Nearly one in five Californians live in poverty — the highest rate in the nation — when factoring in the cost of housing. Gov. Gavin Newsom has made addressing the state’s housing affordability crisis central to his platform as governor. Interviewed for a story on his promises and accomplishments on housing after the state Legislature adjourned for the year, this is what he told The Times.

The transcript has been edited for length and clarity.

Liam Dillon for The Times: How would you assess your year in housing?

Newsom: I think it was focused. It was intentional. It’s a stubborn issue. You can’t snap your fingers and build hundreds of thousands, millions of housing units overnight. I think we set the table on a lot of critical issues, like tax credits, revolving loan funds, enhanced infrastructure financing.

The reality is this is not going to all change in the first nine months [or] 10. We’re going to continue to have to do more and better variants of how we can work with SB 50 [a bill to increase housing density in single-family neighborhoods and around transit]. What can get through the Assembly and the Senate. It’s one thing to idealize something, but there’s been two rounds of this and so we’re working to do what we can through the budget and legislatively next year — we’re already working on that — to see if we can take aspects of SB 50 that we think we can help navigate through.

The Times: During your inaugural speech, you called for a “Marshall Plan” on affordable housing. Have we gotten that?

Newsom: We could brand it as such.

I’m not naive. I get the Marshall Plan says everything else ceases and everything else stops. It connotes something perhaps broader and bigger. But the sum total of these efforts and the judicious way that we broke down these pieces, and we implemented and we strategized and we were able to capitalize on the energy, particularly around the budget, are examples of that.

But, clearly, the broader issue that would get into issues of NIMBYism and land use that are the thrust of what would be construed as a Marshall Plan. Those remain in front of us. We’re committed to doing a lot more.

The Times: When I hear Marshall Plan, I think money. We’re still talking, per the legislative analyst, multi-billion dollars perhaps tens of billions of dollars away from what you would need to subsidize housing for the neediest. Is there more of a money component that you’re hoping to do in future years?

Newsom: I never looked at it exclusively as a money issue. By any stretch. The state is not going to subsidize a way out of it. Anyone who believes that is fooling themselves or at least fooling others that the state can find itself in that position. I mean $2.75 billion of new money in homeless and housing is not insignificant. Certainly, I’m not denying the importance of making those kinds of investments.

But it’s the private sector that has to be stimulated. It’s creating the conditions for billions and billions of dollars in private-sector investment. That’s the fundamental piece that’s missing. Rent caps are also a part. It’s a production and preservation strategy, as you saw this year. I don’t think it was small ball, that rent cap.

The Times: The thing that you referenced a lot, or prominently on the campaign trail, was 3.5 million new homes, 500,000 a year. The new numbers for this year look like they’re trending in the opposite direction: Fewer homes than what was built in 2018. Is 3.5 million, is that still your plan?

Newsom: I don’t know how many times I have to say it. You’ve heard me say it a hundred times. I’ll say it 101 — 3.5 million is the number. And I said it as clearly as I possibly could when announcing on the campaign trail, it’s the honest number that most of the experts agree is the number that actually can substantively address the affordability crisis.

I said it’s a stretch goal. It’s an audacious goal. I think I quoted Michelangelo: The biggest risk is not that you aim too high and miss it. It’s that you aim too low and reach it.

We want to be accountable and transparent. But we also made this point, and you heard me say it again just last week, the focus on these [regional housing] goals being updated, and then getting a number out there that is a short-term and medium-term number. Not just a stretch goal, but some really different, pragmatic, regional goals.

The Times: You’re saying you’re not backing away from the 3.5 million number, but there’s going to be a more official, if you will, state number that I suppose will be the sum total of all the [regional housing] allocations that are going to be coming out?

Newsom: Yeah.

The Times: I spoke with Ben Metcalf, your former housing director. I asked him to evaluate you on this. I know you’ve heard this a lot. The idea that you wanted to do a lot of things in a lot of different areas, that making it hard to focus on individual subjects. Would you agree that housing falls into that argument as well?

Newsom: Absolutely not. I don’t understand this. Everything we laid out in terms of the specific goals and details we were able to achieve getting through the budget, the vast majority.

The Times: Well, taking transportation money that was something that was changed significantly to something that was much weaker than that.

Newsom: That was an audacious goal. We went way out on a limb on that and we were able to get in that trailer bill I think some very good language. That pushed us a lot farther than anyone thought we could go.

The Times: The suggestion is that you made a number of promises not just in housing, of course, but in healthcare, in education, in public safety — a huge portfolio. As a result, making all those promises in so many different areas makes it hard to focus on or choose specific areas to go deep on because you have so many priorities.

Newsom: I totally reject that. We could take each one. We laid out what we wanted to accomplish year one on healthcare. We were able to go deep and deliver on it. We were able to lay out very detailed terms on what we wanted to accomplish on education in the first year. I think we delivered on those. Specifically on the issue of criminal justice reform, helping to negotiate the use of force. I think it’s a limiting mindset this notion that you can’t go deep on multiple topics.

Dillon: Let me try to frame this another way. I know from talking to lawmakers that there was not a lot of clarity from them on where you were on SB 50 until after it was held and you put the statement out saying you were “disappointed” in it being held. The same earlier on with some of the tenant stuff. Towards the end, certainly everyone says that when you folks became fully engaged on the rent cap legislation that’s what changed it into something that was much stronger.

Newsom: We do what we can do. Not everything can be done overnight. Not everything can be done in a few months. I feel like we had a good year. And I also feel that we have a hell of a lot of work to do. By no stretch of the imagination are we done. This is not an issue that we’re going to get distracted on. I am all in on the issue of affordability. We have many, many next acts. Stay tuned.

The Times: Are you familiar with the court case, this is with respect to homelessness specifically, the court case out of Boise?

Newsom: Yeah. I’ve been reading some interesting articles saying, ‘This small town in Idaho …’

The Times: Do you support overturning that decision? That decision currently prohibits cities from ticketing and arresting homeless people for sleeping or camping on public property if there’s no beds that are available.

Newsom: Yeah, I don’t know enough about the details to honestly opine about it. But I do think, as a former mayor, you need tools to encourage people. I don’t think you can just moralize and idealize this and hold a candlelight vigil and hope and pray. That’s sort of suggestive that I think local governments need tools. Otherwise, the streets become completely overtaken by campsites, etc. You can’t run a city like that. You can’t run a community like that. You just can’t.

The Times: I understand this is your first year. But you did make a lot of promises in this area. What we’re seeing is the homeless population is up. [Housing] permitting is slowing. It seems like things are getting worse. How do you respond to that now that you’re the person in charge?

Newsom: I focused on these things. I campaigned on these things, and we hit the ground running on these things. You may recall that the week I took the oath of office, those numbers you referred to became public.

The Times: The homeless [point-in-time count] numbers?

Newsom: Yeah. You say it’s gotten worse. I caution you before you say that to consider that those numbers came out the same week that I was sworn in. Hold me accountable, but give me more than three days. Those were last year’s numbers that were made public this year. Profoundly important.

On the housing starts stuff. We’re nine months in. OK, I get it. You had some fires and some setbacks on permits. You have to net some of that out. You inherit trend lines. Not everything starts and resets the minute you get in. In two or three years and the numbers keep going up is one thing, but to somehow connect the dot that it’s gotten worse since we started. I don’t know that you can make that claim.

The Times: But it does put you in a deeper hole than perhaps you might have been this time last year.

Newsom: I spent months and months putting together a series of policy papers, prescriptions on this. We’re hitting on a lot of those things. Some of them are a little more difficult.

I wish to hell the last 20, 30 years we were more focused on these things. Because respectfully it takes decades to create these conditions. This is years and years of underdevelopment. It manifests. Homelessness has been around since the late ‘70s, ‘80s. We can connect dots to behavioral health issues, federal government. All kinds of issues that made this a stubborn issue growing pretty consistently with a couple years [of] exceptions.

We’ve gotta jump on this stuff. I’m the governor. You’re going to hold me accountable. I love you, but I’ve read this article before. I know what’s coming out.

The Times: OK.

Newsom: I’m a grown-up. I own it. I’m not walking away from it. I’m not abdicating responsibility and accountability. But I got 470 cities that are partners. I’ve got a lot of city administrators, members of county supervisors. We all have to row together. The state can’t do the job of every city. If they want me to, we’re happy to. I’m happy to be mayor of California. But I’m not mayor of California. I’m the governor. That’s the balancing act here.

Good morning, and welcome to the Essential California newsletter. It’s Monday, Oct. 21, and here’s a quick look at the week ahead:

Major League Soccer will be in Sacramento on Monday for a “major announcement” alongside Gov. Gavin Newsom and Mayor Darrell Steinberg. Sources have previously told the Sacramento Bee that the city is expected to be awarded the league’s 29th franchise.

The 2019-2020 NBA season begins on Tuesday with the Los Angeles Lakers facing off against the L.A. Clippers in Los Angeles. (The World Series will also begin on Tuesday, but the Dodgers are out, so who cares?)

On Wednesday, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg will testify before the House Financial Services Committee about Facebook’s Libra cryptocurrency.

On Thursday, the Golden State Warriors will have their first regular season game at the new Chase Center in San Francisco. They will be playing against the L.A. Clippers.

Also Thursday: The Los Angeles Philharmonic will have its centennial concert, celebrating the 100th anniversary of the philharmonic’s first performance.

On Saturday night, Grand Park and Self Help Graphics will present a traditional Noche de Ofrenda (night of altars) ceremony at downtown L.A.’s Grand Park. The Día de los Muertos event will feature a large-scale community altar and more than 30 smaller altars produced by artists and community organizations. The altars and art installations, which are curated by Self Help Graphics, will remain on view through Nov. 3.

And now, here’s what’s happening across California:

TOP STORIES

Southern California was back on fire watch over the weekend amid winds and warm temperatures, with Southern California Edison warning of possible preventive power outages. Los Angeles Times

After Newsom bans pot use in limos and for hospital patients, cannabis advocates are angry. Newsom led the campaign to legalize marijuana in California three years ago but has since angered some in the industry. Los Angeles Times

L.A. STORIES

The nightlife outlaws of East Los Angeles: Club Scum, a monthly party that embraces punk and drag, is a distillation of the fringe-friendly gay underground on the Eastside. New York Times

Learning Spanish at a Boyle Heights hair salon reminds columnist Steve Lopez of what he loves about L.A. Los Angeles Times

Want to own a piece of Blue Line history? Some classic Metro signage from the soon-to-be-renamed light rail line to Long Beach will be up for auction this week. LAist

They came to L.A. to chase a Hollywood dream. Two weeks later, they were homeless. Columnist Nita Lelyveld talks to the young couple from Detroit whose journey began with great hope. Los Angeles Times

The center of the NBA universe has shifted to Los Angeles, as the Golden State Warriors’ reign is challenged by the Lakers and Clippers. New York Times

Speaking of the Lakers and Clippers: Who will win the battle for Los Angeles? Los Angeles Times

A man sprayed demonstrators with bear repellent during a scuffle between supporters and protesters of President Trump on the Santa Monica Pier. Los Angeles Times

Your support helps us deliver the news that matters most. Subscribe to the Los Angeles Times.

POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT

Gov. Newsom promised unprecedented action to solve California’s housing affordability problem. But nearly all of his highest-profile initiatives have stalled or failed. Los Angeles Times

Modesto is investigating its city manager, city attorney and a councilman after the city clerk made allegations against them. No one will say what the allegations are. Modesto Bee

San Francisco voters will weigh a $600-million affordable housing bond, the biggest in city history. San Francisco Chronicle

San Gabriel Valley cities will soon be able to band together to seek local, state and federal funding to build housing and fund services to reduce homelessness across the region. Pasadena Star-News

CRIME AND COURTS

The city of Sacramento will probably be sued over an April incident in which police officers placed a “spit mask” over a 12-year-old African American boy’s head while they detained him. A video of the incident went viral internationally. Sacramento Bee

California is bracing for a deluge of child-sex-assault lawsuits under a new state law that allows victims more time to report allegations of abuse and to take legal action. Los Angeles Times

Orange County residential care homes will pay $1.1 million in back wages and penalties to 66 workers in a federal lawsuit settlement, as experts cite widespread abuses in the industry. Los Angeles Times

HEALTH AND THE ENVIRONMENT

Pacific Gas & Electric Co. warned that power shut-offs could continue for a decade. California officials don’t like it. Los Angeles Times

Marin County health officials are scrambling to identify medically fragile residents before the next PG&E emergency power shutdown. Marin Independent Journal

A sprawling homeless camp has overrun a public trail in west Santa Rosa and become the latest flashpoint over government response to homelessness in the area. Santa Rosa Press Democrat

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CALIFORNIA CULTURE

For those in search of seasons: Fall colors are almost at peak in Big Bear Lake, two hours north of downtown Los Angeles. Los Angeles Times

Does a “Forever Marilyn” statue with an upturned skirt belong in the #MeToo era? Some women say no. Desert Sun

Du Tu Le, the beloved Vietnamese poet who came to U.S. as a refugee, died at his home in Garden Grove, leaving behind 77 volumes of poetry — one for each year of his life. Los Angeles Times

Can Bakersfield take tourism lessons from Clarksdale, Miss.? A columnist wonders whether the town that’s become an essential Mississippi Delta Blues pilgrimage site can offer a blueprint for drawing visitors to the home of the Bakersfield Sound. Bakersfield California

“Wine caves” are apparently a thing on the Central Coast. Here are five of the best underground experiences from Santa Maria to Paso Robles. San Luis Obispo Tribune

CALIFORNIA ALMANAC

Los Angeles: sunny, 91. San Diego: sunny, 85. San Francisco: sunny, 74. San Jose: sunny, 81. Sacramento: sunny, 87. More weather is here.

AND FINALLY

This week’s birthdays for those who made a mark in California: TV personality Kim Kardashian West (Oct. 21, 1980), the late writer Ursula K. Le Guin (Oct. 21, 1929), actor Jeff Goldblum (Oct. 22, 1952), Rep. Brad Sherman (Oct. 24, 1954), rapper Drake (Oct. 24, 1986), former Rep. Mary Bono (Oct. 24, 1961) and singer Katy Perry (Oct. 25, 1984).

If you have a memory or story about the Golden State, share it with us. (Please keep your story to 100 words.)

Please let us know what we can do to make this newsletter more useful to you. Send comments, complaints, ideas and unrelated book recommendations to Julia Wick. Follow her on Twitter @Sherlyholmes.

The box office was dominated by villains and sequels as Disney and Buena Vista’s “Maleficent: Mistress of Evil” toppled “Joker” from the top spot after two weekends of dominance.

The $185-million film, which stars Angelina Jolie as the titular “Sleeping Beauty” sorceress, opened with a disappointing $36 million, well below analyst projections of $45 million to $50 million, according to estimates from measurement firm Comscore. Internationally it earned $117 million for a global cumulative of $153 million.

It earned a mixed reception with an A CinemaScore but a 41% “rotten” rating on review aggregation site Rotten Tomatoes.

A follow-up to 2014’s “Maleficent,” the sequel failed to recapture the allure of the first film, which opened with $69.4 million in North America on its way to $758 million in global ticket sales. The result may reflect fatigue among moviegoers of Disney’s live-action remakes, following underperformers such as “Dumbo” and “Alice Through the Looking Glass.”

The overall box office was down 18.1% from the same weekend a year ago, and the year-to-date is down 5%. However, it was a particularly strong weekend for specialty films.

In limited release, Fox Searchlight opened Taika Waititi’s Holocaust comedy “Jojo Rabbit” in five locations to $350,000 for an impressive per-screen average of $70,000, one of the best specialty box office openings of the year. It earned a 77% “fresh” rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

A24 opened “The Lighthouse” in eight locations to $419,764 for a strong per-screen average of $52,471. It earned a 93% “fresh” rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

Meanwhile, Neon’s “Parasite” added 30 locations for a total of 33, earning $1.2 million in its second weekend for a still impressive $37,616 per screen average and a cumulative $1.8 million. The critically acclaimed Bong Joon Ho film enjoyed a 233% increase over its opening weekend, finishing just outside the top 10.

In second place, Warner Bros.’ “Joker” added $29.2 million for a cumulative $247.2 million. Worldwide, it crossed the $700-million mark after just three weeks in theaters, currently standing at $737.5 million.

At No. 3, Sony’s “Zombieland: Double Tap” opened with $26.7 million.

Original cast members Jesse Eisenberg, Emma Stone, Woody Harrelson and Abigail Breslin return a decade later for the sequel alongside newcomers Rosario Dawson, Luke Wilson and Thomas Middleditch.

The first “Zombieland” opened with $24.7 million in 2009 on its way to $102.4 million in global receipts. An early entry in the zombie genre revival, it earned an A- CinemaScore and a 90% “fresh” rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Comparatively, “Zombieland 2″ earned a B+ CinemaScore and a 67% “fresh” rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

In fourth place, United Artists Releasing’s “The Addams Family” animated remake added $16.1 million in its second weekend (a 47% drop) for a cumulative $56.6 million.

Rounding out the top five, Paramount’s “Gemini Man” added $8.5 million in its second weekend (a 59% drop) for a cumulative $36.5 million, a terrible result for the $138-million film. Globally the film has earned $82.2 million.

At No. 6, Universal’s “Abominable” added $3.5 million in its fourth weekend for a cumulative $53.9 million.

In seventh place, Focus Features’ “Downton Abbey” added $3 million in its fifth weekend for a cumulative $88.6 million.

At No. 8, Roadside Attractions’ “Judy” added $2.05 million in its fourth weekend for a cumulative $19 million.

In ninth place, STX Entertainment’s “Hustlers” added $2.06 million in its sixth weekend. The film crossed the $100-million mark this weekend for a cumulative $101.9 million, marking a big win for the beleaguered STX.

Rounding out the top 10, Warner Bros.’ “It Chapter Two” added $1.5 million in its seventh weekend for a cumulative $209.7 million.

Saban Films started its roadshow tour of Kevin Smith’s “Jay & Silent Bob Reboot” in Asbury Park, N.J., with $93,520 for a cumulative $1.1 million including Fathom Events screenings during the week.

This week, Sony’s Screen Gems reveals the cop drama “Black and Blue,” STX Entertainment opens the horror “Countdown” and 101 Studios releases “The Current War: Director’s Cut.”

Oct. 24

One Piece: Stampede
Pirates from around the world seek a lost treasure in this anime tale. Written by Takashi Otsuka, Atsuhiro Tomioka; story by Eiichiro Oda. Directed by Otsuka. In Japanese with English subtitles. (1:41) NR.

Oct. 25

Black and Blue
A black female rookie cop in New Orleans witnesses fellow officers committing a murder. With Naomie Harris, Tyrese Gibson, Frank Grillo, Mike Colter, Reid Scott, Beau Knapp, Nafessa Williams. Written by Peter A. Dowling. Directed by Deon Taylor. (1:48) NR.

The Bronx, USA
Documentary celebrates the history and diversity of the New York City borough. With Alan Alda, Carl Reiner, Colin Powell. Directed by Danny Gold. (1:25) NR.

By the Grace of God
Three men take action against the priest who abused them as young boys. With Melvil Poupaud, Denis Ménochet, Swann Arlaud. Written and directed by Francois Ozon. In French with English subtitles. (2:17) NR.

The Cat and the Moon
A teen whose mother is in rehab goes to NYC to stay with his late father’s friend, a jazz musician. With Alex Wolff, Mike Epps, Skyler Gisondo, Stefania LaVie Owen. Written and directed by Wolff. (1:54) NR.

Countdown
A mysterious phone app claims to predict the moment a person will die. With Elizabeth Lail, Jordan Calloway, Talitha Bateman, Tichina Arnold, P.J. Byrne, Peter Facinelli. Written and directed by Justin Dec. (1:30) PG-13.

The Current War — Director’s Cut
Thomas Edison, George Westinghouse and Nikolai Tesla square off in a race to illuminate the modern world. With Benedict Cumberbatch, Michael Shannon, Nicholas Hoult, Katherine Waterston, Tom Holland, Tuppence Middleton, Matthew Macfadyen. Written by Michael Mitnick. Directed by Alfonso Gomez-Rejon. (1:47) PG-13.

Fantastic Fungi
Documentary explores the medicinal and environmental benefits of mushrooms. Directed by Louie Schwartzberg. (1:21) NR.

Farming
A Nigerian youngster raised by a white working-class family in the U.K. joins a skinhead gang. With Kate Beckinsale, Damson Idris, John Dagleish, Jaime Winstone, Gugu Mbatha-Raw. Written and directed by Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje. (1:41) R.

Frankie
A terminally ill French actress and her family vacation together in a quaint town in Portugal. With Isabelle Huppert, Brendan Gleeson, Marisa Tomei, Greg Kinnear. Written by Ira Sachs, Mauricio Zacharias. Directed by Sachs. In English, French, Portuguese with English subtitles. (1:38) NR.

The Gallows Act II
An aspiring actress and others summon a dark presence in this sequel to the 2015 horror flick. With Ema Horvath, Chris Milligan, Brittany Falardeau. Written and directed by Travis Cluff, Chris Lofing. (1:39) R.

The Gift: The Journey of Johnny Cash
Documentary paints an intimate portrait of the country music legend. Directed by Thom Zimny. (1:34) NR.

Girl on the Third Floor
A family man finds horrors in the rundown mansion he’s trying to renovate. With Phil Brooks, Trieste Kelly Dunn, Sarah Brooks, Elissa Dowling. Written by Travis Stevens; story by Ben Parker, Paul Johnstone. Directed by Stevens. (1:33) NR.

Going Attractions: The Definitive Story of the Movie Palace
Documentary showcases the golden age of the great movie theaters in the years between the World Wars, their subsequent decline and later efforts to preserve them. Directed by April Wright. (1:24) NR.

The Great Alaskan Race
A champion musher and his team of sled dogs race to deliver medication to combat a diphtheria outbreak in 1920s Nome, Alaska. With Brian Presley, Brad Leland, Treat Williams, Henry Thomas, Brea Bree, Bruce Davison. Written and directed by Presley. (1:27) PG.

The Kill Team
A young U.S. soldier in Afghanistan faces a moral dilemma when other members of his platoon kill innocent civilians on the orders of their sadistic commanding officer. With Nat Wolff, Alexander Skarsgård, Adam Long, Rob Morrow. Written and directed by Dan Krauss. (1:27) R.

The Last Color
A young street performer grows up to be an activist challenging the caste system in her native India. With Neena Gupta. Written by Vikas Khanna, Vibhav Srivastava. Directed by Vikas Khanna. In Hindi with English subtitles. (1:30) NR.

Making Waves: The Art of Cinematic Sound
Sound designers and filmmakers discuss the use of sound in the movies in this documentary. With George Lucas, Steven Spielberg, David Lynch, Sofia Coppola, Christopher Nolan, Ang Lee. Directed by Midge Costin. (1:34) NR.

Paradise Hills
A young woman from a wealthy family is shipped off to a futuristic finishing school on a remote island. With Emma Roberts, Danielle Macdonald, Awkwafina, Jeremy Irvine, Milla Jovovich. Written by Nacho Vigalondo, Brian DeLeeuw; story by Alice Waddington. Directed by Waddington. (1:35) NR.

Portals
A cosmic anomaly alters reality in disturbing ways in this sci-fi/horror anthology. With Deanna Russo, Ptolemy Slocum, Neil Hopkins. Written by Sebastian Bendix, Liam O’Donnell, Timo Tjahjanto, Christopher White. Directed by Gregg Hale, Eduardo Sánchez, O’Donnell, Tjahjanto. (1:25) NR.

Prescience
An attorney in a heterosexual relationship finds himself attracted to a male friend of his sister’s. With René Mena, Mike C. Manning, Eric Roberts, Linda Gray, Vanessa Vasquez. Written by Tyler Frech, James Helsing, René Mena, Lashawn Williams. Directed by Helsing. (1:30) NR.

Watson
Documentary on Greenpeace co-founder Capt. Paul Watson and his mission to save the ocean’s wildlife and ecosystems. Directed by Lesley Chilcott. (1:39) NR.

Western Stars
Bruce Springsteen, backed by a band and a full orchestra, performs the 13 songs from his latest album, touching on personal themes and the American West. Directed by Thom Zimny, Springsteen. Written by Springsteen, Patti Scialfa. (1:23) PG.

Ximei
Documentary follows a Chinese woman’s crusade to find justice for poor villagers who contracted AIDS as part of a government-sponsored blood drive. Directed by Andy Cohen, Gaylen Ross. In Mandarin with English subtitles. (1:38) NR.

Apple introduced the iPhone in 2007, six years after 9/11. Though two of the most significant American events this century, they are seldom connected. Doing so Friday at Royce Hall proved then all the more telling when Kristy Edmunds introduced the evening’s presentation by the Center for the Art of Performance at UCLA, which she administers.

She asked that we turn off our cellphones, not for the usual reason — that they are distracting to performers and other members of the audience. No, they are distracting to their owners. Just thinking about taking a photo, she said, prevents you from being in the moment, or in this case, in “The Day.”

This abstract new 60-minute performance piece for cellist Maya Beiser and ballerina Wendy Whelan, composed by David Lang and choreographed by Lucinda Childs, is like no other 9/11 work. You wouldn’t even know the 9/11 connection without reading Beiser’s program note or sticking around afterward for the Q&A with the four artists.

“The Day” is not a memorial. It is hardly a requiem, although it ends with Whelan gracefully rolling herself into a gauzy shroud, an affecting image that sticks for its sheer gorgeousness. “The Day” is not about yesterday, even if its text, crowd-sourced from the internet, serves to remind us of what plausibly might be a day in the life of dozens of everyman and everywoman victims of the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center. “The Day” may be slightly about tomorrow, in that Lang wondered what journey in the Bardo these souls may be on. Our job in the audience then became to wonder how we fill the holes they left behind.

Our phones, on the other hand, with their capacity for perpetual distraction, eagerly fill in holes for us, with insistent news feeds reminding us of topsy-turvy 9/11 journeys in the here and now. Somehow, while we weren’t paying attention, the New York mayor who had been the national voice of consolation during 9/11 is now a loose cannon in the middle of a presidential impeachment investigation. The consequences of the U.S. military responses to 9/11 have led to an unmanageable Middle East dominating the news. Saudi Arabia, which fostered 9/11 terrorists, this month was given more of our troops and weaponry.

To suggest a different 9/11 path to ponder, “The Day” needed its own passage. The beginning was Lang’s half-hour cello piece “world to come” (in other words, WTC), which he wrote for Beiser in wake of 9/11. He was walking his young children to school that morning and had to hurry them to safety as they witnessed the first plane strike the nearby World Trade Center. That half-hour solo, which uses additional recorded cello tracks and requires Beiser to include breathy vocals, moves in a contemplative arc. Melodic and harmonic patterns gradually grow into effusive room-filling cello sonorities, landing on satisfyingly somber repeated patterns in the manner of early Philip Glass.

Still haunted a decade later by his experience on 9/11, but also aware of how memory has its own lifespan, Lang wrote a prequel for Beiser. His style had changed, trusting more in the elemental. He used the same melodic material but let it expand without forcing. He further added a text to be read.

Searching the internet with the question, “I remember the day I …” Lang cataloged dozens of responses and then presented them in alphabetical order. The parade of quotidian experiences and emotions runs from the day “I achieved the perfect engineering drawing” to “I wrote my letter of resignation.”

After performing both works, Beiser chose to put them together and stage them. Childs’ dance for Whelan is a set of possibilities with, in the second part, her characteristic contrasts between static gestures and zealous speed. For the first part, imagery of the text led more to suggestions, with room for improvisation and ropes the dancer could use for visual indications of lines. Joshua Higgason added a backdrop of highly evocative projections, including a large industrial rehearsal space, and Sara Brown produced the elegant geometric set.

The prequel begins with dancer and cellist in white. Behind each performer is her image projected large. The sound design is also “large,” which is to say booming, unnatural but impressive. You know from the start that Beiser, who is a magnificent cellist, is going to fill not just your ears but also take over your senses.

The narrated remembrances come too fast for their imagery to stick. Whelan, who is bare-legged but with a flowing train and scarf, along with her various sticks and ropes, strikes poses that seem to make order out of fluidity, as disconnected experiences are read in monotone. “I first climbed a rope.” “I stumbled.” “I talked.” “I planted.” “I heard about his murder.” “I met the director.” “I took it a bit too far.” “I tried to demonstrate the action” — which Whelan didn’t, making it an all-the-more-powerful demonstration of her own action.

In the second half, Beiser and Whelan wear black. Large swaths of white curtain behind the stage fall like towers, maybe, or maybe just curtains blowing, like answers, in the wind. Without text and with a cello cathedral of sound, Whelan’s dance becomes more demonstrative (but still formal and restrained). A hint of the somber requires no loss of life affirmation.

In the end, this searching, haunting and very, very beautiful work is surprisingly lacking in melancholy. It is souls journeying, seen neither from the nostalgic past nor unknowable future. Rather than remembering the day something happened — the day, say, “I turned older” — it is the day we all turn older, every day.

SERIES

The Neighborhood The Butlers and the Johnsons (Cedric the Entertainer, Tichina Arnold, Max Greenfield, Beth Behrs) go on a double date and get a big surprise from a soul food restaurant’s chef (Nick George) in this new episode of the comedy. 8 p.m. CBS

The Voice The battle rounds continue with guests Normani, Darius Rucker, Usher and will.i.am. 8 p.m. NBC

All American Spencer (Daniel Ezra) delivers an ultimatum to his father (guest star Chad Coleman) about a new player, but talking to Jordan (Michael Evans Behling) makes him understand what’s really bothering him in this new episode. 8 p.m. CW

Dancing With the Stars The cast of “Dancing With the Stars: Live Tour 2020” performs in this new episode. 8 p.m. ABC

9-1-1 Buck’s (Oliver Stark) lawsuit against the city goes into arbitration, leaving his colleagues feeling betrayed, and Eddie (Ryan Guzman) turns to Lena (guest star Ronda Rousey) for help with his own anger issues in this new episode of the drama. 8 p.m. Fox

Bob Hearts Abishola After Abishola (Folake Olowofoyeku) has a romantic dream about Bob (Billy Gardell), she tries to suppress any feelings she has for him, but that’s not easy. 8:30 p.m. CBS

Rock the Block Home renovators Leanne Ford (“Restored by the Fords”), Mina Starsiak Hawk (“Good Bones”), Jasmine Roth (“Hidden Potential”) and Alison Victoria (“Windy City Rehab”) are each given four weeks and $175,000 for makeovers of four identical properties in the Los Angeles area in this new unscripted competition premiering with two episodes. Drew Scott hosts. 9 and 10 p.m. HGTV

Bluff City Law Sydney and Elijah (Caitlin McGee, Jimmy Smits) help a 12-year-old girl (Priah Ferguson) find justice for the failed levee system that flooded her town in this new episode of the legal drama. Barry Sloane and Michael Luwoye also star. 10 p.m. NBC

The Good Doctor Dr. Andrews (Hill Harper) questions whether Shaun (Freddie Highmore) is really ready for his first surgery in this new episode of the medical drama. 10 p.m. ABC

POV In the new episode “Blowin’ Up,” filmmaker Stephanie Wang-Breal takes her cameras inside the Queens (N.Y.) Human Trafficking Intervention Court, where everyone works toward the common goal of getting at-risk offenders back into a safe, legitimate lifestyle. 10 p.m. KOCE

Catherine the Great Russian Empress Catherine the Great (Helen Mirren) meets the forthright and bold Lieutenant Grigory Potemkin (Jason Clarke) as faces challenges to her throne on all sides in the premiere of this four-part historical drama. 10 p.m. HBO

SPECIALS

The Love of Dogs Benefit Concert From the Country Music Hall of Fame CMA Theater in Nashville, Tenn., Larissa Wohl hosts this musical event aimed at finding permanent homes for millions of shelter and rescue dogs across the United States. Country music stars Lee Brice, Hunter Hayes and Easton Corbin team up for the concert. 10 p.m. Hallmark

MOVIES

The River and the Wall At the U.S.-Mexico border in Texas, conservation filmmaker Ben Masters joins a river guide, an ornithologist and other experts to explore the diverse environments along that border, especially noting the potentially devastating effects President Donald Trump’s border wall would have on this natural setting. 9 p.m. Starz

TALK SHOWS

CBS This Morning Author Newt Gingrich; podcast host Gretchen Rubin (“Happier”). (N) 7 a.m. KCBS

Today (N) 7 a.m. KNBC

KTLA Morning News (N) 7 a.m. KTLA

Good Morning America (N) 7 a.m. KABC

Good Day L.A. Terry Bradshaw. (N) 7 a.m. KTTV

Live With Kelly and Ryan Jimmy Kimmel; Naomie Harris (“Black and Blue”). (N) 9 a.m. KABC

The View Benedict Cumberbatch and Michael Shannon. (N) 10 a.m. KABC

Rachael Ray Jenny Mollen. (N) 10 a.m. KTTV

The Wendy Williams Show (N) 11 a.m. KTTV

The Talk Helen Mirren. (N) 1 p.m. KCBS

The Dr. Oz Show (N) 1 p.m. KTTV

The Kelly Clarkson Show Cedric the Entertainer; stuntwoman Mindy Kelly; Danica Patrick. (N) 2 p.m. KNBC

Dr. Phil A woman says she drinks hard liquor every weekend and smokes marijuana and e-cigarettes every day. (N) 3 p.m. KCBS

The Ellen DeGeneres Show “Momsplaining”; “Let Me in So You Can Win”; “Not Great With Lauren”; Adam Levine prank. (N) 3 p.m. KNBC

The Real Galen Gering (“Days of Our Lives”); Michael Mealor (“The Young and the Restless”). (N) 3 p.m. KTTV

The Doctors (N) 3 p.m. KCOP

To the Contrary With Bonnie Erbé Author Liz Plank (“For the Love of Men”). (N) 6 p.m. KVCR

Amanpour and Company (N) 11 p.m. KCET; midnight KVCR; 1 a.m. KLCS

Conan Rosario Dawson; Dulcé Sloan. (N) 11 p.m. TBS

The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon Scarlett Johansson; Pete Buttigieg; Jim James, Teddy Abrams and the Louisville Orchestra perform. (N) 11:34 p.m. KNBC

The Late Show With Stephen Colbert Julie Andrews; Jonathan Groff; YUNGBLUD and Dan Reynolds. (N) 11:35 p.m. KCBS

Jimmy Kimmel Live! (N) 11:35 p.m. KABC

The Late Late Show With James Corden Paul Rudd; Hasan Minhaj; Anthony Ramos performs. (N) 12:37 a.m. KCBS

Late Night With Seth Meyers Mariska Hargitay; Lizzy Caplan; Sam Fender performs; Terence Higgins performs. (N) 12:37 a.m. KNBC

Nightline (N) 12:37 a.m. KABC

SPORTS

NFL Football The New England Patriots visit the New York Jets, 5 p.m. ESPN

For more sports on TV, see the Sports section.

If you don’t know what the Real ID driver’s license is, you have plenty of company.

If you still don’t know about it by the end of this column, you may be in a world of hurt if you try to get on an airplane starting Oct. 1, 2020.

If you already have your federally compliant driver’s license, you get a gold star. Literally. We’ll explain that in a bit.

If you don’t know whether you have a federally compliant driver’s license, you probably don’t, because you would remember the pain of going to the Department of Motor Vehicles to get one.

If you don’t know why this matters, this is a good time to find out, because the clock is ticking. And you don’t want to be caught in the mass of people pushing and shoving as time draws nigh.

Here’s why I’m nervous about Real ID and you: Almost three-quarters of Americans either don’t have Real ID or don’t know whether they do, according to a study released this month by the U.S. Travel Assn.

If, on Oct. 1, 2020, you are flying domestically and you expect your regular driver’s license to get you through airport security (and you aren’t carrying another form of compliant identification), you will not be able to board your flight.

Getting the federally compliant license requires you to gather your documentation (California drivers can find what’s needed at RealIDdox), make an appointment and go to the DMV. You apply, your documentation checks out and you get a new license with a bear and a gold star in the upper right corner — that’s how you know you have a Real ID.

The travel association study estimates nearly 80,000 of you could be stopped from catching your flights on the first day this is implemented because you don’t have Real ID (or aren’t carrying another form of acceptable identification), resulting in $40.3 million in lost spending for travel businesses. Play that out for a week, and it’s more than half a million people representing $282 million in lost spending.

To bring this home: If you get turned away at the airport and forget to cancel your flight, you can kiss your airline ticket goodbye.

By now you may be sputtering about why you didn’t know about this. It’s not totally your fault. After all, it’s been 14 years since this mandate was signed into law, and there have been numerous delays and false starts in its implementation.

There’s been “an assumption by folks that this would be extended or pushed back, so folks haven’t taken it as seriously as they should,” said Tori Emerson Barnes, executive vice president of public affairs and policy for the U.S. Travel Assn., which is now communicating this information to the public.

How to do that? We spoke with communications experts who suggested that this message to the public requires:

•A sense of urgency. You know how you put off calculating your taxes until April 15? That’s how people look at getting Real ID. You’re not going to jail if you don’t have Real ID (unlike evading your taxes), but you aren’t going to go anywhere on a domestic flight unless you have it (or another acceptable form of ID, see above).

“The TSA and DHS appear to be relying on FAQs at their websites” to communicate this change, said Ethan Rasiel, chief executive of Lightspeed PR, a New York-based public relations firm that helps clients introduce new technologies. “This isn’t going to be sufficient,” he said in an email.

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“To start, they should provide every DMV in the country with clear and concise signage explaining the various types of licenses, and they have to make sure agents are properly aware and trained.

“Just look to the flu shot awareness campaign for an example — it’s almost impossible not to be aware that you need your flu shot.”

•Use every tool in the communications toolbox. “It’s time for a full-court press to get the word out,” said Nico Melendez, formerly a media representative for the Transportation Security Administration. It’s important to use all media — including social media — to let people know, he said.

•Go where travelers are. If you want to let people know about changes, go to travel websites, hotels, travel agents and those who work with business travelers and ask for their help in communicating, said Kevin O’Malley, chairman and chief executive of Travel and Transport, a large corporate travel agency.

•Go where travelers aren’t. This may be the most difficult group to corral, O’Malley said, especially if they are infrequent travelers. It may require a grass-roots effort through banks, institutions that people frequent, clubs, organizations, personnel departments at large companies and so on.

•Reinforcement from voices of authority. Airport TSA officers are telling people who are boarding flights that they need to have a compliant ID, said Jenny Burke, a TSA representative.

•Deemphasize the punitive, said Joshua Dorsey, assistant professor of marketing at Cal State Fullerton. Explain “the benefit to you of why you’d want to have Real ID,” he said. “People do want to travel and want to go places. I can tether the Real ID to something positive that allows me to continue to have a growth experience, I can continue to grow and see other places.”

•Sadvertising. Dorsey was half-joking when he suggested sadvertising, a term with which I wasn’t familiar. “You know those ASPCA ads?” he asked, the ones in which sad-eyed critters need your financial help to avoid terrible fates. I knew immediately and started getting teary-eyed just thinking about them.

You may encounter many of these types of messaging in the coming months (except maybe the sad-eyed cats and dogs). And there’s one more you might consider: word of mouth. Ask your family members. Ask your friends. Because friends and family don’t let their friends and family fly unawares.

Have a travel dilemma, question or problem? Write to [email protected]. We regret we cannot answer every inquiry.

I’ve just endured the world’s newest longest flight, a 10,100-mile nonstop ultra-marathon from New York to Sydney. It took about 19½ hours and was almost as demanding as that sounds.

The record-breaking Qantas Airways flight touched down early Sunday morning in Australia. The Boeing Co. Dreamliner delivered its few dozen passengers — including yours truly — to their destination more or less intact, even if some of us were not quite sure what day it was.

Qantas wants to begin flying the time-saving route commercially as soon as 2022, so the airline used this test trip to explore ways to reduce its inevitable downside: soul-crushing, body-buckling jet lag. Here’s how my journey unfolded in real time.

Off the ground

Our plane has been turned into a flying laboratory. Since the goal is to adapt to our destination’s time zone as fast as possible, we click into the Sydney clock right off the bat. That means no snoozing. The lights stay up and we’re under instructions to stay awake for at least six hours — until it’s evening in Australia.

This immediately causes trouble for some passengers.

Down one side of the business-class section, six Qantas frequent fliers are following a planned schedule for eating and drinking (including limiting alcohol), sleeping and movement. They mostly get with the program, but one of them is dozing within minutes. To be fair, I feel his pain. It may be the middle of the day in Sydney, but my body is telling me it’s pushing midnight back in New York.

Two hours in

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It’s feeding time, and a key moment in the experiment. The specially designed dishes are supposed to fire me up, and a flavorful serving of poached prawns with chili and lime is like a gentle culinary slap in the face. Spicy Chinese-style cod with jasmine rice and sesame seeds repeats the explosive action. I’m momentarily awake.

The plane’s 40 passengers, including media, are all in business class. The six human guinea pigs at the heart of the research are seated on one side of the cabin. I want to do my own set of tests to see how my body is holding up.

After speaking to a travel doctor in Sydney before the trip, I’m armed with equipment to monitor my blood pressure, heart rate and oxygen-saturation levels. I’ve also got a memory test and a mood questionnaire. I want to see if a flight this long impairs my brain or dims my spirits.

The three-hourly tests I take during the first half of the flight reflect the demands of this trip. My blood pressure is elevated, though not high, and my heart rate is picking up. My mood is light, though darkening very gradually.

Three hours in

The physical pressure of this experiment is clear. Around me, passengers are standing up just to stay awake. That dozy frequent flier at the front of the plane is asleep again.

Although I’m finding this regime fairly challenging — and I’m not even in a do-it-tough economy seat — I try to keep things in perspective. After I first wrote about this upcoming flight last week, one reader emailed to urge me into a stouter mindset. During the Korean War in the early 1950s, he said, he regularly flew 40-hour reconnaissance missions with crew rotations every six hours. “Man up,” the 83-year-old told me. Point taken.

Four hours in

Marie Carroll, a professor at the University of Sydney who’s overseeing the passenger research on the flight, rallies her troops at the back of the plane. “This is the time, guys, when we really have to work through this,” she tells them. Moments later, they’re leaning against the food trolleys in the galley, stretching. Next, they perform upright press-ups among the empty economy sets. As a finale, they attempt synchronized dance moves in the aisles. All in the name of science.

It looks like cabaret, but beating jet lag is serious business. Beyond the sleepless nights and daytime fatigue, experts say critical processes including heart function and metabolism are upset when the body clock gets disrupted.

Seven hours in

A second meal arrives, and not a moment too soon. It’s heavy on carbohydrates and designed to send us to sleep. The sweet potato soup with creme fraiche is thick and luxurious, the toasted cheese sandwich less so. The chef on the plane tells me he’s been preparing our meals for three days.

The lights are dimmed at last, and it feels like I’ve been released. I crash for six hours straight. That’s longer than I can remember sleeping without waking on any other flight, even with the business-class privilege of a flat bed.

Fourteen hours in

Across the board, my own medical tests suggest I’m coping. My blood pressure, which the doctor in Sydney said would be a good gauge of stress and fatigue, is back to normal. My heart’s pumping slower, I ace my memory test, and my questionnaire shows my mood is brighter.

The research on the passengers and crew will feed into Project Sunrise, Qantas’ plan to start direct commercial services connecting Sydney with New York and London. Other super-long flights from Australia’s eastern seaboard to South America and Africa might follow, Qantas says.

On board, Chief Executive Officer Alan Joyce tells me he’ll “absolutely” roll out this flight’s regime on his other long routes — if the science shows it helps. The trick is accommodating those who want to drink and snooze at will, Joyce says.

But don’t go booking your round-the-world flights just yet. Qantas needs new planes from Boeing or Airbus SE that can do the job with a full load of passengers, and a new deal with crew to work longer than 20 hours. “It needs everything to come together,” Joyce says. He initially had dreams of turning these super-long flights into flying hotels, with sleeping berths or a work-out zone. That vision gave way to reality when profit margins proved too tight to waste space on such luxuries.

Our plane doesn’t have the range to haul a full load of passengers with luggage to Sydney. It took off with its fuel tanks maxed out — about 101 tons. To keep the weight down, there’s no cargo, and food and drink are limited. In New York, the captain had seemed confident we’d make it to Sydney with gas to spare. He planned on landing with 6 tons of fuel, enough to stay airborne for another 90 minutes.

Seventeen hours in

Breakfast time, and there’s no limp sausage. Instead, it’s a bowl of ancient grains, avocado puree, warm haloumi cheese and an herb salad. This flight is turning everything on its head.

One of the frequent fliers, Sydney-based investor Nick Mole, says he got almost eight hours’ sleep and feels good. What about a full day’s work after landing? “I probably could do that,” he says. He thinks the bigger test will be how he copes in a couple of days.

Preparing to land

I feel better now than I did after flying to New York from Sydney a few days ago with one stop. That trip included a grating hour and a half queuing at immigration in Los Angeles with hundreds of other zombified travelers.

Personally, I would choose a direct Sydney-New York flight over one with a layover. But it won’t suit everyone: It took discipline and work to stick to the no-sleep routine in the first half of this flight. There may be a benefit to switching to the destination time immediately, but it comes at a price. I feel like I had to earn it.

Angus Whitley writes for Bloomberg.

The epiphany came when a certain coffee chain started replacing plastic straws with paper ones. Despite increasingly dire warnings about Texas-size islands of plastic in the world’s oceans, the sudden public debate over straws was arguably a turning point in how American consumers think about sustainability.

On one hand, the rise of paper straws is a brazen case of greenwashing, since straws make up only a tiny share of waste. On the other, the proliferation of paper and bamboo straws marked the beginning of a larger commercial pivot away from plastic.

Companies are beginning to realize there’s more to lose from offending consumers who are aware of how cheap plastic products feed global warming, choke oceans, kill wildlife and — more slowly — threaten us. This is especially the case when it comes to packaging.

Containers, cartons, wrapping and everything else discarded after a product is used make up about 30% of all American trash, or more than 76 million tons annually. Now the biggest retailers and consumer goods giants are racing to replace everything from plastic envelopes to styrofoam meat trays with fiber-based iterations.

The U.S. paper recycling industry, it turns out, has suddenly found itself in demand — and maybe just in the nick of time.

Until 2018, recycling in America — from plastics to paper to assorted waste — was propped up by China’s willingness to purchase much of it, ostensibly for recycling and reuse by its domestic industries. Instead of returning to China empty, shipping containers were filled with refuse, bales of plastic bottles, cardboard and wastepaper.

But when Beijing decided it didn’t want the world’s garbage anymore, slashing the amount it would take while requiring the rest to be near-pristine, the value of American recyclables plummeted.

With an excess supply and no one to sell it to, prices for recycled residential paper even touched negative territory. That means cities have to pay someone to take away the material they collect. The S&P 500 Paper Packaging Index has dropped more than 25% since China started restricting trash.

For U.S. towns and cities, with their colorful recycling barrels and bins, what was at best a break-even proposition suddenly became very expensive. Unable to sell recycling at a high enough price, they either had to raise taxes to pay for collection, dump it all into landfills or burn it. Many chose the latter options.

Renee Yardley, a senior vice president at recycling company Sustana Group, said 2019 has been “a challenging year” for municipalities that collect paper.

But consumer goods companies might be starting to turn that around.

Trying to get ahead of regulations in countries that ban or tax plastic packaging, some product manufacturers are turning to recycled paper for the first time. With restrictions on single-use plastics in place across 60 nations and 350 U.S. municipalities, analysts on MSCI’s environmental, social and governance research team said plastics “could lose market share to alternatives.”

More than 200 businesses, representing about 20% of all packaging used globally, have made commitments to reduce plastic waste, according to the Ellen MacArthur Foundation. Coca-Cola European Partners became the latest to do so, saying it will replace plastic shrink wrap with cardboard for its multipacks across Western Europe, removing about 4,000 tons of plastic annually.

A ton of recycled paper saves the equivalent of 17 trees, more than 16,000 gallons of water and 5,500 pounds of carbon dioxide, according to Sustana. Americans are also more likely to recycle paper; collection rates for paper are above 60%, compared with 30% for common types of plastic.

But it’s expensive to recycle paper: The process begins with fleets of trucks to pick it up and facilities to clean it, pulp it and eventually turn it into rolls of recycled paper. Then it’s sold to manufacturers for use in their products or packaging.

Now, with a potential change in fortunes in sight, the U.S. recycling sector faces another challenge: a need for expanded infrastructure. Moreover, while the low price of discarded paper makes it cheaper for consumer companies to use it in their products, it’s also attracting the attention of European recycling executives.

One of them is Miles Roberts, chief executive of DS Smith, Europe’s largest cardboard-packaging recycler. He’s betting big on the U.S.

DS Smith plans to open a packaging plant in Indiana and a recycling depot in Pennsylvania later this year. Roberts said a key draw of the American market is that the price of recycled paper has become competitive with that of paper made directly from trees.

“It just takes a few years to get the investment in infrastructure going,” Roberts said. “We’re really just at the start.”

London-based DS Smith’s customers include consumer giants such as Mondelez, Nestle, P&G, Danone and Unilever. They have been pushing the company to create the same types of cardboard packaging in the U.S. for their products. (Think TV dinner trays made from paper and paper alternatives to plastic bubble wrap.)

Over the past year, Austrian packaging company Mondi Ltd. rolled out paper-based packaging for everything from deli cheese and premium watermelons to wine glasses. The company notes, though, that plastic packaging will still be needed in the medical and food industries, where other materials would be unsafe or impractical.

Indeed, Mondi’s more deliberate approach is more likely to be the rule than the exception; the company said its strategy is to use “paper where possible, plastic when useful.”

It also bears noting that not all recycled paper products are as biodegradable as advertised: Some are coated in plastic or contain chemicals.

Still, the demand for recycled paper products in America is rising, according to Pat Lindner. The new president of consumer packaging at Atlanta-based WestRock Co., Lindner contends that “retailers are now saying, ‘We need solutions for this, and we need it now.’”

He joined the company in March, taking over a multibillion-dollar business after spending two decades in the plastics industry. WestRock has gone from working on a handful of new packaging projects to hundreds in the past year, he said. It’s replaced plastic wrapping for beer cans with printable paper labels suitable for advertising, and is substituting paper for plastic lipstick and deodorant containers, as well as envelopes, e-commerce packaging and the dreaded styrofoam meat tray.

That last item has been reborn in a new pressed-fiber version that’s fully compostable.

Ecologic, which makes molded paper bottles out of old corrugated cardboard boxes, said it’s seeing growing demand as well. The Manteca, Calif.-based company said it’s sold 10 million paper bottles since it opened in 2011, but expects to sell as many as 6 million next year alone.

“We’re a little bit more expensive than plastic, but there’s a desperation right now at so many levels to start looking at alternatives,” founder Julie Corbett said. The company makes paper bottles for use with laundry detergent sold under Unilever’s Seventh Generation brand, and the Seed personal care line made by L’Oreal.

To compete with plastic on price, Ecologic has been automating every step of its manufacturing process, and collecting cardboard waste from L’Oreal’s distribution center in Los Angeles for reuse in its bottles. Corbett said she expects demand for paper packaging to grow as consumer product giants shift household products back to powders, which also save water. The pricing gap between plastic and paper bottles should close as they scale up production, she said. “The packaging industry has for years focused on cheaper, faster and less, but it’s utterly disconnected from the consumer,” Corbett said. “Paper isn’t complicated; that’s why it’s so beautiful. It dissolves.”

Still, to be recycled, wastepaper needs to be clean. Pizza boxes stained with grease, for example, won’t cut it. Until recently, neither would paper products coated in plastic. WestRock has been trying to change this, Lindner said, modifying its recycling facilities so machines can process coated paper products such as coffee cups.

“Sometimes a paper solution is going to be more expensive,” Lindner said, but brands don’t seem to mind, he added, given that more consumers are demanding environmentally sensitive substitutes for plastic.

In Europe, paper can “close the loop” in just 14 days, going from one product into another. European cardboard is typically 30% to 40% lighter than that made in the U.S., and uses significantly less virgin material, DS Smith’s Roberts said. As the company’s Indiana plant begins operations, he noted that lighter boxes are a big attraction for U.S. companies, especially since they can reduce shipping costs.

Yardley of Sustana agreed that active demand from U.S. consumer companies is helping prop up the recycling industry. “Customers are coming to us and making us think about it differently,” she said.

Sustana has worked with Seattle-based Starbucks to test how it could manufacture coffee cups from recycled coffee cups while making its recycled pulp compliant with Food and Drug Administration food-safety rules. The goal, she said, is to make more recycled packaging and containers that can be used with food, without the need for a barrier or coating.

Roberts said his company aims to use techniques refined in Europe to replace plastic with fully recyclable material.

“The U.S. is a massive, growing and fast-moving market for paper fiber,” he said.

Dating was one of my weakest strengths. You name it, I would try it. Match.com. OKCupid. Grindr. Jack’d.

I also met plenty of men organically, starting with Nick. We saw each other from across the room at the Rockwell in Los Feliz. No doubt there was an immediate connection — we were having major eye sex. Finally, he introduced himself. We talked all night and exchanged phone numbers, and I drove him back to his car. And I had my first ever kiss, with him. I was over the moon. I met a man that I liked.

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The next day, I called my closest friends and told them the news. I even called my aunt, whom I’m close to. After four dates with Nick, we added each other on Facebook. (It’s official when you’re Facebook friends, right? Not yet “In a Relationship” close, but close enough to get to that next level.)

Then Nick took a trip to Canada and when he returned I noticed a change immediately. He wasn’t texting me as much. Right before Christmas, he called and said he wanted to see me, and talk. I knew this was not good.

He came over and told me he was having second thoughts about us. And then he left, just like that. I cried. I was embarrassed and devastated. (I had ordered him a custom photo album, engraved with his name, as a holiday gift. He was obsessed with photos of his car collection, so I thought this would be the perfect gift.)

I had never experienced what a real breakup felt like before. I called my closest friends and aunt, in tears.

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After Nick came Michael. I was at a holiday party with one of my friends, who invited me as a way to cheer me up after the breakup. During some down time at the party, I turned to the Grindr app to browse for a few minutes and up came a message from a handsome man close to my age.

Michael and I exchanged several text messages and photos — not X-rated! I thought to myself, “Nick who?” Later, we had our first date. He picked me up at my home in Pasadena and we dined at Settebello Pizzeria Napoletana restaurant near Old Town. I felt very timid, sitting in front of a man who I thought was too good-looking to be with someone like me.

Michael acted like a true gentleman, though. Immediately responded to my text messages. Every time we went out, he always made me feel like I was the only person in the room. He always had flowers for me.

But then came another noticeable change in communication. Actually, he just disappeared. No response to calls or texts, no nothing. He wasn’t on social media, either, so I had no way to stalk him there to find out what happened. (I later found out he was in a relationship. Yep, I was the guy on the side.)

Once again, I was stuck explaining to my close friends and aunt that I was played. Embarrassing.

Next, I met Brandon, on OKCupid. He was an avid hiker and meditator and lived near wine country. He was recently divorced from a woman and had two daughters. In our first phone conversation, we chatted for hours. I immediately felt a connection. And yes, I gave my friends and aunt the “OMG I met a guy” speech. Again.

For our first date, Brandon — who had his own plane — flew down to see me. We walked around Echo Park Lake, paddle boated. Brandon was newly out and had never been with a guy before, so it was all new territory for him. The following morning, I drove him back to the airport for his flight home. (Yes, he spent the night at my house!)

The following week? Brandon called to say he wanted to “explore” being gay and see what’s out there before settling down.

Great. Another failed romance. I’d even posted a photo of us on Echo Park Lake. So I had to take that down and explain to everyone once again that it was all over.

I did have to thank Brandon, though, for introducing me to meditating. Which I now do almost every day. After Brandon, I decided I needed to go on a spiritual journey of sorts.

I was insecure and feeling unworthy after all of these failed relationships that marked my 20s. I went on a summer trip to Greece, where I did a lot of meditating and reflecting. Somewhere between Santorini and Mykonos, I came to the realization that I should pause the dating for a bit. And that I should stop telling everyone my personal business, and keep it all to myself.

The more I shared, the more follow-up questions I got, and the more pressure I felt to make a relationship “work.” I despised these follow-ups more than the actual breakups in some cases. And let’s face it, most relationships fail.

I saw a quote on Instagram that summed it up: “Things to keep private: your income, your love life and your next move.”

I intuitively understood this on some level. I kept my income private. And certainly my next move in my professional life. But I’d never learned to keep my love life private.

It was time to self-reflect and self-correct.

###

A few months later, I was keeping my focus on my design projects, and some upcoming travel to Mexico and Asia. And I definitely wasn’t dating. But I still had the OKCupid app installed on my smartphone. And up popped a message from a guy named Lucas. I waited a few days before responding. Lucas was handsome, but I was so over dating at that point that I just kept it to some light conversation.

After I returned from Mexico, Lucas asked me for my cell number. We started texting. As we got to know each other better, we made plans to meet in person at L.A. Live for dinner and drinks. But I forced myself to Slow. It. Down. and not get too attached.

So, I played it casual and dropped all the expectations that I had carried into previous relationships.

And, this time, I said not a word to anyone.

Soon, I was heading back out of town again, this time for a month traveling all over Asia. I figured Lucas would be long gone before I returned.

But while I was in Asia, Lucas regularly messaged me to see how I was doing, and how my trip was going. He wanted to see photos from my sightseeing.

And when I returned, he asked when he could see me again. He knew I enjoyed hiking, so he suggested we go on a hike on the Palos Verdes Peninsula. I still hadn’t told anyone about Lucas, not even my best friend. Not even my aunt.

In fact, I waited until after our 10th date before telling anyone about him. By keeping it under wraps, I was able to just date Lucas and focus on getting to know him. No outside distractions. Just him and me.

It’s been over a year and a half that we’ve been together. I’m so grateful for the moments I’ve had with him and his wonderful 11-year-old daughter. I couldn’t ask for anything better. It’s something I just never imagined would happen for me.

He was a secret worth keeping.

The author is an interior designer and is on Instagram @ruben_marquez

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