Film, discussion, reception this Friday to focus on plastics

May 7, 2014
Categories: General News Tags: ENVIRONMENT, GET INVOLVED, Sustainability, UNC Charlotte

Americans use an average of 60,000 plastic bags every minute – single-use disposable bags that we mindlessly throw away. It takes an estimated 12 million barrels of oil a year to make the plastic bags that Americans consume. And that’s just bags. Plastics surround us. Although Mecklenburg County now accepts most types of plastics for recycling, the county’s recycling rates still trail the national average.

Join KEEPING WATCH in its next event May 16: A Clean Martini night, documentary film screening of Bag it: Is your life too plastic? and a panel discussion will all focus attention on plastics, waste disposal and recycling.

KEEPING WATCH

The event is Friday, May 16, 6-9 p.m. at the UNC Charlotte Center City Building.

Bag it: Is your life too plastic?” follows “everyman” Jeb Berrier as he navigates our plastic world. Berrier is an average American who decides to take a closer look at our cultural love affair with plastics. The documentary about Berrier’s journey starts with simple questions: Are plastic bags necessary? What are they made from? What happens to plastic bags after they are discarded? What he learns quickly grows far beyond plastic bags.

The event is part of the three-year KEEPING WATCH initiative, a project of the UNC Charlotte Urban Institute and its PlanCharlotte.org online publication, and the UNC Charlotte College of Arts + Architecture. From 2014 until 2016, the initiative will use arts, community engagement, history, science and online publication to highlight environmental issues of significance to Charlotte, Mecklenburg County and the metro region.

Mary Newsom of the UNC Charlotte Urban Institute and PlanCharlotte.org will moderate the panel discussion. Panelists are:

  • Mike Lizotte, the UNC Charlotte sustainability officer.
  • Laurette Hall, Mecklenburg County Solid Waste, environmental manager of waste reduction programs.
  • Meg Fencil of Sustain Charlotte, a local sustainability education and advocacy group that studied Mecklenburg’s recycling rate, comparing it with other cities.
  • Sam Perkins, of the Catawba Riverkeeper Foundation, who will discuss the problem of trash, especially plastics, and how they affect our waterways.

The May 16 event is co-sponsored with Slow Food Charlotte and will feature “clean martinis” made from local products at local distilleries, as well as light, locally sourced hors d’oeuvres.

The event is free and open to the public.

Parking: The UNC Charlotte Center City campus does not offer free parking to guests. A number of public parking lots are available nearby, as is the Seventh Street stop of the Lynx Blue Line. Parking information and directions to UNC Charlotte Center City.

Partners: Funders and community partners of the three-year KEEPING WATCH initiative are: Arts & Science Council, Blumenthal Foundation, Discovery Place, Foundation For The Carolinas, Knight Foundation Fund, North Carolina Arts Council, Catawba Riverkeeper Foundation, City of Charlotte, Clean Air Carolina, Keep Charlotte Beautiful, McColl Center for Visual Art, Mecklenburg County Land Use & Environmental Services Agency, North Carolina Dance Theatre, Slow Food, Sustain Charlotte and the UNC Charlotte Office of Sustainability.

Coming June 13: A second Clean Martini Screen evening, 6-9 p.m. at UNC Charlotte Center City, with the film Growing Cities and short clips from Jean Paul Ganem. A panel discussion will focus on food waste recycling and urban agriculture.