Beyond Plastics: A Journey of a Generation

The public is invited to a free Earth Week program, “Beyond Plastics: A Journey of a Generation,” on Saturday, April 26 at 2 pm at the Unitarian Universalist Meetinghouse, 108 School Street, Bennington. Guest speaker Deb Burns of Williamstown will lead a conversation and share the presentation she created as part of her Beyond Plastics training.The program is co-presented by the Bennington Branch of the American Association of University Women (AAUW) and the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Bennington.

The Earth Day celebrates its 55th anniversary on April 22, the centerpiece of a month of activities that honor the birth of the modern environmental movement in 1970 and the progress made so far, and confront the daunting work that still lies ahead. “Beyond Plastics: A Journey of a Generation” asks: how did the 1960s, ’70s and ’80s spawn a generation’s relationship with plastic, what’s at stake as plastics pollute our planet — and what can we do about it today?

Beyond Plastics, based at Bennington College under the leadership of environmental policy expert Judith Enck, was founded to reduce and finally end plastic pollution. The nationwide Beyond Plastics movement has sounded the alarm about the environmental damage caused by plastic creation, use and waste, and trained community members across the country to serve as advocates and activists.

Deb Burns is a popular Beyond Plastics speaker at libraries, schools and community groupslocally, as well as other regions in the U.S. and Canada. She underwent the Beyond Plastics training, which pairs expert knowledge and experience with grassroots advocacy. Burns explains that, like many people in the environmental movement, she is neither a scientist nor a policy expert. “However,” she adds, “I bring my training as a journalist, historian and artistto my work as a Beyond Plastics educator.

“Earth Day gives us a chance to look back at past decades, reflect on our tumultuous present, and work toward a healthier future for our planet,” says AAUW president Suzanne Kirkpatrick. “Our Earth Week program offers both an example of how lay people can effect change in their communities, and an opportunity for post-war Baby Boomers to consider howtheir generation experienced the arrival and then dominance of plastic in our daily lives.”