Media Advisory: Plastic pollution will be topic of talk by former EPA official

BUFFALO, N.Y. — Judith Enck, a former regional administrator for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, will discuss the issue of plastic pollution during a talk April 11 at the University at Buffalo.

Enck, who served in the EPA during the Obama administration, is the founder of “Beyond Plastics,” a new project designed to promote local laws to reduce plastic pollution and train college students and community members in becoming anti-plastic packaging advocates.

Western New York advocacy organizations will be present as well to talk about what’s happening locally to reduce plastic pollution.

Enck says that within the next decade there will be 1 pound of plastic in the ocean for every 3 pounds of fish.

“We can’t recycle our way out of this problem. We’re producing too much plastic, so we need to make less. It’s that simple. But it’s complex because as consumers we have very little choice,” says Enck, who is now a senior fellow in the Center for the Advancement of Public Action at Bennington College in Vermont.

“You can be a vigilant, environmentally-conscious shopper, but it’s very hard to avoid plastic packaging,” Enck added.

Who: Judith Enck, former EPA regional administrator for New York, New Jersey, eight Indian Nations, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands

What: “Beyond Plastics”

When: 6 p.m. Thursday, April 11

Where: Room 2220 Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at UB (map)

Event co-sponsors: UB Sustainability, Alliance for the Great Lakes, Citizens Campaign for the Environment