This is a past event.

Sustainability Film and Facilitated Discussion Series presents

The Plastic Problem (54 min.)

Description

"The Plastic Problem" (2019) explores the issue of plastic pollution, now considered one of the largest environmental threats facing humans and animals globally. By 2050, there will be more plastic than fish in the oceans — an environmental crisis that’s been in the making for nearly 70 years. Amna Nawaz and her PBS NewsHour colleagues interview two of the world’s biggest plastic producers, the Coca-Cola Company and Unilever, to find out what they’re doing to address the problem. The film examines the effectiveness of plastic bans, bacteria that eat plastic, a young inventor who has made an alternative to plastic wrap out of beer brewing by-products, and a start-up making plastic roads. Find out how you can be a part of the solution.

Discussion Facilitators

Brianna Tucker
Owner of the sustainable refillery Refill U.P.
Hancock, Michigan

Bre Tucker is Michigan Tech’s Enterprise Program coordinator and the co-owner of Refill U.P. in Hancock, a business that is tackling the plastics problem one day, one person, one shower and one load of laundry at a time. Tucker will share the motivation behind starting the business and what it offers residents.

Dave Shonnard
Professor, Chemical Engineering
Robbins Chair in Sustainable Use of Materials
Michigan Technological University

David Shonnard teaches courses in sustainable engineering, environmentally conscious design, life cycle assessments and chemical reaction engineering. His research interests are in systems analysis for sustainability, environmental life cycle assessments of renewable energy technologies, and chemical recycling of waste plastics for a circular economy.

Questions about the film series, contact Alan Turnquist at sustainability@mtu.edu.

Cost

FREE. $5 suggested donation per film to support the Sustainability Film Series is appreciated. Make donation online or in-person at the film showing

Cosponsored By

Michigan Tech Office of Sustainability and Resilience, Keweenaw Land Trust, Keweenaw Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, Lake Superior Stewardship Initiative, Friends of the Land of Keweenaw, Refill U.P., MTU College of Forest Resources and Environmental Science, MTU Department of Social Sciences Sustainability Science Program, MTU Department of Civil, Environmental, and Geospatial Engineering, Michigan Tech Center for Science and Environmental Outreach, Sustainability Demonstration House, MI Tech Great Lakes Research Center, and MTU Students for Sustainability.