Wednesday, Oct. 15 at 7 p.m. — POULTNEY — The invention of synthetic plastic created an era of disposable products. Watertight and endlessly malleable, plastic seems like the perfect invention. But its miraculous durability is also a curse because plastic never goes away.
Join TV host and filmmaker Angela Sun for a public screening of her award-winning documentary “Plastic Paradise: The Great Pacific Garbage Patch,” Wednesday, Oct. 15 at 7 p.m. in Ackley Auditorium at Green Mountain College in Poultney. A question and answer session will follow. This screening, the first in Vermont, is free and open to the public.
The great Pacific garbage patch is a vortex of debris, much of it plastic, in the central North Pacific Ocean. The patch is characterized by very high concentrations of plastics and chemical sludge. Oceanographer and sailor Charles J. Moore first described the patch while returning home through the North Pacific after competing in a sailing race in 1997.
Angela Sun’s multimedia investigation, combined with the latest evidence from researchers, shows that an ever-growing toxic confetti is transforming the oceans and working its way up the food chain on which humans depend. “Plastic Paradise” includes interviews with scientists and health experts, environmental activists, and policymakers struggling to understand and address the problem. The film also documents Sun’s attempts to contact leaders of the powerful petrochemical industry, the engine for our dependence on plastics.
The 2013 film has won numerous honors including gold winner at the California Film Awards, “Best of Fest” at the Docuwest Film Festival, the Isla Conservation Award from the Catalina Film Festival, and the Grand jury Award at the Wild and Scenic Film Festival.
