It's rise to prominence in the 19 fifties allowed us to keep food fresh, longer manufacture lightweight and malleable products, designed new fashions, create more unique packaging and store things like never before.

In the sixties, it's production increased 400%.

By 1979 more plastic was being created than steel, and in 14 2100 billion plastic bags were used in the U.

S.

Which is almost one per person per day.

But while it's convenience and versatility has revolutionized our world, it's left us with trillions of pieces of trash thrown into landfills and the ocean.

In fact, in the last 60 years we've produced 9.1 1,000,000,000 tons of plastic, so we thought we'd create a little experiment for ourselves.

Every single piece of plastic that we use in the next week we're going to have to wear on our bodies.

We're gonna have to find a way to attach it to ourselves and continue on with our week in public uninterrupted because the truth is we do a pretty good job of hiding it from ourselves, putting it in bags and bins behind cupboard doors are closed with lids and ultimately out of our houses and into trucks.

To go somewhere far, far away, we're gonna be following our normal consumption habits so that we can actually see how much plastic were using or wasting.

I'm honestly a bit nervous to find out how much it actually is and how it's gonna like smell on my body, let alone help.

People in public are going to be staring at us.

I'm freaking out already.

So let's just start the challenge.

One of our first pieces of plastic.

What's going on here?

I buy so much promises, so much plastic this way.

So it seconds as a jockstrap don't just repulsed by grace.

But we're going to use a glue that knowing the truth.

Oh, it kind of feels like a weird place to start now.

It really looks like testicles.

I always get this done and just rip it off, and then it is.

Throw it out full.

Is this double raft?

It is.

I have these two pieces of plastic.

Also, work is eventually you can like, make a little Rosa.

Yeah, that's a definite looks like a road plastics are made of polymers, which are molecules that have many repeated part's over and over.

For example, ethylene has to carbon and four hydrogen atoms, whereas polyethylene is many of them strung together and makes the most popular plastic in the world like your grocery bag.

Right now, 99% of all plastic is made from fossil fuels.

These fuels are taken out of the ground, refined into crude oil and then broken down into simple monomers.

These monomers then go through a process called polyamory ization to stick them all together.

And it's at this stage that different chemicals are added to change the characteristics of the plastic, whether it will be flexible or stiff, colorful or clear.

And finally, this polarized liquid is cooled and chopped into millions of tiny pieces called nerd ALS, which are shipped all over the world and ultimately heated and molded into whatever shape a manufacturer desires.

These final Pastika fit into two categories.

Thermal plastics, which turned soft when heated, like a shampoo bottle and thermos sets, which are incredibly hard after they're molded like a milk crate or parts in a plane.

It's day to day two.

I happen to finish a few bags of rice and veggies.

This is my broach of shame.

Okay, I had Halloween candy.

Sumi, this have mayo garlic in it.

So I'm just worried about what it's gonna smell like I have to wear this T shirt every day.

Only the smell of food it's gonna smell of B.

Oh, it's so easy to throw it out out of sight.

Out of mind is the opposite of out of sight, out of mind.

Pretty soon we're gonna have to go into public.

I'm very shy, insecure person in the first place, like Gregor's rambunctious and loud Oh, and he's like, Comfortable.

Being noticeable in space is why is it this thing?

I'm gonna be so embarrassed, and it's probably what I need it for.

A good reason.

We definitely do need to grocery shop, the grocery store, A place full of plastic.

This trip was going to be a big factor in what we would be wearing for the rest of the week.

I actually like can't focus every so often.

I like Dr on it actually walked in.

It was like What do you think?

A judge?

My I wish I could show you people's faces.

People.

Are they looking at us with disguise?

Like maybe it's because they were wearing garbage way would usually by these.

So we're going Teoh right now with some honey, I'm mortified that I'm gonna department I love King Well, but I don't know if you can get it when it's not package like this.

At least not at the grocery store.

My favorite thing is Hamas, also known as Thomas.

No, to this we do know.

Oh, my God.

I'm so sorry.

You have to buy that.

We're gonna buy me.

Oh, plastic which, like in some senses, make sense.

It's so much lighter like it makes sense that business is off for plastic.

But when you're here, it's everything and not to use the buzzword.

But this is not sustainable like reggaeton doing.

We're done like an average shopping.

Now we need to get out of here.

Someone staring.

I'm so bad, I'm panic.

Whenever I package workplaces, watch me do what they're like.

No.

As the week went on, the plastic continued to pile up and we wanted to understand more about the impact of plastic both good and bad.

So we sat down with Rachel Salt, author of the Plastic Problem, to find out.

I am sitting here covered in crinkly plastic, so I'm gonna hope not be too loud in this interview.

In your opinion, how big is this plastic problem?

Well, I would say plastic in of itself isn't an evil material, but if every single person on the planet right now stepped on the scale, the weight of the plastic we've made is 26 times the weight of every person on our way.

Use it one time, and then we throw it away, and it takes forever in the environment to break down in a landfill that could take 1000 years.

Currently, only a boat 9% of all plastic ever is recycled.

It's unlike aluminum and glass, which, if you recycle on aluminum, can you can turn that can write back into an aluminum can.

But if you take a plastic water bottle and recycle it, those long polymer chains, which make up all plastic, get shortened and shortened and shortened each time you recycle it.

So the great of the plastic becomes reduced, and then a lot of that waste actually escapes into the environment, particularly the ocean about a dump truck worth of plastic a minute.

Entries the ocean.

It's not literally a dump truck dumping.

No, they're not doing that.

What kind of impact does this sheer amount of plastic have on our planet on animals?

Plastic in the ocean has huge repercussions, especially to the amazing animals that live there.

So by 2050 they actually estimate that there's going to be more plastic in the ocean than fish.

So how do they do?

That kind of number is a biomass number.

Bio massive fish.

And this plastic is ending up in the stomachs of sea birds, whales, turtles, fish and causing them to starve and often die with stomachs full of plastic.

Even filter feeders like muscles, are found with micro plastics in them.

This information was devastating for us, especially on day four, when things got really bad.

Brought him.

Oh, no, this is the X vault.

So we had a camera that was broken by accident by yours truly.

The camera when I opened it.

This is like what?

I feel like the timing.

Everything so funny.

Like, of course.

I mean, it is worth doing it right now It's great that happened in this video because when you think about it wow, you feel like this is my fault.

And one thing in my life is that I tried to be conscious, but I am reckless and I break things because I have a lot.

We're splitting.

In fact, you should be wearing most of it.

One thing I just realizes when I ordered this camera, it's from a store in Toronto.

I could have gone to it, but I thought, it's free delivery.

You know, I'm gonna drive there or they're gonna drive here.

It's the same carbon emission.

But now I've realized when you get something delivered, it has me wrapped in so much more packaging.

I had just gone to the store.

I would have got it in a box from the manufacturer, but not in another box filled with all this stuff.

Doesn't learn.

If you could pick something up, it's probably gonna have less packaging coming in on the way.

Should we just be banning plastic?

Should everyone stop using it immediately or what do we do?

So this shirt that I'm wearing if made of linen rates and the natural fiber thousands of leaders more water to make this shirt than it would to make a polyester one, which is made of plastic.

I was recently in the hospital, and they used a lot of different plastic instruments, and it was really important because it was scare away and it was cheaper for them so that they could serve more people and keep things clean.

And also, plastic is really lightweight.

So if you were shipping bottles of Coca Cola, the amount of a mission so I would take by weight to ship plastic balls, the Coca Cola would be significantly less than that of glass.

Those are just some variables, right?

So it's not saying that in this case, plastic is 100% better.

It's just different metrics that you need to consider it to get a whole picture.

Knowing the complexity and nuance of the issue didn't stop the stairs as we continued our normal life covered in plastic.

Now that we have so much more people feel confident to be like, What are you doing?

Remember this?

Oh, hey, we'll make.

Sometimes.

Wearing the plastic was a logistical issue, for example, when it came to working out at the gym.

Hominid Pound Pumpkin.

This is 20 in each wow, 40 total With finally, I found a place where I belong.

You taking everything in my body to not go and get a Cinnabon.

A lot of people are like, What are you doing?

But I'm like I'm gay.

It's just fashion, like locks.

It truly is shameful, though it just keeps piling up.

And we need to figure out a way to minimize our plastic.

So that's what I'm more interested in now.

What can we do?

So have an individual.

You can really consider something called the six R's.

Reduce.

Trying to reduce the amount of plastic you youth in your day to day life reuse instead of going to your favorite coffee shop in getting you know they're single.

Use coffee cup.

Bring your own cup.

Rethink.

People can get really creative.

Can you turn a pop bottle into a plant container?

Some people are turning plastic into art repair.

I gotta ripping my jeans.

They can help you and learn how to sew.

Or if you don't have that in your community, you can go to YouTube and there's so many tutorials, amazing people refuse.

You're at your favorite restaurant.

They bring your drink and a plastic straw in a paper wrap.

You can just say, Oh, no, thank you and recycle.

So I left that to the end.

Often it's at the beginning of the list, but I put it at the bottom of the list because, as we said earlier, recycling is an important piece, but it's not a perfect solution.

You can listen to our full conversation with Rachel on our podcast side note.

But in the meantime, day seven finally came, and it was time for our final walk of shame.

We look like Nicki Minaj, a lady Gaga.

Five years totally.

Pasha, do you think this is a lot?

I think it's a lot.

Yeah, I actually do.

I think on a day to day basis, I was looking at it and I was like, No, we don't have that much.

But then seeing it all together on you, this is only a week.

It's definitely a lot.

I'm curious What you guys think about this crash?

Are we complete trash?

One big takeaway for me is that I need to be prepared before I leave the house.

Look, into my bag.

Do I have Tupperware?

Do I have my reusable mug so that I can refuse?

Plastic it?

I'm gonna be so much more aware of plastic packaging.

And if there's an alternative with less, I'll try and choose that.

It's exciting.

It's honestly like a game.

How do you minimize your and that's gonna be my new game?

Ah, well, er, is that what happens?

And honestly, I think you guys should participate.

Kids, high school kids and university kids.

I used to be a high school science teacher.

If any of my students did this challenge as a project, I would be very in prey.

Plus, you can have the idea.

So you need to get Rachel's book the plastic problem, because it is full of all the information you need to know about plastics.

But most importantly, it is full of solutions.