Tag Archives: Year Of No Garbage

How to Celebrate Earth Day 2025?

April 2, 2025Blog, Year Of No GarbageEarth Day 2025, film screening, manchester community library, Microplastic Madness, Year Of No GarbageEve Ogden Schaub

Might I humbly suggest a really terrific Anti-Plastic Film?

Thursday, April 17 from 5 to 7 PM at the Manchester Library in Manchester, VT we will be showing the film Microplastic Madness, to be followed by a Q and A led by me, and possibly a few special guests (more on that soon).

The reason this film is one of my favorites in the fight against plastic is that it doesn’t just tell us what’s wrong with plastic (soooooo many things) but it also shows us a story that offers hope and inspiration in the face of what can often seem like insurmountable odds.

Microplastic Madness tells the story of 56 New York City fifth graders who work to reduce the amount of single use plastic in their school cafeteria. Over time their actions on plastic pollution morph into extraordinary leadership and -ultimately- the passage of actual anti-plastic waste legislation. Through kid commentary, stop-motion animation, and interviews with experts and scientists this captivating narrative conveys an urgent message about the harms of single-use plastic and what we can all do about it.

So if you are able to join us in Manchester, Vermont, I hope you will. Or, if you’d like to arrange a screening of this amazing film in your own community, you can reach out to Cafeteria Culture directly, or ask me in the comments and I’ll send you info about how to get in touch.

It’s far too easy to feel disempowered in this time and place, and I feel it is actions like this—watching a hopeful film about successful activism, sharing it with others, telling the story— that can make all the difference moving forward in the fight against things that hurt us, our children, and our planet.

I hope to see you there!

It’s a Plastic-Sucks Summer For Sure

July 29, 2024Year Of No GarbageA Plastic Sucks Summer, Burning Injustice short film, environment, Eve O. Schaub at Mass MOCA, health, microplastics, Microplastics and our health, plastic, plastic-pollution, Year Of No GarbageEve Ogden Schaub

It feels like everyone wants to rename summer these days: if it isn’t Hot Girl Summer its must be Rat Boy Summer or Brat Summer…

Can I formally suggest we make it the Plastic Sucks Summer?

Because it really does seem like that is already happening. Hardly a day goes by without another article or study or film coming out to explain to everyone just how very bad plastic is for humans AND the environment. Here are just a few examples:

FIRST, have you been hearing the euphemisms “Waste to Energy” or “Gasification” or “Advanced Recycling” lately? These terms all mean burning plastic. Everyone needs to know that burning plastic is bad for everyone, it is not recycling, and it should definitely not be subsidized by the government. Watch this compelling 15 minute film (below) by The Story of Stuff Project, about Latino activists battling to shut down a garbage incinerator in California.

Watch it free on YouTube

IN OTHER NEWS, The Washington Post did a very thorough article on microplastics and why we need to consider them a health threat in this article, which has excellent explanatory graphics. If you missed it definitely, definitely check it out.

The Washington Post article with lots of nifty graphics

THERE’S A LOT plastic news these days but I’d like to be sure to celebrate the fact that more and more hotels are switching from tiny disposable shampoo and conditioner bottles to refillable large bottles- have you seen them?

Even better, soon New York hotels soon will no longer be able to distribute tiny plastic shampoo bottles.

IN CASE you were wondering if Plastic Sucks Summer is limited to the United States- not so! I was recently interviewed for Russian television on the subject of microplastics. Although I definitely don’t speak Russian, I could get the gist enough to be impressed with the thoroughness of the piece. Here is the link the the program. (The segment about plastic begins at 56:20 and I show up at 1:02:31)

Yes, this is the best screen shot I could get

HERE’S ANOTHER great article which details the lawsuit going on against water bottlers who claim their product is “natural” even though 93 % of bottled water has been found to contain microplastics. Since tap water reliably contains far fewer microplastics, it’s even been suggested that bottled water come with a microplastic warning.

A SIMILAR question I’ve been wondering about lately is: can compost truly be considered “organic” if it contains bioplastics, or so-called “compostable plastics”? Unfortunately, in a compost these items behave very much like regular plastics, and contain many of the same toxic chemicals. This article details the discussion.

AND FINALLY I’d like to plug my next UPCOMING TALK! On August 8th at 6PM I’ll be featured at MassMOCA in North Adams MA in conversation with Research and Development Store Manager Chris Conti on the topic of my Year of No Garbage. Come by and be part of this lively conversation and celebration afterwards— I promise to draw tiny weird pictures of trash cans on everyone’s books.

Happy Plastic Sucks Summer!

Are We Finally Doing Earth Day Right?

April 29, 2024Year Of No GarbageCary library in lexington, climate-change, Earth Day, Earth Day 2024, environment, Global Plastics Treaty update, op ed washington post, plastic waste crisis, sustainability, Year Of No GarbageEve Ogden Schaub

As the United Nations’ Global Plastics Treaty talks in Ottawa conclude this week, I am wondering if we are finally beginning to heed the admonition that “every day is Earth Day.”

**This article pictured above was part of the New York Times**‘ **Climate Forward newsletter**

In some ways, it seems so. This Earth Day’s theme was “Planet vs. Plastics,” and indeed, there does seem a new sense of urgency on the question of the Plastic Waste Crisis. And justifiably so. It seems like every other week a new scientific study is appearing to tell us more places microplastics are showing up in the human body (absolutely everywhere, including every placenta of newborn babies tested) AND adding to the list of health consequences that can be linked to those microplastics and their related toxic chemicals (most recently: heart disease, stroke and premature death.)

On the other hand, by all accounts the United States is a less-than-enthusiastic participant in the UN’s plastic talks. Perhaps we shouldn’t be surprised. After all, Big Plastic, is synonymous with Big Oil and wildly powerful.

On the OTHER, other hand, this is the fourth of five sessions of talks on the Global Plastics Treaty scheduled, and the number of lobbyists from the oil/plastic industry has jumped since the previous by 40 percent.

Which makes me think Big Plastic is worried.

Inger Andersen, Executive Director of the UN Environment Programme, had this to say:

“We will continue to need plastic for specific uses… But there is growing agreement that short-lived and single use (plastics) can go.”

Amen.

Meanwhile, in the interest of doing Earth Day right, I have been running around talking everyone’s ear off. I’ve met so many engaged, passionate folks who want to know the truth about plastic.

This excitingly included having my OpEd published in the Washington Post on Earth Day entitled “Don’t Waste Your Time Recycling Plastic.” (You may have also seen it under the title “How to Celebrate Earth Day This Year? Just Dump This Toxic Stuff.”) It’s a quick read that it summarizes the argument that plastic is not recyclable and that we should stop focusing on this false solution. I hope you’ll take a few minutes to read and share it with friends.

**My OpEd in the Washington Post on Earth Day**

ALSO exciting!: Here is a link to a six minute interview I did for the CBC /NPR explaining why plastic is not recyclable.

And I’m not done! Tomorrow I’ll be at the Cary Library in Lexington MA for a talk that is free and open to the public, and includes special guests. You can register for it here.

**Visit the Cary Library website to register for this FREE talk!**

Finally, here are a few pictures of me, mostly refusing to stop talking about plastic. The last picture is with Chris Conti who runs the amazing R and D space at MassMOCA in North Adams, MA (the most incredible books they have! Swoon!). I’ll be speaking there in August so stay tuned!