20x05 - Two Old Potatoes and Me

[bunniefuu]

♪ Butterfly in the sky

♪ I can go twice as high

♪ Take a look, it's in a book

♪ A reading rainbow

♪ I can go anywhere

♪ Friends to know
and ways to grow ♪

♪ A reading rainbow

♪ I can be anything

♪ Take a look, it's in a book

♪ A reading rainbow

♪ Reading rainbow

Let's see. What else
can we put in here?

How about some tea bags?

Tea bag.

Nice tea bag.

Any mushy banana peels?

Mushy banana peels.

Mushy banana peels.
Nice.

Any shriveled celery?

Shriveled celery.

Celery, huh?

How about a moldy
lemon?

Moldy lemon!
Perfect.

Hi. My daughter
michaela and I

Are cooking up
something rotten.

It's one of
our favorite recipes.

It's totally gross.

Totally gross,
and it's almost done.

Mica, we just need
a few more ingredients.

I'm on it.

It's called compost.

You toss in food scraps--
old bread, coffee grounds,
anything organic

That you'd normally
throw away--

And when it rots, it turns
into a type of soil

That's great for your garden.

Ugh!

Well, that should do it.

I think this is ready
for the compost heap.

I'll take it.

Ok. Thanks, mica.

Just because you can't use
something the same way
you did before

Doesn't mean
you have to throw it out.

If you look at old things
in a new light,

You might find
a new purpose for it,

And it could be one
that you didn't expect.

For instance, an old potato.

Would you ever guess
that this could be destined
for greatness?

Well, here's a story that gets
to the root of that question.

It's called

"Two old potatoes and me."

Jordan: last spring
at my dad's house,

I found two old potatoes
in the back of the cupboard.

They were so old, sprouts
were growing from their eyes.

Gross!

I tossed them in the trash.

"I'll call your grandpa.
He'll know."

After talking with grandpa,
dad and I took the potatoes

To the sunniest spot
in the garden.

We dug.

We picked out rocks.

We raked the soil smooth.

Dad carefully cut the potatoes
into pieces

With his jackknife.

I made sure each piece had
at least one yellow sprout.

Dad dug holes.

I put a piece of potato
with the eye facing up
in each hole.

Then I covered them with dirt
to make little hills.

Dad got the hose,
and I watered gently.

In may, green plants poked up
like caterpillars unfolding.

We got down on our knees
and picked weeds.

We shoveled compost
onto each hill.

"Won't that smother the plants?"

"No. They'll grow through it."

In june, the plants grew bigger.

Violet flowers blossomed,
and we added more compost.

When we watered, I accidentally
sprayed my dad with the hose.

He laughed and sprayed me back.

In august, some of the plants
turned brown and withered.

"Are they dead?"

"No," said dad. "The potatoes
are growing underground."

"Are you sure?"

"I hope so.
That's what your grandpa said."

Now, on a cool september day,

Dad and I sit on the bench
in front of the garden.

"How's your bedroom at your
mom's house coming?" Dad asks.

"Good. Mom and I painted it
periwinkle."

"Periwinkle? I like that color.
I bet it looks good."

"You can see it on friday
when you pick me up."

"Ok. It will be
periwinkle friday."

We get up and walk
to the garden.

"What's your favorite way
to eat potatoes?" Dad asks.

"Mashed, with lots of butter
and a sprinkle of nutmeg
for good luck."

"Mmm. That's my favorite, too.

Let's see what's
under these hills."

Dad gets the garden fork
from the shed,

And I carry the big bucket.

Dad digs at the first hill.

Nothing but dirt.

He digs again. More dirt.

"After all that work!" I say.

Dad hands me the fork.
"You try."

I dig deep.

I lift the fork and see
golden shapes.

"Potatoes!" I shout.

"Look at those spuds."

One potato, two potato,
three potato, four.

Five potato, six potato,
seven potato, more.

Each hill has lots of potatoes.

I count , and our bucket
is overflowing.

"Ready to dig into
the potatoes you grew?"

"Yeah. I'm hungry."

All of this
from two old potatoes!

How cool that a whole new
crop of potatoes could sprout

From two old, scraggly ones.

It's a good thing that the girl
and her dad didn't throw
those potatoes away.

All they needed was someone
to recognize their value

And give them another
opportunity to flourish.

Well, potatoes aren't
the only veggies that
can still pack a punch

When they're done being lunch.

Some very clever folks are
rescuing other vegetables, too,

And finding new ways to release
their veggie power.

Corn--america's number one crop.

We grow billion
bushels a year,

And it turns out there's gold
in more than just its color.

The same stuff you and I eat
on the cob

Can be used to make plastic
that's totally natural

And safe for the environment.

The corn is grown and harvested
just as usual.

The ears are separated
from the st*lks,

And then all the little
golden nuggets are stripped off,

Piled up, and gathered
into huge containers.

Hundreds, thousands,
millions of kernels.

The kernels are shipped
to a huge factory,

Where a high-tech process
transforms them into plastic.

This process is so brand-new
that only a few companies

Have the technology
to do it.

What happens inside these pipes
is a closely guarded secret.

No one is permitted to see
the actual process.

But we can all see the results.

Corn is converted into
a substance called p.l.a.,

Which looks, acts,
and feels like plastic.

It can be formed
into shimmery little pellets

Which are easily packaged,

Sold, and sent to manufacturers
all over the world.

When the manufacturers
heat the pellets,

They melt into a liquid resin.

The liquid is cooled
into long, thin strands

Which are then pressed
into sheets of plastic.

, Pounds of corn plastic
can be processed an hour

And turned into containers
of all kinds.

Glasses...

Cups...

Wrapping...

Utensils.

The beauty of these corn
products is that when
we're done using them,

We can compost them and return
them back to the earth.

And believe it or not, corn
can even be refashioned
into fashion,

Turned into fibers
to make clothes.

A world of products
all made from corn.

Glasses to cups...

Utensils to containers...

Tablecloths...

And cleanup cloths.

So the next time you're looking
at something made of plastic,

You might want to find out
if it used to be corn.

It's corn.

It's plastic.

It's a veggie that can
help save the world.

If cast-off corn can be turned
into corn-tainers like these,

Then a scratched-up vinyl
record album from the seventies

Can be remolded into a bowl.

And...

Some torn-up, ripped-up clothing
like this can be restitched
into high fashion,

And a found hubcap can find its
place as the face of a clock.

If you're resourceful, you can
transform almost any object

Into something new
and different.

Some artists create
delightful new objects

From things
other folks throw away.

Woman: this artist
takes garbage.

This is a top of a bottle,
and he's turned it
into a flower.

We have quite
a selection of them.

Levar: anne hettinger
is an artist who owns a store

Called gominyc

That sells products made
from recycled material.

Anne, voice-over:
when we had the idea
to open this store,

We'd been looking for products
that are made from other things.

Here we have wallets
that are made from innertubes.

I also designed some of
the products in the store.

This here is a bag that I've
made using a recycled fabric,

Made from plastic bottles.

We get a lot of kids
who come in here

And they pull
their parents in.

They're like, "mom, dad,
this is the cool store that
has all the recycled stuff."

This is a pencil case
that's made from pop tops.

These are the little things
that you pull off of cans
when you open up your soda.

Little geckos that are made
out of soda cans.

We have these fabulous chickens
that have been crafted
from plastic bags.

There are these great clocks
that we have that are made

By a local artist,
michael whitney.

He finds objects around
where he lives and turns
them into useful objects.

Here we have a clock,
and you can kind of tell

That this is from a car.

Michael: in new york,
you walk on the streets a lot,

So you see a lot of stuff.

Everywhere I go,
somebody's throwing
something away somewhere.

I always find stuff.

I'm michael whitney,
and I'm an artist.

I make things
out of things I find.

Levar: the stuff michael whitney
finds on the street

Might end up as a clock
on someone's wall...

Or furniture in their home.

Michael: I got this fan
because it didn't work.

Michael, voice-over:
I remake things.
I reinvent them.

I'm a reinventor. Ha!

I'll get these wires
out of my way.

Snip them off.

Michael, voice-over:
I take products that
have worn out or broken

Or fallen apart
or have been given away,

And I take the pieces I need,
turn it into something else.

I make it into
a functional product.

So in this case, I'm taking it
apart so I can see what parts
I have to work with,

See what condition
all the pieces are in,

See what's left,
see what's not damaged,

See what still has
finish on it.

Sometimes these fan blades,
they've been on there so long,

They're kind of tricky
to get off.

It's in good shape.

It's not bent.

The hole might be big enough
for a motor.

I like this fan blade.

It's in decent shape.

I'm gonna need to clean it up
quite a bit.

I might even remove
the green paint,

But that's something we'll
determine once we've cleaned it.

Let's put this over here.

In this case, we have, you know,
a handful of scratches.

Sometimes those scratches
become part of the design,

Part of the, you know,
the look of it.

And sometimes they become,
"oh, you know what?

"I wish it wasn't so scratched.

Let's clean it another level,
take the paint off."

This one's in pretty
good shape.

The actual fan blade's
in excellent shape,

But the paint is not
in great shape.

It's chipped, and it's
kind of coming off
in a couple of spots,

And it's old, so now that I've
got this all apart,

I think the reality is, it
doesn't look necessarily worn

In the way that I like
to have have things worn.

So I choose to strip it
with a paint stripper

And get it down
to the raw metal

And use that as the finish
of the clock.

Coat the painted areas
with the stripper.

Don't be shy with it.

You can already see it
starting to come off. See that?

No problem to strip this one.

[Whistling]

And I went to college
for this.

So that's in good shape.

It'll be nice.

It's gonna be nice.

That's a great piece of metal.
It's really in decent shape.

You know, these scratches we can
buff out a little of this.

Aluminum is a very soft metal,
and it's easy to work.

I'm coming into this room
because this is where I keep
the motors and the parts

And the things that I don't
like to keep in the dusty shop,

And I have washers.

I have a collection of things
that I need to accomplish
these clocks.

So I want to choose
the motor that fits
the blade that I'm using,

And in this case
it's the shorter stem.

Perfect.

The next step is to pick hands.

Hmm. Easier said than done.

Bend these things so they go
over the curve of the blade...

Something like that.

Tighten it down,
and the hands stay on,

And that's it.

We have a clock.

Set it to :,
and that's it. :.

When I'm finished
with a piece,

I like to see it
in an environment,

And a lot of times
that's my environment

Because I make it on spec.

I make it for myself,
and then I present it
to a gallery or a store

And hope that they'll have it
for sale to the people.

So I'll bring it home,
and I'll put it on the wall

And live with it
and hang with it,

And, you know,
it hangs on the wall,

And I get to watch it and see it
and tell time from it.

Levar: if michael's old fan
can become a clock,

Then why can't an old record
become a bowl?

[Needle scratching on record]

Jeff: turn the machine on
with this switch right here.

Turn the heater on.

[Buzzing]

Turn on the vacuum pump.

Jeff, voice-over:
I'm jeff davis,

And I recycle vinyl records,
old record lps

Into products
for the home--

Bowls, coasters for drinks.

We make clocks, and then we use
the record album covers

And we make sketchbooks.

Ever since I was a little kid,

I've been interested
in taking things apart

And putting them back together
in new ways.

I used to take my toys apart
and put them back together

To make new toys,

And I guess I'm still
doing that, in a way.

An idea for a project
that I came up with
in graduate school

Was to take old discarded
materials and turn it
into something new.

And I think a cool thing, too,
is that I did it in school

Because, you know,
it's not the kind of thing
you typically do in school.

I got a very good grade, yes.

Records have a lot
of meaning for people.

The labels have the name
of the band.

So many people
had record collections.

There is a connection
to the plastic,

To the object itself.

I take a record album,
and the first thing I do

Is I put a plastic seal
over the record label

To make it waterproof
so that when you put
something into the bowl,

It won't ruin the paper label.

Also I need to seal up
the little hole that's
in the middle of the record.

I put it onto the machine.

It goes inside those
circular frames that hold
a record in place,

And then I slide those frames
under an oven.

And the oven heats up the record
until it gets somewhat soft.

When the plastic's
under the heat,

It feels kind of like
a really strong trash bag.

It's like soft plastic
as opposed to rigid
or hard plastic.

And the mold rises up
through the plastic,

Stretches the plastic,
and makes a bowl shape.

Some records
are even see-through,

And those work really
nicely, too.

In fact, it's interesting
to mold them

Because you can see
the mold coming right
through the plastic.

There's a vacuum line coming
up through that mold.

Just like a vacuum cleaner
you'd use in your house,

I turn on the vacuum,
and the plastic is sucked tight,

Taking shape
right onto the mold.

And then the last thing I do
is I take that air hose
around and around

Because it cools the plastic
back down again

So that it's rigid.

This is one of the bowls I made
from the record albums.

One of the interesting
things about records

Is that there's music
on both sides,

So the grooves go
around and around and around.

You can hear them
if I scratch it.

So this was the front
side of the album,

And now it's--
the bottom of the bowl

Also has music on it
because the disks
are double-sided.

So this is how
I make my living--

Selling recycled record albums.

Beats working for people.

Michaela: help me!

Whoa! Michaela,
did all of this
come from our garden?

I picked it myself.

Wow. Our composting
is really paying off.

Mm-hmm.

Hey, I bet you're hungry
from all that picking, huh?

Yeah.

How about we make
your favorite dish...

Mashed potatoes!

You know what?

We can use the recipe
in this book.

Ok.

I think it's
in the back there.

Ok. I'll find it.

Wow. Isn't it amazing
that all of this food

Was grown in soil
that we made from compost?

By recycling kitchen scraps
and sending them back
to the earth,

We put them to good use again.

Do you know what else
you can recycle and put
to good use again?

A book. You read it once,
you read it twice,

And then you pass it on
to someone else.

So here are that are just
ripe for the picking,

But you don't have to take
my word for it.

My name is jack rebbenack.

I am years old.

I read "weslandia."

It's about this kid, wesley.

Wesley was different.

He didn't have any friends
because he didn't like pizza,

Didn't do the hair style,

And he didn't really do
the same things,

And he wanted to make
his own place.

Then he thought,
"over the summer,

I could make something
in the backyard with plants."

This plant started to grow,
and it kept on growing.

He made a few things
with the giant plant,

Like clothing, sunscreen,

And the kids that didn't want
to be his friends bought it.

In the book, he made up
different languages.

Sounds like of like
dyip dyip dyip dyip.

And he named his backyard city
after himself--weslandia.

It's really a good book.

You can find this book
in a local bookstore

In the kids' section.

Hello. I am nicolo.

I just read "diary of a worm"

By doreen cronin.

In this book, a worm
tells about his life.

He tells about all his friends
and how his family teaches him.

The pictures in the book
look just like cartoons.

The book is very funny,
and it has a lot of jokes in it.

Here's one. The worm
tells his sister

That "you're always trying
to make yourself look pretty,

"But whenever you look
in the mirror,

Your head looks
just the same as your tail."

I thought that was pretty funny.

Even though it's a silly book,

It still has
some facts about worms,

And it shows the importance of
worms keeping our world alive.

You'd think that worms
are disgusting and slimy,

But sometimes they can be
nice and cool.

I really think
you guys should read this.

It's a really good book.

I would give it stars.

I think I found one.

There he is.

But I better put the worm
back where he belongs.

Hi. My name is ava arrea.
I'm years old.

I just read "pie in the sky."

He grows up with a cherry tree
in his backyard

And uses the cherries
in the tree to make a pie.

Birds are everywhere.

They were eating the cherries
and pecking at the branches

All the time.

The first half of the book,
the cherries are taking
their time growing on a tree.

The second half of the book,
they're in a pan,

Sizzling in the oven.

In the end of the book,
they give you a recipe

So that you can make
your own cherry pie.

It made me hungry
just thinking about it.

This is a book that I like
to read on a sunny day.

I read this book
to my little sister.

She's about years old.

I really recommend this book.

Older kids, younger kids,
and everyone can read it.

Potatoes.

Potatoes.

Right. Here come
the potatoes.

Milk.

Milk.

Adding the milk.

And don't forget
the butter.

The butter. All right.

A couple of pats
of butter.

And last but not least,
salt and nutmeg.

Salt and nutmeg.

And a little salt...

And a pinch of nutmeg.

Masher.

Masher.

I'll mash.

No, I'll mash.

We'll both mash.
We'll both mash.

I'll mash first.

Go ahead.

Ok. Whew!
That was hard work, huh?

Uh-huh.

How about a little
refreshment?

Ah.

Ah.

Mmm. These smell
delicious, mic.

And look at all of
these potato peels.

There's no way
we're gonna throw
these away.

These are much too
valuable.

We've got big plans
for these.

So the next time
you're ready to toss
something out

Because it's old or worn
or can't be used
the way it was before,

Give it a second look,
and it might have
a second life

That will make
yours better.

Well, mic, I think
there's only one thing
left to do.

What?

Mmm.

Mmm.

[Muffled]
we'll see you next time.

Dad, don't talk
with your mouth full.

We'll see you next time.

Hmm.

Aah!

Ha ha ha!