Environmental advocate Judith Enck to speak on plastics pollution

ALBANY, N.Y. (Feb. 22, 2022) — Every minute, 1 million single-use plastic bottles are purchased worldwide, and less than a third of them are recycled.  Microplastics wind up in lakes, streams and oceans. In burn plants, plastics releases toxins, including heavy metals, carcinogens and endocrine-disrupting chemicals.

These and other facts are from the website Beyond Plastics, a policy and advocacy project at Bennington College whose mission is to end plastics pollution. The project works to educate policymakers, the media and the public, encourage institutions and businesses to eliminate single-use plastics, train students to become leaders, and block new plastic manufacturing and burning facilities.

Judith Enck, the former EPA regional administrator who founded Beyond Plastics in 2019, is the first guest in this semester’s Leading Questions, a discussion series where students can meet and learn the essentials of leadership from some of the region’s most influential and engaged leaders in the public and private sectors.

Enck will highlight the environmental and health impacts of the overuse of plastics during a Zoom presentation from 7 to 8:30 p.m. on March 1. Professor Erin Bell of the School of Public Health, an expert on environmental toxins, will then interview Enck. Viewers can submit questions in advance, or during the session.

The Office of Sustainability is hosting a watch party in LC24 for the event, which will be followed by conversation and information on how you can swap everyday plastic items for more sustainable ones, and there will be some samples for attendees to take. Anyone is welcome to drop in to the watch party. Registration for the webinar is required if you plan to view virtually.

Passionate about protecting public health and the environment, Enck teaches classes on plastic pollution as a senior fellow and visiting faculty member at Bennington College, and was recently a visiting scholar at the Elisabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University. 

She was regional administrator of the EPA during the Obama Administration, overseeing environmental protections in New York, New Jersey, eight Indian Nations, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.  

Enck also has held roles in New York State, serving as deputy secretary for the environment in the governor’s office and policy advisor to the attorney general. She was senior environmental associate with the New York Public Interest Research Group, executive director for Environmental Advocates of New York and the Non-Profit Resource Center, and is a past president of Hudson River Sloop Clearwater. 

Enck’s appearance March 1 is sponsored by the Office of Sustainability, the Office of Public Engagement, the Center for Leadership and Service, and the Student Association.