FFE Eco-Film “Single-Use Planet” via Zoom

Join us online to view & discuss the impacts of single-use plastics via the film “Single Use Planet”

Register here today to join the Sisters and other Franciscans For Earth on Tuesday, October 13, 2026, from 6:30 to 8 pm Central via Zoom, for a free screening and discussion of the documentary Single-Use Planet. This 2025 documentary was distributed by public media station KQED in San Francisco. It explores the political, economic, health, and environmental impact of single use plastics.

According to the KQED Press Kit, nearly half of the over 400 million tons of plastic produced each year is made into packaging including grocery bags, food containers, wrappers, plastic bottles, straws and cutlery. This waste doesn’t decompose. It’s estimated over 8 million tons enter the ocean each year, forming massive gyres the size of Texas, and this accounts for only about one percent of the ocean plastic. A study by researchers at the University of California-Davis found that a quarter of the fish at markets in California contained plastic in their guts, mostly in the form of microfibers.

According to director and producer Steve Cowan, “While filming content for another project out at sea, we found ourselves at times amidst vast gyres of ocean plastic stretching from horizon to horizon. We knew at that point that we had to tell the story of the growing dangers of discardable single-use plastics that are threatening our oceans and, in many cases, our health.” This film is narrated by actor Peter Coyote.

The film’s central investigation proceeds from the question, “How do we keep the benefits that plastics provide, but protect ourselves from its negative impacts? Our search for answers goes upstream from the ocean to where millions of tons of plastic are being produced. With limited oversight, this waste continues to grow despite so many efforts to reduce it.

If you plan to join us for the film, please register, so that we can email you the link to log in to the Zoom gathering.

Registration:

To register, scroll down to “Book Event” and add the number attending. Click the small aqua “next” button to proceed to the sign up page where you will add your contact information and click “submit.” Upon registration, you will receive an email response that contains the Zoom link. Please save and flag/star the email response, so you can find that link to log in on the evening of October 13 at 6:15 pm Central. The presentation doesn’t begin until 6:30, but we ask those who can to log in at 6:15 in case there are difficulties. We will try to send email reminders containing the link to Zoom registrants one day and one hour before the event.

The Sisters:

We, the Franciscan Sisters of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, created our Franciscans For Earth (FFE) movement many years ago. Our goal is to educate, advocate, and collaborate on behalf of Our Common Home and all its inhabitants. We humbly appreciate your donations. They help us continue making opportunities available like these and so many others.

To learn about future, free, monthly, FFE Eco-Series events and our other outreach, bookmark the homepage of our website, www.fsolph.org. You can also follow us on Instagram at /franciscansforearth/, on Facebook at FranciscanSistersOLPH or on YouTube at FSOLPH1. Don’t forget to sign up to receive our Franciscan Spirit newsletter before you leave the website today. We publish a print edition once or twice a year. We supplement with online editions more often that contain film and speaker series updates and opportunities. Upon request, we can email the online Franciscan Spirit newsletter to your inbox throughout the year. Call (314) 965-3700, and leave contact information via voicemail at x111. You can also email your request and contact information to info@fsolph.org