Helmut Stern Auditorium at UMMA
Talking Trash
An Interactive Discussion Inspired by The Plastic Bag Store
Turn inspiration into impact with insights from researchers, scientists, artists, and activists tackling the question: What can we do about single-use plastics?
The U-M Museum of Art, U-M Arts Initiative, the Graham Sustainability Institute, and UMS join forces to offer this illuminating event designed to share diverse perspectives and empower individual action.
Single-use plastics, such as plastic bags, straws, and cutlery, have become a major environmental concern due to their widespread use and presence as a global polluter. These plastics can take hundreds of years to break down, and, in the process, release harmful chemicals into the environment.
During the event, the diverse panel of experts will explore various ways to reduce our reliance on single-use plastics, such as using reusable alternatives, implementing policies to reduce plastic production and consumption, and promoting recycling and proper waste management. The speakers will also discuss the role that individuals, businesses, and governments can play in addressing this issue.
Livestream
Panelists Include
Lashaun Jackson, Graham Sustainability Scholar
Samuel McMullen, Co-Founder, Live Zero Waste
Shelie Miller, Professor, Director, Program in the Environment; Jonathan W. Bulkley Collegiate Professor of Sustainable Systems; U-M Distinguished Faculty Fellow in Sustainability, SEAS
Meredith Miller, Associate Professor of Architecture, Taubman College
Thomas Moran, Associate Professor of Architecture, Taubman College; collaborator, Thing Thing
Genevieve Rattray, Director of Environmental Initiatives and Affairs for the Belle Isle Conservancy and Founder & Chair of the Detroit River Coalition
Hannah Tizedes, Artist and Environmentalist
The Plastic Bag Store by Robin Frohardt is co-presented by University of Michigan Museum of Art, the University Musical Society, and the U-M Graham Sustainability Institute, with support from the U-M Arts Initiative.
Jena is an environmental reporter for BridgeDetroit, a Data Fellow at the USC Annenberg Center for Health Journalism, and a Science-Health-Environment Reporting Fellow through CASW, AHCJ, and SEJ. She writes about the environment and intersections of race and inequality.
Before becoming a journalist, she earned her Bachelor of Arts in environmental studies at the University of Michigan. She was the Midwest reporting fellow at Grist in 2021 and intern for Planet Detroit in 2020. Her work has appeared in Salon, Slate, Mother Jones, Grist, Next City, Chalkbeat, Crain’s Detroit Business, Planet Detroit, The Hechinger Report, The Ann Arbor Observer, KQED, Curbed Detroit, and others.
Learn more at jenabrooker.com.