Follow Pharrell & i-D's New Documentary, "A Plastic Age," Trailer

Published in Bustle by Eliza Florendo, April 2015

We are the plastics—but not like the infamous Regina, Karen, and Gretchen clique. Rather, we’re the generation that’s currently facing the issue of disposing the 288 million tons of plastic we make each year. Pharrell and i-D’s trailer for their new documentary called “The Plastic Age” is here, and it explores a new solution for clearing plastic out of our beloved oceans.

This problem is big. No, it’s huge. This new documentary follows Pharrell and G-Star as they figure out how to repurpose all of this waste. In the Pacific Ocean, there’s an area called the Great Pacific Garbage Patch apparently the size of Texas that’s composed of purely plastic that’s been thrown away, according to i-D. And what happens to that plastic? Well, as i-D puts it, “an estimated 700 million tons of the stuff has ended up in the big blue, worked its way up the food chain and ultimately into the blood of human kind.” There is plastic in our bodies. Not cool.

Last year, Pharrell announced that he would be partnering up with G-Star Raw in a project called “Raw for the Oceans.” This particular project focuses on Bionic Yarn, a textile producer that converts plastic into fiber, and uses that fiber to make clothing. How effing cool is that? And, according to Complex, Bionic Yarn has already collaborated with the NBA and Burton.

The documentary, which is directed by Jake Summer, explores RAW for the Oceans, a “partnered initiative from Palrye for the Oceans, G-Star RAW, and Bionic Yarn.” The one-minute trailer shows just how much plastic is caught in our oceans. A disheartening sight. But the short trailer also shows how the plastic-into-fiber process looks like. And Pharrell, the creative director, states “I’m not a pessimist when it comes to this. I see a light at the end of the tunnel.”