Blue Vinyl

I found Blue Vinyl to be an eye-opening and very informative documentary by Judith Helfand. Judith followed the life of the vinyl used in her parents' home from its creation to its eventual recycling, and investigated every lead along the way, creating a thorough, comprehensive study and illustration of the vinyl industry.

Unsurprisingly, the documentary included many unsavory facts about vinyl, a material used a tremendous amount in day to day American life. Manufacturers of the polyvinyl chemical were being taken to court under criminal charges in Italy, and it seems that the industry has come under a lot of scrutiny as many countries begin to seek alternatives to PCB, a integral chemical in vinyl, and begin to phase-out the use of vinyl in many industries.

On the surface, the film is great. However, as a viewer, I had a very different reaction to the movie. On an intellectual level, I enjoyed it since I learned a great deal. On an emotional level, I was actually quite upset. I have vinyl on my home. Does my parents purchasing vinyl, making them a consumer of the vinyl industry, make them responsible in any way for the suffering of the towns in Louisiana and Kentucky where vinyl is manufactured? If there is lead in the paint on the exterior of my home and I choose to replace the painted surface with vinyl siding, would I be supporting putting other people's children in danger for the sake of protecting my own?

I feel that because Judith, in a way, guilted her parents into replacing their siding, she was making them feel as if they supported the vinyl industry by choosing one of its products for their home. This sounds a bit harsh and a bit unsettling, and I was certainly unsettled by the end of the documentary. Not enough to want to go to Louisiana and protest the industry, but enough to really become overwhelmed and shut down. After reading Poisoned Profits and watching Blue Vinyl, I'm left wondering what, if anything, I can do. It seems that the chemical industry is causing an outrageous amount of suffering but proves to have its hand supporting too many aspects of life to want to tear it down.

Right now, I'm thinking of all the different ways that the chemical industry is supporting my own life, and wondering how I will be affected later on down the road. I'm beginning to see bit by bit where small changes being taken can amount to large-scale differences in the world. I'm not saying I'm optimistic just yet, but maybe with some discussion on what is being done positively in the world, I'll feel a little better.