Roles: Narrator; Bottle One, Bottle Two and Bottle Three are fictional speaking characters.
Narrator: Three plastic bottles are discarded. After that, their journeys diverge.
Bottle One: I end up in a landfill, where waste is compressed in layers.
Narrator: What can happen when rainwater moves through the waste?
Bottle One: It can absorb water-soluble compounds, some of which are toxic. The resulting liquid, called leachate, can move into groundwater, soil, and streams, harming ecosystems and wildlife.
Bottle Two: I follow a separate possible path: through waterways to the ocean.
Narrator: Where can ocean currents carry plastic debris?
Bottle Two: Rotating ocean currents can gather floating plastic into large accumulation areas such as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. Plastic can entangle seabirds or be mistaken for food by animals.
Narrator: Most plastics do not biodegrade. They break into smaller and smaller pieces called microplastics. Plastic can also pass through the food chain, from lanternfish to squid to tuna—and then to us.
Bottle Three: I am taken to a recycling plant and flattened into a block.
Narrator: What happens to the plastic after that?
Bottle Three: It is shredded into tiny pieces, washed, and melted. The material can then be used again to make something new. That does not mean every discarded bottle follows this route.
Bottle One: My journey ends in a landfill.
Bottle Two: Mine carries me through waterways to the ocean.
Bottle Three: Mine gives the plastic a chance to become something new.
Narrator: How do Bottle One’s journey and Bottle Three’s journey differ? Support your answer with one detail from each journey in the video.