The monologue of plastics: we used 186 second video to show how the plastic "empire" expended by The Paper

August 15th, 2023 marks the first National Ecological Day in China. Our focus turns to plastic that can be seen everywhere.
In 1950, only 2 million tons of plastic products were produced globally.However, by 2019, it had surged to a staggering 460 million tons, an increase of nearly 230 times, with nearly 14.6 tons of plastic being generated per second. In every minute, one million plastic bottles are purchased, and up to 950 million plastic bags are utilized. The daily life of the humanity has been envelopped by plastic.
Over the past century, plastic consumption worldwide has been expanding wildly every year, fostering a complex mix of dependence and distrust towards this material.
When did plastic start infiltrating into human daily life?
What happens to the plastic products that are placed in the recycling bins? Are they truly recycled?
How much plastic waste floats in the ocean?
Do seabirds and sea turtles in certain areas ingest our discarded plastic waste, leading to suffocation?
How can we reduce the use of plastic shopping bags?
Do plastic bags and bottles really outlast human beings?
Are these really significant? Should we pay attention?
In another hundred years, what impact will plastic waste have on the world?
We have collected over a thousand plastic waste items from cities to rural areas, and from land to sea. Through over 1300 candid photographss and 186-second frame-by-frame animation presentation, we illustrate the century-long frenzy of the plastic empire’s expansion and retraces the intricate relationship between humanity and plastic.