the, sort of, american dream possible for people. >> alfonsi: susan freinkel is a san francisco-basedce writer, whose book, "plastic: a toxic love story," chronicles its history. >> freinkel: it's kind of a technological miracle. i mean, we've created this family of materials, and figured out how to make them do pretty much anything that we want them to do, you know? you want it to be bendy, you want it to be transparent, you want it to be squishy? you want it to keep lettuce fresh for two weeks? >> listen, to the sounds of freshness. >> alfonsi: there are a lot of things that are made of plastic that we don't really think of as plastic. where is plastic in our lives? >> freinkel: ( laughs ) how long have you got? i mean-- i did a thought experiment at the start of my book, where i said, "okay, i'm going to go a day without touching anything plastic." i thought it was a great idea, until i walked into the bathroom and looked down at the plastic toilet seat, and my plastic toothbrush, and-- so i said, "okay, i'm going to spend the day writing down everything that's plastic." and by the