Plastic Pollution Archives

Interviews

The Myth of Plastic Recycling

Judith Enck on the failures of US regulation and the grassroots movements demanding accountability in her new book, The Problem With Plastic

April 9, 2026 • by Judith Enck and Katya Wack

When a Norfolk Southern train derailed in East Palestine, Ohio, in 2023, most people saw a news story about a toxic spill, a controlled burn, and a small town blanketed in chemical smoke. What far fewer realized was that the substance deliberately set on fire was vinyl chloride: the building ...

Modern infrastructure has created the expectation of a continuous, drinkable flow of water

Water use has always been an indicator of social relations. In western societies, most treat drinking water as a simultaneously infinite and hyper-individualized resource. But plastic pollution and the climate emergency are forcing us to question our consumption habits....