[MUSIC]
There are two kinds of people, the ones who currently are or
have been in a complicated relationship.
>> [LAUGH] >> And the ones who don't admit it.
>> [LAUGH] >> During your time in this trouble love
affair, you feel anxious, troubled, you're frustrated, you're not yourself.
Because on one hand, you can't live without your soul mate,
you remember all the good times, all the fun things you did together.
But on the other hand, you know you're not okay, there is something unhealthy
in this relationship that is making you feel uneasy, troubled,
and at the end of the day, doubtful.
And you ask yourself, What can I do to make this relationship work,
or how do I reach an end?
Today, I'm going to talk to you about a love story
all about my troubled love affair with plastic.
>> [LAUGH] >> Seriously, it's no joke.
>> [LAUGH] >> Plastic and
I have a peculiar relationship.
Thankfully, Facebook has a term for what I'm going through, it's complicated.
>> [LAUGH] >> But why is it complicated?
Well, on the positive side, there are many reasons why I fell in love with plastic.
First, I have been working for more than ten years in the plastic and
petrochemicals industry.
I owe to plastic my career growth and my professional development.
>> Actually, thanks to plastic, I'm here at Stanford.
>> [LAUGH] >> Something worked.
>> [LAUGH] >> Second,
you may not know plastic like I do.
>> [LAUGH] >> But
plastic offers many wonderful qualities.
For example in the medical realm it has helped us to preserve medicine for
longer, to develop pill capsules,
ask your grandmother, even to unblock blood vessels.
In the automotive sector, plastic weighs 50% less than its substitutes and
has enabled interesting improvements in fuel efficiency.
Also plastic offers interesting advantages in construction, transportation,
packaging, even agriculture.
And all of this has translated in jobs creation, economic growth, and
improvements to our day to day lives.
Actually, plastic is so wonderful that we use a ton of it!
But not one ton, but 300 million tons of plastic each year.
This is equivalent in weight of 900 Empire State Buildings.
>> [LAUGH] >> This is more than half of the buildings
in downtown Manhattan.
Yeah, it's a lot of plastic.
And this takes me to a negative side, not you guys.
>> [LAUGH] >> Unfortunately,
plastic is not a cheap date, it is kind of high maintenance.
>> [LAUGH] >> Because we waste more than half of
the plastic we demand.
This means we're sending the equivalent of more than 400
Empire State Buildings to our landfills and to our oceans, and
we are creating a huge damage to our ecosystem, wildlife and environment.
Second, as a rule of thumb, plastic takes around 400 years to fully degrade.
This means if I waste plastic right now it's going to stay here for
my great, great, great, great, great,
great, great, great, great, great grandchildren to inherit.
Is this the legacy I want to leave behind?
Definitely not.
And finally, as you may know, plastic is derived from oil.
Oil is not cheap, oil is not infinite.
We cannot keep feeding plastics or have it forever.
But you see, I am a passionate person as probably you have seen.
>> [LAUGH] >> I needed to find a way
to make this relationship work.
And sometimes the solution is staring you in the face, but you just don't see it.
Well that's what happened to me, and
I came to realize the importance of recycling.
Yeah, I think it's a little bit obvious right?
Unfortunately, recycling is hard to do all the time.
And my main problem has been commitment.
Has this ever happened to you in a relationship?
>> [LAUGH] >> Let me explain
it to you in another way.
It's New Years day, and you tend to realize that pretty much since
Thanksgiving, I ate a lot, partied a lot, maybe drank a lot.
So as a New Year's resolution, I decide to go to the gym.
And if I were to see this graphically, it would look something like this.
The first day,I will rush to the gym at 6:00 AM, it's really crowded by the way.
I will work out one hour and a half, three to four times that week.
And I'll keep doing it the next week and the next week.
But what will happen as time passes on?
I will have other priorities.
So instead of going four to five times a week I'll go maybe two to three.
Instead of going maybe one hour and a half, I do one hour, maybe 45 minutes,
because they are all important things to do.
So my commitment will go down, something like this.
Unfortunately, the same thing happens with recycling.
And I need to ask myself what can I do to maintain a strong commitment all the time.
I need to find a way to make this habit stick.
And that's what I understood, that I needed to differentiate myself, and
I had to go and advocate for recycle.
But I'm going to advocate in three ways.
Number one, I'll advocate to myself,
that every time I waste something I'll think 400 years.
And that's going to become my mantra,
400 years, because that's the legacy I'm leaving behind.
Number two, I'll advocate to my peers, family,
friends, of their legacy if they don't recycle.
Also, find a recycling bin, even if you have to Just walk a few extra steps.
If there is no recycling bin provide one.
Just by walking these few extra steps or
by stretching your arm to each additional container you can do a huge difference.
Well you may ask yourself
why is this going to maintain a strong commitment all the time?
And I needed to do something more, I needed to compel myself,
push myself beyond my comfort zone.
And this is how I decided, pretty much, to advocate to an audience.
>> [LAUGH]
Each and every one of you are witnesses of my commitment,
witnesses to remind myself of my mantra, 400 years.
Every one of you, including the people at the other side of the camera and
on social media.
It is a strong commitment, but if it's something that I need to do
in order to make my relationship with plastic work.
I"m totally on board.
Because after the GSB, after Stanford, I'm going to go back to the Plastic and
Petrol Chemical industry and I'm going to push for
sustainable initiatives because I want to make my relationship with plastic work.
Because I use plastic every day and I love plastic.
With this, let me ask you just one question.
Who used plastic today?
Who is using it right now?
Could you raise your plastic bottles?
>> [LAUGH] >> Look around.
Look at yourselves.
It seems you also have a complicated relationship with plastic,
>> [LAUGH]
>> But what are you doing about it?
Thank you.
>> [APPLAUSE]
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