“Here’s to the Polypropylene Makers” by Jeff Kaufman 🔸

“Here’s to the Polypropylene Makers” by Jeff Kaufman 🔸

Six years ago, as covid-19 was rapidly spreading through the US, my sister was working as a medical resident. One day she was handed an N95 and told to "guard it with her life", because there weren't any more coming.

N95s are made from meltblown polypropylene, produced from plastic pellets manufactured in a small number of chemical plants. Building more would take too long: we needed these plants producing all the pellets they could.

Braskem America operated plants in Marcus Hook PA and Neal WV. If there were infections on-site, the whole operation would need to shut down, and the factories that turned their pellets into mask fabric would stall.

Companies everywhere were figuring out how to deal with this risk. The standard approach was staggering shifts, social distancing, temperature checks, and lots of handwashing. This reduced risk, but it was still significant: each shift change was an opportunity for someone to bring an infection from the community into the factory.

I don't know who had the idea, but someone said: what if we never left? About eighty people, across both plants, volunteered to move in. The plan was four weeks, twelve-hour [...]

---

First published:
February 27th, 2026

Source:
https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/DBbgMgbPthABqn2No/here-s-to-the-polypropylene-makers

---

Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.

---

Images from the article:

Apple Podcasts and Spotify do not show images in the episode description. Try Pocket Casts, or another podcast app.

Tämä jakso on lisätty Podme-palveluun avoimen RSS-syötteen kautta eikä se ole Podmen omaa tuotantoa. Siksi jakso saattaa sisältää mainontaa.

Jaksot(250)

“Giving What We Can’s first  YouTube Video is out now!” by JustinPortela

“Giving What We Can’s first YouTube Video is out now!” by JustinPortela

Hello! I'm Justin Portela. I got hired by GWWC to make YouTube videos after AI in Context did such a kickass job. My channel is using that same cinematic, high-production value beauty to talk about e...

9 Heinä 1min

“I’m never satisfied” by Ajeya

“I’m never satisfied” by Ajeya

Note: This post was crossposted from Planned Obsolescence by the Forum team, with the author's permission. The author may not see or respond to comments on this post. But we get the job done I was twe...

8 Heinä 6min

“Maybe do the thing you wish CEA would do” by alejoacelas 🔸

“Maybe do the thing you wish CEA would do” by alejoacelas 🔸

I used AI to fix transcription errors, rerrarange the ideas, and suggest tweaks to the title and some sentences. Three of the most exciting projects to come out of EA in recent years are, in a vague s...

8 Heinä 4min

“Mabye do the thing you wish CEA would do” by AlejoAcelas🔸

“Mabye do the thing you wish CEA would do” by AlejoAcelas🔸

I used AI to fix transcription errors, rerrarange the ideas, and suggest tweaks to the title and some sentences. Three of the most exciting projects to come out of EA in recent years are, in a vague s...

8 Heinä 4min

“Possible mistake EAs are making and shout out to Pause AI UK” by Michelle_Hutchinson

“Possible mistake EAs are making and shout out to Pause AI UK” by Michelle_Hutchinson

I think right now EAs might be making a significant mistake by paying insufficient attention to the political realm. As EAs we tend to figure out what's most impactful for us to work on and focus hard...

29 Kesä 6min

“Coming Around To Political Donations” by Jeff Kaufman 🔸

“Coming Around To Political Donations” by Jeff Kaufman 🔸

Five years ago I read a post on the EA Forum arguing that "election campaign contributions might be a way in which you can have a substantial impact as a small donor". It struck me as weird but plausi...

12 Kesä 4min

“animal welfare has an evidence problem” by matthes

“animal welfare has an evidence problem” by matthes

Why I stopped donating to animal welfare charities but feel more motivated than ever to redirect money and talent to the cause. I have wanted to write this post for a while. It is an uncomfortable thi...

6 Kesä 26min

“After making sure we don’t all die, this should be the first priority” by Yaqi Grover

“After making sure we don’t all die, this should be the first priority” by Yaqi Grover

A new article went viral on Twitter today: Nan Ransohoff's "The Third Wave of American Philanthropy" (link). Worth reading first. Nan is right about the shape of what's coming: hundreds of billions in...

31 Touko 6min

Suosittua kategoriassa Yhteiskunta

olipa-kerran-otsikko
seitseman
siita-on-vaikea-puhua
i-dont-like-mondays
poks
sita
antin-palautepalvelu
hupiklubi
kaksi-aitia
mamma-mia
gogin-ja-janin-maailmanhistoria
yopuolen-tarinoita-2
ihme-ja-kumma
kolme-kaannekohtaa
rss-palmujen-varjoissa
meidan-pitais-puhua
aikalisa
loukussa
uutiscast
mystista