This week, we have a special episode featuring a segment from a new podcast series we produced over the past several months with the incredible team at Lemonada Media.

Hosted by Emmy award-winning journalist Gloria Riviera, the new four-part series called Discarded explores the devastating impact of petrochemicals and plastic production on communities in St. James Parish, Louisiana.

The small community of 20,000 is located in the heart of Cancer Alley, an 85 mile stretch up and down the Mississippi River where the rate of cancer is as much as 50 times the national average. 

Many of us have seen the terrible toll plastic wreaks at the end of its life, with only 9% of plastics actually being recycled, 12% incinerated, and the rest ending up in landfills or the ocean. In fact, a garbage truck worth of plastics enters the ocean every minute — a rate that could triple by 2040. This waste in turn ends up on our beaches, in our food supply, and even in our bodies. 

What we sometimes fail to grasp is that even at the beginning of its life cycle, the process of producing plastics has a devastating impact on the health of communities living right outside of petrochemical facilities.

You can find Discarded and explore actions you can take to address plastics and petrochemicals in our resource guide available at https://only.one/discarded