The humble plastic bag is actually a marvel of engineering: it is cheap, light, strong, waterproof and it has conquered the world. In countries where plastic bags have been banned, they are still being smuggled in. The environmental pollution and other problems that discarded plastic can cause has made it a focus of passionate debate. But is plastic really the problem or is it our increasing use of disposable and single-use items? The popularity of disposable products predates the invention of the plastic bag in the 1960s or even the advent of Western consumer society in the aftermath of the Second World War. And in the last three decades, so many new single-use items have been produced that we increasingly cannot imagine our lives without them, and not just in the festive season. So what is the way forward? Iszi Lawrence talks about all manner of disposable and single-use objects with Jennifer Argo, Professor of Marketing at the School of Business, Alberta University; Mark Miodownik, Professor of Materials & Society at University College London; Katherine Grier, Professor Emerita of History at the University of Delaware and founder of the online Museum of Disposability; space archaeologist Dr. Alice Gorman from Flinders University in Australia and listeners from around the world. (Photo: Digital image of plastic waste and a city skyline. Credit: Andriy Onufriyenko/Getty Images)
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The distinct musical genre of amapiano can be heard in clubs and parties all around the world.
It's a sound born out of the unique cultural identity of South Africa.
I am Legendary Chris and I'm going to take you on a journey of exploration as we dive into the history of the music.
Listen now by searching for the documentary wherever you get your BBC podcasts.
I have in front of me a party balloon, a pair of chopsticks, a metal drinks can and a nappy, an unused one, I hasten to add, all designed to be used just once and then discarded.
The balloon, the chopsticks and the can are from a party I went to the other day.
But there is a more important reason why they are here.
In this forum from the BBC World Service with me, Izzy Lawrence.
We'll be talking about single use items from coffee cups to sweet wrappers, how they came about, how they became such a problem and what we can do about it.
We'll be talking mostly about stuff here on Earth, but we will also take a short detour into space because even out there the waste we Earthlings produce is becoming an issue.
I've asked my forum guests to bring a single use object with them to their respective studios.
So, Jennifer Argo over in Edmonton, Canada, what did you bring and why?
I brought along a plastic fork and a plastic spoon and the reason why is they are my biggest frustration point when it comes to recyclables because they are not and they add so much convenience for consumers.
They're light.
We can toss them away as soon as we're finished, but they're horrible.
There's over 40 billion plastic utensils that get tossed into the garbage each year in the US alone.
Billion with a B, 40 billion with.
The B.