Vermont Business Magazine Beyond Plastics, a nationwide project based at Bennington College that empowers community leaders and students around the country to reduce plastic pollution, is hosting a Virtual Film Series and Earth Day poster contest to promote environmental awareness and advocacy during this time of social distancing.
“At this difficult time, in addition to protecting health, we have an opportunity to be more informed and engaged on a range of environmental protection issues, including climate change and plastic pollution,” said Judith Enck, President of Beyond Plastics and visiting faculty at Bennington College. “The COVID-19 pandemic reminds us all of the importance of science, and science tells us that the planet is warming and choking with plastic pollution. The Beyond Plastics Virtual Film Festival and student poster contest are opportunities to learn and engage from the safety of our own homes.”
Plastic Pollution Virtual Film Series
The Beyond Plastics Plastic Pollution Virtual Film Series includes five films intended to inspire education and action about the plastic pollution crisis.
Beginning on Tuesday, March 31 at 10:00 pm, catch Frontline’s Plastic Wars on PBS, and anytime, streaming online.
Plastic Wars, a joint investigation from FRONTLINE and NPR, reveals how plastic makers have publicly promoted recycling for decades, despite privately expressing doubts that widespread plastic recycling would ever be economically viable.
On Saturday, April 4 at 4:00 pm, RSVP for a virtual screening of Microplastic Madness, followed by a Zoom Q&A co-hosted by the movie’s co-directors Atsuko Quirk and Debby Lee Cohen of Cafeteria Culture and Beyond Plastic President Judith Enck.
Microplastic Madness is the story of 56 fifth graders from P.S. 15 in Red Hook, Brooklyn – living on the frontline of the climate crisis – whose actions on plastic pollution morph into extraordinary leadership and scalable victories.
On Wednesday, April 22, honor Earth Day by watching The Story of Plastic on the Discovery Channel, or stream after April 22 via Discovery Go.
The Story of Plastic is a seething expose uncovering the ugly truth behind the current global plastic pollution crisis. Original animations, interviews with experts and activists, and never-before-filmed scenes reveal the disastrous consequences of the flood of plastic smothering ecosystems and poisoning communities around the world – and the global movement rising up in response.
For a film about our crazy-for-plastic world, check out Bag It, available for rent via Amazon or iTunes or streaming for free via Kanopy with your public library card.
Americans use 60,000 plastic bags every five minutes-single-use disposable bags that we mindlessly throw away. But where is “away?” Where do the bags and other plastics end up, and at what cost to our environment, marine life and human health? Bag It follows “everyman” Jeb Berrier as he navigates our plastic world.
In Gasland (Part 1), filmmaker Josh Fox embarks on a cross-country odyssey uncovering a trail of secrets, lies and contamination around the Halliburton-developed drilling technology of “fracking.”
Gasland (Part 1) is available for streaming for free via Films for Action or for rental or purchase on iTunes or Amazon.
Earth Day Poster Contest
In recognition of Earth Day, Beyond Plastics invites kids aged 5-18 to participate in a poster contest to celebrate the planet, raise awareness of our plastic pollution crisis, and promote ideas to stem the tide of plastic pollution.
Entries are due by April 22 at midnight EDT. Three winners (by age category) will be announced in May 2020. All winners will receive a plastic-free starter kit filled with goodies to help reduce or eliminate the amount of single-use plastic used in their households.
For complete rules and submissions guidelines, visit the Beyond Plastics contest page.
About Beyond Plastics
Launched in January 2019, Beyond Plastics is a nationwide project based at Bennington College in Bennington, Vermont, that pairs the wisdom and experience of environmental policy experts with the energy and creativity of community leaders and students to build a vibrant and effective anti-plastics movement.
Our mission is to end plastic pollution by being a catalyst for change at every level of our society. 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 plastic pollution crisis. Sign up to receive periodic information about Beyond Plastics.
About Bennington College
Bennington College is a liberal arts college in southwestern Vermont that has distinguished itself as a vanguard institution within American higher education. It was the first to include the visual and performing arts in a liberal arts education. It is the only college to require that its students spend a term—every year—at work in the world. Bennington students work intensively with faculty to forge individual educational paths around their driving questions and interests.
Rooted in an abiding faith in the talent, imagination, and responsibility of the individual, Bennington invites students to pursue and shape their own intellectual inquiries, and in doing so to discover the profound interconnection of things. Learn more at bennington.edu.
Bennington, VT: Bennington College 3.31.2020