We are drowning in plastic. It shows up in every corner of life, from our clothes to our food, in the environment around us, our oceans and waterways, and even, at times, the air we breathe. Our bodies are full of microplastics, and the chemicals contained within leach into our tissues and are passed on to our children. The keys I’m typing this email on are plastic, and the device you’re reading it on is chock full of it. And the problem is only getting worse.
That’s why, just in time for Earth Day, my colleague Alexis and I sat down with author, educator, environmentalist, and all-around plastics expert Judith Enck to discuss the plastic crisis and what needs to be done in Vermont and around the world on our latest episode of Vermont’s Voice.
>> You can watch or listen to that episode now on YouTube, Spotify, or the podcast platform of your choice.
If you’ve followed the plastics issue over the last 15+ years, you’ll recognize Judith’s name – in 2009 she was appointed Regional Administrator of Region 2 of the EPA by President Obama and was the longest serving administrator in that role. In 2019, she founded Beyond Plastics to end plastic pollution through education, advocacy, and institutional change. She got her start in the environmental community working side by side with our Executive Director Paul Burns, and helped pass New York’s original bottle bill in 1982. Currently, Judith is a professor at Bennington College, teaching an online class on plastics, which is open to students and community people alike. Her new book, “The Problem with Plastic,” was published in December of 2025.
And what a problem plastic is!
Last night, we hosted a sold-out screening of “The Plastic Detox,” a new documentary that follows six couples with unexplained infertility as they “detox” from plastic for three months to see if it changes their overall health and fertility.
We followed up the movie with an inspiring panel discussion and Q&A with Rachael Zoe Miller of the Rozalia Project, Senator Anne Watson, and R.N. Jason Kirchick, moderated by our own Environmental Associate Alexis Drown. Don’t worry if you weren’t able to make it – ORCA Media was on hand to tape the whole thing, and a recording should be available in the coming days.
If you haven’t already seen “The Plastic Detox,” I cannot recommend it highly enough. The revelations about the levels of toxic chemicals and endocrine disruptors that leach into our reproductive systems were terrifying. Still, the documentary ultimately has a message of hope – removing these harmful plastic products from our lifestyles is doable, and the damage is reversible. The film is available to stream now on Netflix.
As we celebrate another Earth Day and get ever closer to the end of the 2026 legislative session, one message from the film stands out to me: organized people beats organized money, every single time. As the world shifts towards renewable energy, we know that Big Oil sees plastic as its new cash cow, and it’s easy to see why – it’s estimated that plastic production has doubled in the last 20 years and will double again in the next 20. But people are waking up to the true dangers of oil-based plastics, and are successfully standing up to the petrochemical industry in communities and State Houses around the country.
In the last few years, VPIRG has successfully pushed for bans on single-use plastics and toxic chemicals like PFAS in consumer products, and these laws have already made visible, real-world impacts. Last night, we were thrilled to hear that since the single-use plastic ban, the Rozalia Project has seen a significant drop in the number of plastic bags they fish out of Lake Champlain every year. But progress like this is only possible with the support of our members like you.
I hope you’ll consider a gift to help us keep up the good fight and push for more common-sense protections so we can all detox from plastic together.