Following July 20’s 1pm performance of The Plastic Bag Store, stop by MASS MoCA’s Research & Development Store for a no-plastic Sip & Shop with our partners from Beyond Plastics.

The Plastic Bag Store is an immersive, multimedia experience by artist Robin Frohardt, produced in association with Williamstown Theatre Festival, that uses humor, craft, and a critical lens to question our culture of consumption and convenience — specifically, the enduring effects of single-use plastics.

In this free program, activists Jenny Gitlitz and Eileen Ryan ask us, “What’s next in our activism against single use plastics?” Come away from the Sip & Shop with a toolkit of ways you can make a difference in our anti-plastic activism.

This program is free and open to the public. Drop-ins are welcome!

Please note, a separate ticket is required to attend The Plastic Bag Store. Click here to learn more or purchase a ticket.

About the Speakers:

Jenny Gitlitz is the Director of Solutions to Plastic Pollution of Beyond Plastics’ national group. Her work focuses on helping activists and policymakers draft and advance legislation to reduce plastic production, consumption, and pollution, and to eliminate highly toxic chemicals from plastic packaging. An alumna of U.C. Berkeley’s Energy and Resources Group and a recipient of the Switzer environmental fellowship. Jenny has spent more than 30 years developing programs and conducting research, analysis, and legislative advocacy around recycling and green building. She has written and spoken widely about the success of deposit laws, and has campaigned to advance bottle bills in states across the country. Prior to joining Beyond Plastics, Jenny spearheaded the Beverage Market Data Analysis at the Container Recycling Institute. A Berkshires resident, she enjoys canoeing and cross country skiing.

Eileen Ryan is the leader of Beyond Plastics Greater Boston, a trained public speaker with the Beyond Plastics Speakers Bureau and a member of the Steering Committee of Plastic Free Massachusetts. In 2016 she helped to pass the Single Use Plastic Shopping Bag ban in Watertown, MA. Ryan grew up in North Bennington, VT, attended Buxton School in Williamstown, MA, and now lives in Watertown. She is a climate and social justice activist, a volunteer tour guide with Boston by Foot, the mother of three grown children, and a grandmother. She is happy to talk to anyone and everyone about how and why plastic pollution is a human and planetary health crisis.