Podcast/Inteview with Judith Enck by EarthSayers Cinema, produced by EarthSayer Bob Trench.

MISSION: Our mission is to end plastic pollution

Podcast/Inteview with Judith Enck by EarthSayers Cinema, produced by EarthSayer Bob Trench.

MISSION: Our mission is to end plastic pollution everywhere.

ABOUT: Launched in January 2019 and based at Bennington College, Beyond Plastics pairs the wisdom and experience of environmental policy experts with the energy and creativity of grassroots advocates to build a vibrant and effective movement to end plastic pollution. We use our deep policy and advocacy expertise to build a well-informed, effective movement seeking to achieve the institutional, economic, and societal changes needed to save our planet, and ourselves, from the negative health, climate, and environmental impacts of the production, usage, and disposal of plastics.

GOALS: It will take changes at every level of our economy and civil life to stem the tide of plastic pollution. Individuals need to be moved to act in their personal lives and take action as part of a growing movement; corporations need to feel the pressure to initiate changes in their purchasing and packaging habits; governments need to impose bans and adopt laws that require extended producer responsibility; and new manufacturing of plastic has to be prevented from spreading. Beyond Plastics seeks to educate the media, policymakers, and the public on the plastic pollution crisis; encourage businesses to eliminate single-use plastics; train students to become leaders in the anti-plastics movement; and help block new plastic manufacturing and plastic burning facilities.

-Green Light to Pollute in Texas: Proposed Buildout of Petrochemical Facilities Targets Most Vulnerable Communities, Again, is a comprehensive report from researchers at the Bullard Center for

-Green Light to Pollute in Texas: Proposed Buildout of Petrochemical Facilities Targets Most Vulnerable Communities, Again, is a comprehensive report from researchers at the Bullard Center for Environmental and Climate Justice at Texas Southern University.

The study analyzes 89 new or expanding petrochemical facilities across five of the state’s regions.

The findings are stark:
-9 out of 10 facilities are planned in counties with higher concentrations of people of color and families living in poverty.
Nearly half are in neighborhoods ranked among the worst 10% in the U.S. for toxic air releases.
-93% sit near other high-risk chemical plants covered by federal Risk Management Plans — compounding the threat of explosions, leaks, and chronic disease.

In this documentary, residents detail how expanding industry in their backyards has changed the fabric of their communities.

You may have heard about microplastics and nanoplastics infiltrating the human body. Maybe you saw a news article about how there’s roughly the equivalent of a plastic spoon’s worth of

You may have heard about microplastics and nanoplastics infiltrating the human body. Maybe you saw a news article about how there’s roughly the equivalent of a plastic spoon’s worth of micro and nano-plastics in our brains or a headline about microplastics in the human placenta, breast milk, or testicles. Few people realize that plastics are made with chemicals – a lot of them! There are more than sixteen thousand known chemicals added to plastics to give them various qualities - shiny, matte, flexible, hard, heat resistant, etc. Unfortunately, more than a quarter of these chemicals are known to be toxic.

Please join Beyond Plastics, and Ami Zota, ScD of Columbia University and Ryan Babadi, PhD of Toxic-Free Future for a free educational webinar about the toxic chemicals in plastics. Learn which toxic chemicals are used in plastics that are commonly used to make children’s toys, dishes and kitchenware, clothing, food and beverage packaging, building materials, cosmetics, personal care products, and more. We’ll also discuss the negative impacts of these chemicals on our health and environment as well as how you can help protect yourself and your community from them.

https://www.beyondplastics.org/events/toxic-chemicals-in-plastics

Texas is a major global hub for the petrochemical industry, leading the U.S. in refining capacity and production, with the Greater Houston area accounting for over 42% of the nation's base

Texas is a major global hub for the petrochemical industry, leading the U.S. in refining capacity and production, with the Greater Houston area accounting for over 42% of the nation's base capacity. This industrial concentration disproportionately impacts fenceline communities—often low-income communities of color—who bear increased health and environmental risks due to facility expansions, which are frequently approved by the Texas Commission for Environmental Quality despite public resistance.

Written & Directed by Jimena Ayala
In a world where plastic is all around us and inside us, a plastic pandemic has started and humans are getting plastified. But, there is still hope, Eco

Written & Directed by Jimena Ayala
In a world where plastic is all around us and inside us, a plastic pandemic has started and humans are getting plastified. But, there is still hope, Eco Clinic has a cure. Would you try it?

Written & Directed by Nick Dragon
Two eco-priests attempt to free a woman possessed by the microplastic demon that saturates her body. It fights back with repeated bombardment of single-use

Written & Directed by Nick Dragon
Two eco-priests attempt to free a woman possessed by the microplastic demon that saturates her body. It fights back with repeated bombardment of single-use plastics. Whoever wins, will any of us ever really be free of the plastic pollution nightmare?

Written & Directed by Anaya Dominique Martin
A young woman, Erica, goes on an ordinary trip to the grocery store, where a seemingly mundane act of using plastic bags for her groceries takes

Written & Directed by Anaya Dominique Martin
A young woman, Erica, goes on an ordinary trip to the grocery store, where a seemingly mundane act of using plastic bags for her groceries takes a sinister turn.

Many manufacturers claim their bioplastics products break apart faster in the environment, are made from safer materials, and have smaller climate change impacts. But with no federal standards

Many manufacturers claim their bioplastics products break apart faster in the environment, are made from safer materials, and have smaller climate change impacts. But with no federal standards defining or regulating bioplastics, companies have free rein to label whatever they want as “biodegradable” and “compostable.” As you can imagine, this lack of regulation has led to misleading marketing meant to falsely convince the public that certain products are environmentally friendly.

So, are any bioplastics products good alternatives to regular plastic? And, if so, how can you tell? Beyond Plastics is filling that knowledge gap for consumers and businesses that are genuinely trying to make environmentally responsible decisions. Their new report, Demystifying Biodegradable and Compostable Plastics (released on July 11, 2024) provides an overview of the various bioplastics materials currently on the market, the voluntary standards that govern their design, and scientific research findings to date on their safety to help individuals make evaluations of their options. It also covers the waste management issues associated with bioplastics and provides a checklist to guide consumers and businesses in their decision-making as they assess alternatives to plastic.

Video by @StoryofStuff and @BeyondPlastics

Beyond Plastics hosted a discussion with award-winning investigative journalist, Sharon Lerner, and Kris Hansen, a former 3M scientist who inadvertently discovered the presence of the

Beyond Plastics hosted a discussion with award-winning investigative journalist, Sharon Lerner, and Kris Hansen, a former 3M scientist who inadvertently discovered the presence of the “forever chemicals” PFOS/PFAS in the blood of the general public. In an expose recently published in both ProPublica and the New Yorker, Lerner detailed Hansen’s research, and her realization that the company had buried evidence that the chemical was in everyone's bodies decades earlier.

What is PFOS? How did it get to be present in almost every human’s blood, including newborn babies? What are its impacts on our health and environment? How does this “forever chemical” relate to plastics? And what can you do to protect yourself and prevent future health impacts and environmental harms?