Professor Lara B. Fowler appears in widely shared Plastic Free July video

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.— Professor Lara B. Fowler recently appeared in a video for Plastic Free July that explained the aim of this annual event and how it can benefit people and the planet. The video, produced by AP360 Productions, drew on Fowler’s expertise in environmental law to explain the problem of overreliance on single-use plastics, which also impacts people’s health.

“Plastics, as they break down, they’re called endocrine disruptors. They disrupt how your body naturally produces different kinds of materials, if you will, hormones. And so, what we’re seeing in a lot of different places is really severe health impacts,” said Fowler, who noted that people consume about a credit card’s worth of plastics a week in the food we eat.

Fowler went on to discuss ways consumers can help fight single-use plastic waste in July and other times.

The video sparked more than 175 broadcast stories, including cities like Atlanta, Los Angeles, Denver, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Seattle, and even a couple of Australian towns. You can watch the video here.

Professor of Teaching Lara B. Fowler is an attorney, mediator, and facilitator who works at the intersection of law, science, and working with communities. She focuses on challenging questions related to energy, food and agriculture, water, climate, community resilience, and sustainability. In addition to teaching and research, she is the faculty advisor for Dickinson Law’s Alternative Dispute Resolution student group; a nominator for The EarthShot Prize; the jury chair for the Stockholm Junior Water Prize; the vice president of the Chesapeake Bay Journal board of directors; and a board member for Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Science and Technology Policy Program (COPA STEP).