Plastic Purge Event with Michael SanClements

This past Wednesday, the Poly community had the pleasure of hosting Dr. Michael SanClements, a soil scientist, biogeochemist, and author of Plastic Purge. SanClements addressed a crowd of middle and upper schoolers, faculty, and families along with the 2020 and 2021 Global Scholars cohorts. In his talk, he detailed how he first became interested in climate science, how his research developed and took him to all seven continents, and how he began combining his knowledge of the fields of environmental science with journalism and literature.


For the remainder of his speech, he outlined and offered solutions to the problems plastic present for the United States and the world. To begin, he explained how plastic first gained popularity; it was invented in a competition to replace ivory billiard balls. The material’s properties, SanClements argued, make it an unparalleled pollutant: its durability, low cost, and multifunctionality make it a sort of supermaterial for commercial goods and a rapid and universal contributor to pollution. For these reasons, SanClements likened plastic to an invasive species. The magnitude of the plastic problem is, to him, nearly unimaginable, so he encourages people to tackle plastics in a more manageable way. SanClements noted ways individuals, families, companies, and governmental bodies—local to international—can reckon with the plastic pollution.


A lively and engaging question-and-answer session followed his remarks. Some members of the audience pushed back on the feasibility of his proposals, others voiced their appreciation for his work, and even others simply wanted to clarify various points from his speech. The entire auditorium, however, received him warmly and concluded the event with emphatic applause. The Poly community expressed their immense gratitude for his event and work in passionate conversation with him and had the opportunity of purchasing his book following the event.

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