The Weavers Way Plastic Reduction Task Force will kick off its 2021 set of activities to educate the public and reduce plastics usage with a virtual educational forum on Thursday, March 18 at 6:30 p.m.

The presenter that evening will be Carol Armstrong, a cognitive neuroscientist and neuropsychologist who was drawn to preserve marine environments, where biodiversity and ecological productivity are at great risk due to the expansion of human activities.

After 30 years of researching and caring for people with brain cancer and other neurological illnesses at Penn Medicine and Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, she shifted her focus to plastics and watershed restoration. She joined the Advisory Council of the Pennsylvania Office of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, then completed the Penn State Extension Master Watershed Stewardship Program.

Carol is active in the Stroud Water Research Center’s stream monitoring program and a longtime member of the Sierra Club. She leads service outings to clean debris from critical waters such as the Octoraro Reservoir in southeastern Lancaster County and the John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge at Tinicum. She is a frequent presenter on topics revolving around plastics and zero waste.

She will discuss some of the plastic reduction policies that have been implemented locally and around the world. In addition, she will walk those in attendance through the goals of zero waste and the work being done by the Zero Waste International Alliance. A moderated Q&A session will follow her presentation.

The pandemic set back several Task Force measures intended to reduce plastic use at the Co-op, but we hope to get those back on track this year. We invite members to join us to learn about plastics, how to reduce your own “plastic footprint” and how to help advocate for reduced plastic policies at the Co-op as well as in our city and state.

For more information on the forum and a link to register, go to the Calendar of Events on the Co-op’s website.