Rob Riggle wants to do his part in saving the environment. The actor and comedian is the host of an upcoming documentary “Plastic Earth,” which details how the overuse of plastic is affecting life on the planet, causing disease and even impacting the weather.
After a screening of the documentary at The Strand Theatre in Marietta, Georgia on April 23, which is Earth Day, Riggle participated in a panel discussion to explain why he agreed to do the film.
“I like to be a responsible citizen. I believe in service. I believe in doing the right things, helping where I can, and being responsible where I can,” Riggle said. “Once this turned into a political football, as everything does these days, it becomes very confusing. We hear too much information on this, and you can hear the absolute opposite information on things and it becomes very confusing and frustrating.”
Riggle referenced past political scare tactics and propaganda to put an informed public on alert.
“We were guaranteed certain things, the sky’s gonna fall, we were all gonna die by certain timeframes [were agaendas] for politicians, and for all kinds of people,” Riggle said. “It hasn’t happened.”
However, with this particular plastics cause, Riggle’s a believer and he wanted to use his platform to help amplify that message.
“You’ve got to find a way to communicate with people and get people to care,” Riggle said. “I came into this project late. I was educated through this process and learned a lot. What appealed to me, though, was the optimistic way they approached this film. It was about, ‘Let’s talk about solutions. Let’s talk about answers. Let’s talk about the good stuff that’s going on out there.'”
The documentary highlights some of the potential solutions being put forward to restore the Earth’s health from all over the United States to Switzerland and other countries. The documentary also gives a nod to the football stadium at Penn State for being energy efficient and how other arenas can follow suit.
“I live in California,” Riggle said. “When they said I have to pay 10 cents for my plastic bag in the grocery store, which I used to get for free, it pissed me off. I’ll be honest, okay? When they gave me a paper straw that dissolves, it pissed me off. These things bothered me, but I get it now. It’s worth it.
“These things don’t happen overnight, I had to adjust and I’m not alone. I can go to my block party in my cul-de-sac, and everybody’s b——– about the same thing. We all hate the price [we] have to pay, 10 cents for a bag. The straw’s suck, but they’re getting better. They’re making improvements on land, so the consumer is going to get better choices. And they’re going to be biodegradable, and they’re going to be and we’re going to get there, but it takes funding, effort and consciousness. You have to think about it and be aware of that.”
