EcoWeek Panel Discussion: Art to Awareness to ACTION – Learn How You Can Stop Plastic Pollution

VIA ZOOM: A dynamic group of creative anti-plastic activists present innovative projects in Mexico, Philadelphia and Arlington, and U.S. Congresswoman Katherine Clark shares her work crafting federal legislation to advance systemic change. Learn steps you can take at home and through collective action. Panelists include:
 

– Environmental artist/photographer Alejandro Durán, who transforms international ocean trash into gorgeous installations as part of beach clean-ups in Mexico;
 

– Ron Whyte, Project Coordinator with Trash Academy, a “collaborator” within Mural Arts Philadelphia’s Environmental Justice Department that designs innovative creative projects to complicate the issue of trash and shift attitudes from passive acceptance to proactive responses to the waste stream;
 

– Ceilidh Yurenka, who built on her personal mission to reduce waste by launching a small retail shop – Yes! Plastic Free – to help raise community consciousness while improving access to products that lower home trash output.
 

Moderators Cecily Miller (Arlington Commission for the Arts and Culture) and Rachel Oliveri (Arlington Public School Green Teams) will briefly discuss Persistence, a public art project crafted from thousands of plastic bags led by sculptor/AIR Michelle Lougee, and the work of Green Team youth activists in Arlington.
 

Congresswoman Katherine Clark joins us (via pre-recorded message) to explain the Break Free from Plastic Pollution Act which she co-sponsored in 2020 and the strategy of “Extended Producer Responsibility” – holding manufacturers responsible for the plastic they produce.
 

PRE-REGISTER: https://tinyurl.com/ecoweekfightplastic
 

Presented as part of Arlington's EcoWeek Activities. Full schedule at: https://www.arlingtonma.gov/.../recycling.../ecoweek-events