The Problem With Plastic

Community Voices for Change - 30 mins - First Aired April 13, 2026 WMPG-FM. Univ of So. Maine - Weekly - Mondays - 1:00 PM Producer & Host: Richard Rudolph, PhD. The podcast is an interview of Melisa Valiant who is the Communication Director at Beyond Plastic, a nationwide project based at Bennington College in Vermont. She talked about a new book, The Problem With Plastic that Judith Enck, the founder and president of Beyond Plastics has written which was recently published by the New Press. The book is outstanding for it not only provides a brief history about how and why plastic was first developed, but also how we have become so dependent upon it over the past 100 years. Plastics are now utilized on an everyday basis with over 450 million tons used per year causing widespread plastic pollution. The corporations that make the plastic blame consumers for the pollution. They have created a strategic narrative that plastic pollution is our fault. If only people changed their habits and law enforcement apprehended all the litterbugs, the plastic pollution problem could be solved. The book is more than a critique for it not only reveals how microplastics are infiltrating not only the natural world, but also the human body and emphasizes the urgent need for action against plastic's toxic legacy.