VOLA News:

Voices of Los Alamos meets 6:30-7:30 p.m. today via Zoom.

The meeting features Sarah Pierpont, executive director of the New Mexico Recycling Coalition, who will discuss Sen. Tom Udall’s bill Break Free From Plastic Pollution Act of 2020, and documentary filmmaker Greg Polk who will talk about his short-form documentary film project, “The Story of Plastic in New Mexico.”

A Zoom link for the meeting will be shared on the Voices of Los Alamos’ Facebook Group page and mailing list prior to the meeting.

“The Story of Plastic in New Mexico” is a short-form documentary film project (20 to 25 minutes) intended to both raise public awareness of the financial and environmental costs of plastic waste in New Mexico and highlight the actions ordinary New Mexicans are taking to deal with plastic waste.

Using the commentary from 15 individuals, the film will focus on the challenges of plastic recycling, the financial and environmental costs of disposal, and on the impact of plastic pollution in our waterways and natural environment.

The film will explore these aspects of the challenge in six sections:

• Section 1. Introduction: Beautiful New Mexico
• Section 2. The Plastic Waste Problem in New Mexico
• Section 3. The Role of Plastic Recycling
• Section 4. What happens to the plastic that is not recycled?
• Section 5. How citizens can make a difference
• Section 6. What more needs to be done: A Review of Senator Udall’s Break Free from Plastic Pollution Act

Find information on the “Break Free From Plastic Pollution Act of 2020” here.

For more information on the New Mexico Recycling Coalition, visit https://www.recyclenewmexico.com/

Polk began his career as a Peace Corps volunteer in the early 1970s, then obtained a masters degree in city planning from MIT, served as assistant director for commercial development with the City of Boston in the 1980s, and as housing development director for the City of Albuquerque from 1990 to 1996.

From 1997 to 2016, Polk worked overseas as an advisor to public and private partnership projects in countries including India, Poland, South Africa, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Mali, Egypt, and a dozen more. It was during this work overseas that Polk witnessed the explosive increase in plastic use and became fascinated by both the incredible environmental damage of plastics and the challenges of recycling and plastic waste management. In 2016, Polk and his wife returned to New Mexico where he is now working as a documentary filmmaker.

Pierpont started her career in the recycling field as the coordinator of the Recycle Santa Fe Art Festival in 2005 and worked to keep forest trimmings out of landfills as part of a Collaborative Forest Restoration Project. She is Executive Director of the NM Recycling Coalition and is inspired by the less obvious benefits that recycling brings to communities, such as economic development, jobs, community building and quality of life. She holds a degree in Geology from Colorado College and a master’s equivalent in geography from UCLA. She lives in Santa Fe with her husband and two daughters.