us doesn't believe oil isn't hiding somewhere deep in the heart of this debacle? Oil, the foundational substrate of modern civilization, the basis of Rockefellers and J. Paul Getty's wealth. Entire national economies and global markets rely on affordable, consistent access to it. And because the world has spent more than a century building systems designed to operate on oil, rebuilding this infrastructure is a multi-trillion dollar challenge. We usually think of oil as fuel to power vehicles and provide heat. But 14% of the crude that comes out of the ground is transformed into petrochemicals. This is a multi-step process. Takes the original raw material and chemically changes it into various forms. And these petrochemicals are essential for manufacturing thousands of things we use every day. It's a long list. I'll just mention a few. Synthetic fibers, asphalt, fertilizer, detergent, shampoo, pharmaceutical capsules, insecticides, guitar strings, dentures, golf balls, perfume, solar panels. Even solar panels. But there's another big thing petrochemicals are turned into plastic. Remember that scene in the graduate? It's Benjamin's graduation party, and the guy pulls him aside and says, I have something to tell you, it's really important. And then very presciently he says, I have one word for you. Plastics. As oil's dominance is increasingly, though slowly, being challenged by renewable energy, something else is simultaneously happening. Plastic production is increasing. It's doubled in the past 20 years and will double again, maybe even triple, in the next few decades. This is according to a new book called Plastic Ink, written by Beth Gardiner. There's a link to this book in the show notes for the episode. The connection between oil and plastic is not often talked about, but it's hugely significant. We all need to be more aware of it. It's easy to see how ubiquitous plastic is in our lives. Just look around at your immediate surroundings. And most of us have seen photos of that great Pacific garbage patch, the 1.6 million square kilometers of plastic crap created by humans floating in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Like a bizarre toxic island. It's natural to see that and feel horrified. Or want to look away, right? Because we feel kind of helpless. What are we supposed to do about this? We probably don't think much about where all this plastic comes from. Because, let's be honest, on a daily basis, we don't really need to. Place an order on Amazon. Whatever we want shows up at the door a day or two later. But we're not thinking about the bigger price attack. This book Plastic Inc. is an expose of Big Oil's complicity in orchestrating the gigantic plastic mess we now find ourselves in. I don't want this episode to sound like a lecture, but I'm compelled to include a quote from the book because it really struck me. An industry, meaning fossil fuel companies, whose greed has brought us to the brink of a planetary catastrophe, now sees plastic as the answer to the threat climate action poses to its bottom line. Whoa, think about that for a minute. If that's true, let's zoom out far enough to recognize how interconnected these two things are: oil and plastic. I'm a boomer. I remember silly putty, hula hoops, easy bake ovens, etch a sketch. Hey, we had fun with those things. But I wish I had saved some of the cool wooden and metal toys I had too. I also remember 29 cents a gallon gasoline. There's no doubt some plastic products are extremely useful, even life-saving, like breakthrough medical devices. But many others are not only useless, but we would just be better off without them. Think about shelves full of stuff at the dollar store, mountains of discarded junk in landfills, debris piling up in the corners of your garage and attic and drawers and closets. And here's the insidious part. Big oil, and I'm using that phrase to represent all parties that profit from fossil fuel proliferation. There are many. They knowingly perpetuated the myth of recycling. They knew it could never work at scale. Think about your own trash bins, into which you diligently or haphazardly throw different items and containers, not knowing exactly which ones are supposed to go where. They get carted away somewhere, once a week. And then what? Glass, metal, and cardboard are in fact recyclable, but less than 10% of plastic is actually recycled for a variety of reasons. The rest is dumped into landfills or finds its way into the ocean. It's simply cheaper to produce new plastic. That's what's been happening for decades. Not only that, but as renewable energy sources like solar and wind become more competitive, fossil fuel interests need new ways to keep profits flowing. Guess what? Plastic is a lifeline for them. But it's one that's slowly, or maybe not so slowly, killing our beautiful planet and all living things inhabiting it, including us and our offspring. So what can we do? We can't solve this entirely as individuals carrying around a bunch of reusable containers. But we can make changes. We can use the power of our dollars. Stop buying single-use plastic items. Boycott companies that act irresponsibly that place greed over long-term planetary health. And spread the word among friends and on social media. This is a big problem. It needs big solutions. In addition to the renewables we already know about, there are more than 50 firms in, I don't know, almost 40 countries heavily investing in research and development into nuclear fusion. Don't confuse that with existing nuclear power. That's different. That's based on fission. You can look these up and learn more about them. Fusion is the process that naturally takes place inside the sun and all stars. It generates tremendous energy. It is being considered as a potential way to meet our global energy needs without emissions or radioactive waste. But it's still decades away from being viable on a mass scale. So the message here is the same as in the rest of our episodes. Walk the middle path. Don't be despairing, don't be cavalier. Keep your third eye on the prize. And remember, truth is beyond belief.