SHOW NOTES:

Joanna Sadler wants us to think about plastics differently. Can we shift our mindsets to regard plastics not as a waste product and a problem, but as a resource and an opportunity?

Joanna and her colleagues at the University of Edinburgh have used E. coli to transform a molecule derived from PET plastic into the highly valuable industrial chemical vanillin. 

Vanillin is a high-value molecule used across the agrichemical and pharmaceutical industries—not to mention its culinary uses.  Demand for vanillin cannot be obtained from natural sources such as vanilla beans. Much of today’s vanillin is produced directly from petroleum. 

Joanna is interviewed by Joanne James. Joanne served for many years as the finance administrator for Newfield Central Schools in Newfield, New York.  She is presently an elected official on the Newfield Town Board. 

Joanna and Joanne discuss how we can make vanillin production sustainable and tackle the plastics waste process at the same time. 

If we can use plastics to make vanillin, what else can we make? 

PODCAST WEBSITE:

https://cals.cornell.edu/global-development/plastics-challenge-podcast 

FURTHER READING: 

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/jun/15/scientists-convert-used-plastic-bottles-into-vanilla-flavouring

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/plastic-waste-can-be-transformed-vanilla-flavoring-study-shows-180978046/

https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlelanding/2021/gc/d1gc00931a

SOCIAL:

Follow Joanna Sadler on Twitter at https://twitter.com/josadler10.

When it comes to addressing plastic pollution, some people say, "Every choice matters". Other people say, "Your one metal straw isn't going to save the planet."

How should we regard our daily little choices? 

Christian Shaw, a waterman and adventure who co-founded the organization Plastic Tides to create a global community of motivated changemakers, reflects on recycling, plant-based plastics, and his recent expedition in the Mississippi River Delta. 

He's interviewed by Erin Fox, a rising junior at Cornell University who's majoring in communications, and who believes that education is key to addressing the climate crisis in our midst.
 
EPISODE 4 LINKS

The New Plastics Economy: Rethinking the Future of Plastics https://www.newplasticseconomy.org/about/publications/report-2016

Plastic Tides: https://www.plastictides.org

Bruce Monger: https://www.engineering.cornell.edu/faculty-directory/bruce-monger

Coalition to Stop Formosa Plastics: https://actionnetwork.org/groups/stop-formosa

In Episode 3, we’re talking about a core recommendation from the New Plastics Economy Report that All plastic packaging be reused, recycled, or composted in practice.  Chatting about  new plastic packaging solutions are Geoffrey Coates and Thomas Shelley.  

Geoff is the scientific co-founder of Novomer, a sustainable materials company that features high-performance polymers and other chemicals from renewable feedstocks. He is also scientific co-founder of  Intermix Performance Materials. 

Tom is a long-time environmental activist in Tompkins County, NY, where he managed the Signs of Sustainability series for Sustainable Tompkins for 12 years. He worked for many years in the Cornell University Environmental Health and Safety Unit. And before that, Tom was one of several co-founders of the Haight Ashbury Food Co-op, the humble beginnings of an organization that grew into today’s large food co-ops like GreenStar.