_ Last night I went to a talk at the San Francisco Patagonia store to learn more about plastic pollution in our ocean.  OK, I admit I also went because, well, it was at Patagonia.  And since I’m a stoked but broke wanna-be pro surfer, I was on a dual mission to learn more about plastic pollution and to get to know the Patagonia peeps as well.  Anyhoo….

After listening to two women give a talk on their plastic research findings from their recent ocean journey, I walked away with a few key points:

1. Plastic isn’t biodegradable (duh!).  It instead breaks up into little particles.  These tiny particles are what make up most of the pollution in the gyres.
2. Some gyres are as large as 270,000 square miles (I know – holy crap!)
3. It sucks to be a creature of the sea. 

_ After the numerous slides and Q&A, the ambassadors got to the activism piece.  It consisted of the token mantra to refuse, reuse or recycle.  It also advocated the need to participate in beach clean ups.  By doing so we are helping to clean up the gyres as the ocean and wind currents eventually wash the plastic particles up to shore.

I started to wonder about what systemic movements are occurring to really address the plastics problem at its core. I asked about the anti-plastic lobbyists in congress.  Nobody really seemed to know if there were any.  So I started to feel like I had just gotten a lecture on how to put a band aid on an issue, but was unsuccessful in digging up much insight on how to really attack the problem from its root….until I met Kathy (that’s not really her name, but for the purpose of this blog post, just go with it).

Kathy is a bright-eyed young woman with a warm smile who came up to chat with me after the event.  She told me she was in a sustainable MBA program and reluctantly admitted that she happened to work for Nestle.  She wanted to inform me that corporations like Nestle and Pepsi are the real active and influential voices in lobbying around plastics. She shared that it was hard for her to work for Nestle because the company does not do business in line with her values.  She was struggling to reconcile these opposing value systems in her work life.  And that’s when it hit me. The solution to this issue (at least partially) was in someone like Kathy.

_ I had once seen Indra Nooyi, the CEO of Pepsi, speak at an event a few years ago. (Side note: Indra is a brown girl from India– EAST SYEEEEED!!!!).   Anyways, her talk focused on leadership and learning to manage a workforce comprised largely of Generation Y employees.  According to her, Gen Y (sorry I know that sounds like a brand of suppositories) peeps tend to have a greater awareness and need to link social values to their work than their Gen X predecessors. I know HR departments and corporate philanthropy departments invest millions of dollars trying to “do good” in the name of keeping their employees engaged and happy.  There’s nothing more costly to a company than having to hire, train and replace workers. Trust me, I KNOW.   And let’s face it, if someone like Indra Nooyi based an entire speech on leadership around managing Gen Y folks, she knows the value of making her employees happy.  Happy employees mean more productive workers (or so they say).

It made me think that employees, if anyone, are actually in a perfect position to be internal lobbyists for the anti-plastics movement- to demand the companies they work for have more sustainable practices like making a business, social and environmental case for alternative packaging materials.  It made me think that what the movement needs is a cadre of anti-plastic CIA Ninjas, working internally and overtly within Fortune 500 Companies to push the plastics agenda up the corporate food chain. This thought of course flashed through my head in a split second after which I found myself encouraging  Kathy to think of herself as a special investigative CIA Ninja, using her role and knowledge of the ins and outs of her company to influence change from within.  Her eyes widened.  She laughed.  But I was serious. 

_ Sometimes you need to get in bed with the ‘man’ to beat him at his own game. I’ve seen this tactic work time and time again in James Bond movies. Based on that principle, I propose the world create a Plastics CIA Ninja Coalition comprised of graduating high school students and top graduating MBAs.  Get a philanthropist to fund a series of fellowships and curriculum, equipping them with anti-plastic agendas and BLUE values before they secure employment at corporations.  Hell why not have a BLUE curriculum in every business school in the world.  Teach these BLUE grads to work within the system to lobby for alternative packaging, in the name of making Gen Y happy and loyal employees.  I mean, they are going to go work for these Fortune 500 companies anyway.Honestly, how many of my friends who work in corporate America wish they could be doing some good for the world?  ALL OF THEM.  Corporate employees want more than anything to make a difference in the world.  It’s where a majority of our volunteers used to come from at C.E.O. Women (the non-profit I founded).  HR is always trying to find meaningful ways to connect the workforce with opportunities to act on their value systems.  It could be a win-win situation. Happy employees.  Less pollution in the environment.  New ideas. Corporation looks good for doing good etc…

_ The solution to the plastics issue, in my opinion, is a lot like hair loss.  You can’t just brush your hair, oil it, put serums and hair masks on it to make it grow.  You need to also take oral stuff like Biotin.  Much like hair loss, you need to treat the plastics problem from the inside out as well…tackle it from all angles.  As we learn time and again from our dear undercover agent, James Bond, the solution is often in the problem! 

Signing off from Oakland, CA

farhana

P.S. - If you would like me to work for your think tank, I am accepting propositions and may even consider being your pre-IPO secretary.

P.P.S. – Since I’m not an environmentalist nor have I ever worked in the environmental field, consider this a litmus test for how well information open sourcing about the plastics issues is being understood by the masses.  I am only basing this off what I know and happen to follow.  Perhaps sharing my thinking on this issue will give you a sense of how deep to go with public education campaigns. 

P.P.P.S. – Ok if you liked this post, buy a brown girl surf TM T-shirt in its honor. I promise you they’ll be vintage and you’ll want one when Indra becomes the first brown girl CEO to rid plastic packaging in her Fortune 500 Company because of this post. (OK, fine.)