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chance to tell us more about what you like or don't like about the show. Again, you can take the

survey at npr.org slash podcast survey. And thanks. This is NPR's LifeKit. Today we're going to

talk about you and me and plastic and specifically single use plastics. The stuff we bring home

from the grocery store with our potato chips and snack bags and baby food. If we're wondering if

that pouch is recyclable, the answer is no. The tampon applicators, the molded plastic casing around

the toothbrushes. The consumer in you wants your toothbrush to be safe and well packaged. The ethical

recycler in you wants to know now what do I do with it. We'll ask our recycling expert,

Keith Harrison, all about it. Right now only half of Americans can recycle at home. That's a

problem. That's an equity problem. And just what does it all add up to? Millions of tons of plastic

trash. According to one recent analysis, the United States generates more plastic waste per capita

than any other country. That includes China and includes 28 EU countries all put together.

And we know we use too much of it right. We know it can't all be recycled. And yet we can't seem

to figure out a way around it. And that my friends is the elephant, the plastic elephant in the room.

I didn't know how pervasive plastic was in my life until I started intentionally getting rid of it.

Which, believe me, is a very hard thing to do. In fact, it just seems about impossible. But look,

we know that and we're going to help you out. Today on this episode of LifeKit, we'll be hearing

from three people who spent a lot of time thinking through the plastic waste and recycling problem.

They'll have some concrete ways that we can each take action to lower our plastic footprints.

And in the process, we're going to learn why they think it's so important to do so. I'm Rebecca

...