BROADCASTS.com

In this week\u2019s episode, host Daniel Raimi talks with Shelie Miller, a professor at the University of Michigan\u2019s School for Environment and Sustainability. Miller describes her recent research, which investigates whether reusable products like straws and coffee cups are really more sustainable than their single-use counterparts. In part because manufacturing these products and then keeping them clean over their lifetimes can be water intensive, Miller says that consumers need to reuse alternatives to plastics many times if they want to minimize their environmental impacts. Today\u2019s episode is very much news-you-can-use when you\u2019re trying to decide whether you should buy that reusable sandwich wrapper or straw, or take home that canvas bag from the latest conference you\u2019ve attended.\n\nReferences and recommendations:\n\n\u201cEnvironmental payback periods of reusable alternatives to single-use plastic kitchenware products\u201d by Hannah Fetner and Shelie A. Miller; https://www.springerprofessional.de/en/environmental-payback-periods-of-reusable-alternatives-to-single/19334396\n\n\u201cFive Misperceptions Surrounding the Environmental Impacts of Single-Use Plastic\u201d by Shelie A. Miller; https://css.umich.edu/sites/default/files/publication/CSS20-33.pdf\n\n\u201cGreen Porno\u201d with Isabella Rossellini; https://www.sundancetv.com/shows/green-porno--1001041