- [Narrator] Tonight, microplastics invade Narraganset Bay.

What are they and what are they doing to our environment and beyond?

- We are being exposed to these plastics that are having negative impacts on everything they encounter.

- [Narrator] And middle-aged workers switching horses midstream.

Why walk away from a career after so many years?

- I wasn't fulfilled.

I wasn't really happy.

- [Narrator] Then, a Native American hunter in his element.

- You have to bite that heart fresh out.

(playful music) (playful music continues) - Good evening, and welcome to "Rhode Island PBS Weekly."

I'm Michelle San Miguel.

- And I'm Pamela Watts.

Plastic, it's changed the world in immeasurable ways from creating medical supplies to packaging our food.

- It has also created massive waste since plastic never fully disappears.

Instead, it breaks down into microplastics.

Those tiny plastic particles are all around us.

It's estimated they can stay in the environment for centuries.

Tonight, we introduce you to researchers at the University of Rhode Island and explore how microplastics are infiltrating all aspects of our lives and why reducing the waste may very well lower the health dangers they present.

This is part of our "Green Seeker" series.

- Microplastics are in our water, they're in our air, and it's a very difficult problem to control because they are so prevalent.

- [Narrator] The proof of how reliant we've all become on plastic can be found at the bottom of Narraganset Bay.

Researchers at the University of Rhode Island estimate the top two inches of the floor of the bay contain more than 1,000 tons of microplastics, plastic pieces less than five millimeters in diameter.

- That has been accumulating over the past 10 to 20 years.

And so plastics are coming into the bay.

They float through the water, and eventually they land on the seabed.

And so over time, they're accumulating at these really high concentrations because we just keep using plastics and the sources are not being mitigated.

- [Narrator] Doctoral student Victoria Fulfer said the levels were shocking.

She and JP Walsh, director of URI's Coastal Resources Center, published their study earlier this year.

Using a toad sled, they documented just how much debris lies in the water.

They found the upper parts of the bay near Providence contain higher concentrations of plastic waste than the lower bay.

- Plastics come from people.

And in Rhode Island, we have a really dense population, particularly surrounding the Northern Bay.

So inherently there's going to be more plastic that can make its way into the bay.

- [Narrator] And before they end up at the bottom of the bay, many are littered throughout Rhode Island's beaches, including Rocky Point State Park in Warwick.

- What did you find here?

- So here we have a bottle cap and one of the rings that goes around a milk carton container.

I see some fragments of plastic and food wrapping, things like that.

Very common items to find.

- [Narrator] As debris makes its way into the water, Fulfer says it slowly breaks down over time into microplastics.

Then microscopic organisms, like zooplankton, confuse it for food.

- I've published a study looking at the impact on zooplankton, which form the base of the food web, and we're seeing that they are growing at much lower rates, they're reproducing less, and they're not living as long.

If there are less zooplankton, that's less food for fish.

And you know, that obviously has far reaching implications.

- [Narrator] Fulfer says more research is needed to determine whether microplastics are causing the decline in the zooplankton population.

Still, she's concerned about how those small plastics are affecting marine life and humans.

- We eat seafood and unfortunately marine organisms are eating microplastics and then we eat them.

And so there's potential that we are ingesting microplastics when we eat our food.

- [Narrator] It's troubling to Jaime Ross as well, an assistant professor of neuroscience at URI.

She's been studying the health effects of microplastics in mammals.

- There's not really anything known about plastics on brain health and neurological disease, and also the lifecycle of plastics in the body.

- [Narrator] Ross and her team exposed mice, young and old, to microplastics in drinking water over the span of three weeks.

After observing them in an open field, researchers found ingesting microplastics caused the mice to have changes in their behavior akin to dementia in humans.

- The young adult animals and the older adult animals, they both did things that they shouldn't.

They spent a lot of time in the center of the arena.

Mice are not supposed to really do that.

- Did any of that surprise you?

- For three weeks of exposure it did.

I thought perhaps if you're chronically exposed for months and months, maybe you would see something like this.

But only three weeks was really shocking to us.

- [Narrator] Ross's team also learned the plastic particles had begun to bioaccumulate in every organ in the mouse, including the brain.

- The fact that they are crossing the blood-brain barrier, which really is supposed to keep out bad things from the brain, including viruses and bacteria.

The fact that they were able to sneak in there was almost alarming to us.

- [Narrator] The mice that ingested microplastics had a decrease in glial fibrillary acidic protein known as GFAP, a protein that supports many cell processes in the brain.

- It suggests that the microplastics could be changing the environment in the brain, and the brain is reacting to them in a way that could point to changes in cognition down the road.

- [Narrator] Both Ross and Fulfer say there's an urgency to the work they're doing.

- I think we're going to see a wide range of ecosystem impacts if we continue to create plastic and allow it to get into the environment.

I think eventually we would see widespread collapse of shellfish and fisheries.

- [Narrator] Inside her lab, Fulfer has slides full of microplastics she's collected from Narraganset Bay ranging in size, shape, and color.

Many of the fragments are items we all use.

- So three of the main types we found were polystyrene, which you might be familiar with as the white foam that we use in packaging.

Polypropylene and polyethylene, and polypropylene and polyethylene are really common types of plastic used specifically in single use plastics.

So those are our takeout containers, our coffee cups, things like that.

- [Narrator] Littering is one way these plastics are getting into the water, but Fulfer says it's bigger than that.

- Microplastics take all kinds of forms.

So we can have particles which are formed from the breakdown of larger items like bags or bottles.

But we also have microfibers, which mostly come from your clothing.

And so a lot of our clothing is unfortunately synthetic now, that makes it last longer and have different qualities so we like to use it.

But unfortunately, when you wash your clothes, those microfibers are being released and going into the wastewater.

- [Narrator] That's why Ross says she tries to buy cotton fabrics when possible, among other changes she's made.

- I really try to always purchase a product that's not in plastic.

I try not to store our food in plastic.

I try not to drink out of plastic.

Sometimes these things are not avoidable.

- [Narrator] As Ross continues her research, there are several key questions she's eager to answer, including, where do microplastics go once they enter the body, and how long do they stay there?

- Another question is, are they really contributing to this large uptick that we see in society of a lot of different inflammatory diseases and neurological disease?

Are they contributing to our health in a negative way?

- To be clear, it's not known if microplastics can leave the body or how to get rid of them, right?

- Right, right.

- [Narrator] Ross hopes further analysis will shed light on the far reaching effects of these materials.

- And I think we need to really understand that black box of what are plastics doing to us and what plastics do we really need as a society for healthcare, for example, and what plastics can we part ways with and say, we don't need this.

This is just to the benefit of packaging.

This is not really helping us.

And we need to find an alternative, either source or get rid of it.

(light music) (light music continues) - Up next, ever since COVID, and even before, Millennials and Gen-Zers began changing the way the workforce operates.

For them, moving from job to job in short order, rather than staying with one company for life, has become the norm.

But for more mature workers, there is another growing trend.

Starting a second act.

(engine rumbling) Russ Gross has been working on the railroad, in this case, an amusement ride version called The Harmony Express.

- The old saying about find a job that you like and you'll never work a day in your life.

I haven't worked since we broke ground here.

It's been great.

- [Narrator] Gross's old fashioned roadside attraction, along with his local food and craft shop, is named for the small village of Harmony in Gloucester.

He says being a conductor is quite a kick, yet for 25 years prior, he worked for the Providence Fire Department.

In his early fifties, Gross decided to switch from fire engines to a locomotive engine because he says he had to answer another call.

What made you take the U-turn to this?

- I don't know if it was a U-turn so much as a side road.

I didn't really reverse direction because we're still performing public service of a kind.

You know, the smiles that you see when you pull the train back in and we can turn people's days around.

- [Narrator] Gross says it was now or never.

- If I don't do this now, I'll be sitting in the chair in the living room when I'm 65 or 70, I'm gonna, oh boy, I wish I'd have tried that, because you never know if you don't try.

This was an orchard because it was too rough to be hay.

- [Narrator] Gross also says he wanted to return to his roots.

His business is set on the 70 acre farm his great-grandfather bought after the Civil War.

- I didn't wanna sell the land, you know, I didn't wanna do solar panels.

I didn't wanna put a strip mall in the field.

There's no commute.

It's clean, it's beautiful.

No two days are ever the same.

I drive a train, I mean, and did I mention I drive a train?

- [Narrator] Gross is one of the growing number of middle-aged Americans who have an itch to change gears mid-career, a recent national survey found 40% of workers over 50 are considering such a move and many of those are starting new businesses.

Gross was willing to take the risk.

- I was confident but apprehensive, if that makes any sense, because I felt that I could do it.

I felt that it would be successful.

- At some point in life, you are going to go through something.

- [Narrator] Bryant Organizational Behavior and Management Professor, Dr. Eileen Kewsiga, says there's a reason for that fearless attitude.

Mature workers are taking a page out of Gen X and Gen Z's notebooks regarding lifestyle.

- I think they want a balance.

Yes, I do want to make money, but at what cost?

- Why aren't they afraid to take the risk?

- They are not because they have learned something.

Over time, the last, I wanna say, 15 to 20 years, we have seen corporations are not as loyal as they were before.

That generation, the forties and the 50-year-old.

They have learned that, hey, I have to take care of myself too, so I'm gonna go in there, learn as much as I can, but if I get an opportunity where I can jump ship and do my own thing, I don't have to feel guilty about it.

- [Narrator] Kewsiga says age 50 plus workers have more opportunity and advantages than ever before.

- When you work over a long time, there are things that change.

You become secure in your knowledge.

You build assets, right?

You have money.

- Skills.

- You build skills, you build capital, you build networks.

So now you are not just taking a blind risk.

It's a calculated risk.

- [Narrator] With deep experience and transferable skills, Kewsiga points out the internet has made second acts easier, especially when establishing small businesses.

- I could be doing business globally with other companies, or I could have customers in, if I'm artistic, I start my own designs.

I can post it on Instagram or whatever social media, and I'm able to get clients actually just sewing and crocheting in my bedroom.

I'm able to sell my products online.

- [Narrator] And Kewsiga says the pandemic had a profound impact on many employees.

- I think also that just brought us in touch with what is important, pursuing passions, pursuing what we care about.

- [Narrator] Kewsiga says she, herself, launched what she calls a second gig.

Her career started in IT, but years later, she swapped computers for the classroom.

- What was the reason?

Because it afforded you what?

- It afforded me time, freedom, and also flexibility.

- [Narrator] Kewsiga uses those new found hours to volunteer for nonprofits.

- I know that I benefit my student more when I'm out there in the community, either serving on boards or trying out this concept I'm trying to teach them.

- [Narrator] And she adds her students, in turn, are educating her.

- Maybe the content is the same, but how I am teaching it is very different.

I've moved from being the sage on the stage to more being a coach on the side.

- Finn!

Right here, baby - [Narrator] Michelle Ziemba was a school teacher who transferred from classroom to canines.

Her farm in Foster is home to The Country Mutt, a dog daycare and boarding facility.

- [Michelle] Come here, come here.

- [Narrator] Recess has taken on a whole new meaning for this former educator.

She's now teaching agility and obstacle training and some manners.

Ziemba has fond memories of her students from the years she taught, most of the time, middle school science.

- That was a very secure job.

It was a very good paying job with benefits, a lot of stability.

Really loved working with kids in that 12 to 13 age group.

- Why walk away from a career after so many years?

- I wasn't fulfilled.

I wasn't really happy.

It was a very stressful job.

There were endless, endless deadlines, endless demands.

I just felt like I could put the same amount of effort into something I was creating for myself without the frustration and constraints of systems around me.

- But wasn't it scary to make this decision?

- It was very scary to say to my husband, how about if I don't make any money for a while 'cause I wanna have a business?

It became a profitable business that I can now make a living out of.

But it was not easy.

- [Narrator] In addition to minding 30 to 40 dogs a day, Ziemba cares for her own animals; two horses, four goats and 15 chickens, plus several pets.

- It's a hobby farm, but we have animals with purpose.

Everybody has a purpose, they're not just decorations.

- [Narrator] Ziemba says she's noticed many of her contemporaries priorities and work culture changed because of COVID.

- I think from the pandemic may have shifted back to, well, what about my happiness?

Does that matter?

And what about being there for my children?

And what about being there for my aging parents?

And how can I make life work for me instead of just work for life?

I have no regrets.

But there were days that I did.

There were days when I would sit there and silently cry to myself and say, well, I could have the summer off right now.

I'll work seven days a week for months on end.

I work seven days a week for the last two years.

It's just sweat equity.

- [Narrator] Despite the blood, sweat, and tears Russ Gross has put into his farm, he's on track to expand.

- I guess it's heart.

That's what the old folks would call it.

Heart.

You gotta have heart.

- [Narrator] For Michelle Ziemba, like Gross, leaving a long time career for a long held dream seems the right path to take.

- We wanna be here on the farm.

So, you know, working here and living here, it's a blessing.

- Finally, tonight, avid hunters often say they have feelings of appreciation and gratitude for both the land and their prey.

Producer Isabella Jibilian profiles a Native American hunter who shares his experience in the wild.

This is part of our continuing "My Take" series.

- It's something that I take a lot of pride in.

(hands clapping) My name is Nakai Northup, and this is my take on hunting.

I work here at the Mashantucket Pequot Museum & Research Center.

See?

The mouth is right here.

And I also own a business called Res Life Outdoors, which promotes Indigenous perspectives on hunting, fishing, and land stewardship.

I come from the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation, and the Narragansett Nation here in the northeast.

I've been hunting my entire life.

It's been something that was ingrained in me really young.

It's been something my family have done for generations.

The past couple years I've been leaning more towards hunting with bows, almost solely hunting with bow and arrow.

(antlers clicking) And it's something that my ancestors were doing.

They were hunting with bows and arrows, and I use modern compound bows, but it's the same roots.

(water splashing) And this is something that's kind of widespread throughout Indigenous communities, is that first deer that you harvest you have to take that heart and you have to bite it.

You have to give your prayer, but you have to bite that heart fresh out, and you're taking in the strength and the qualities of that animal, we say.

My first deer, I was 12 years old, and when I bit the heart, it's an interesting experience.

I like it cooked far better.

Salt and pepper go a long way, and a little heat.

Being around my father, you know, I had to have a straight good poker face, but I would've been perfectly okay spitting it out.

(birds chirping) One of my favorite things about being in the woods is hearing it come to life.

So as the sun rises, you hear all the songbirds start to sing.

You hear your squirrels jumping around, and I'm specifically listening for white-tailed deer to come in.

So I'm listening for one, two, three steps, and then a stop and a pause.

Deer move slowly through the woods because they're very cautious and they are built to survive.

White-tailed deers, really one of their best weapons against a hunter, is their nose.

If they get your wind, they'll be long gone before you even get to lay eyes on them.

(leaves crunching) Really, one of the most important things that I was ever taught is that it takes life to make life.

If we ever harvest anything, have it be a deer, have it be a blueberry on a bush or a mushroom on a tree, we'll leave tobacco behind and we'll say a prayer for whatever we're harvesting because picking a mushroom is killing that mushroom.

Picking a berry is taking life from that plant.

I always tell any animal that I harvest that I'm thankful for its sacrifice so I can feed my family so that we can have life.

And I'm thankful in that I'm gonna use your hide.

This isn't where you end.

This is another part.

(hands clapping) My name is Nakai Northup, and this was my take on hunting.

- That's our broadcast this evening.

Thank you for joining us.

I'm Michelle San Miguel.

- And I'm Pamela Watts.

We'll be back next week with another edition of "Rhode Island PBS Weekly."

Until then, please follow us on Facebook and X, and you can visit us online to see all of our stories and past episodes at ripbs.org/weekly, or listen to our podcast on your favorite streaming platform.

Goodnight.

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