MEDIA ADVISORY for April 11, 2024
‘Blue Vinyl’ Movie Screening and Q&A
For Immediate Release: April 4, 2024
Contact: Catalina Wagers, Co-Founder Cleveland Heights Green Team,
email: greenteam@chgreenteama.org
On Thursday April 11 the Cleveland Heights Green Team in partnership with Beyond Plastics, and Heights Libraries will host a screening of “Blue Vinyl”, a documentary film that follows a woman looking to update her parents’ home only to find that the vinyl chloride typically used in many materials came with alarming environmental, health, and environmental justice impacts. Although the film “Blue Vinyl” was released in 2002, it remains relevant today as vinyl chloride persists in American products, threatening the health of consumers, the communities surrounding PVC production facilities, and those living along railways that transport the dangerous chemical. Three train cars carrying vinyl chloride derailed in East Palestine on February 3, 2023.
PVC plastic made from vinyl chloride is used to make everything from the iconic rubber ducky and other children's toys to pipes, floor coverings, shower curtains, raincoats, and vinyl siding. Fortunately, there are safer alternatives to PVC. The International Agency for Research on Cancer considers it a Group 1 carcinogen.
This film keeps with the theme of Earth Day 2024, 'Planet over Plastics', reaffirming the urgency to reduce global plastic pollution and ensure a more sustainable future.
WHAT: Screening of “Blue Vinyl,” Winner of the Excellence in Cinematography Award at Sundance an Emmy-award-winning documentary film, followed by a Q&A with Dr. Kathy A. Smachlo, member of Beyond Plastics.
WHEN: Thursday April 11, 6.30 pm
WHERE: Heights Libraries – Lee Road Branch, 2345 Lee Rd, Cleveland Heights, OH 44118
BACKGROUND:
Launched in 2019, Beyond Plastics is a nationwide project that works to end plastic pollution. Using research, policy, and advocacy expertise, Beyond Plastics is building a well-informed movement working to achieve the institutional, economic, and societal changes needed to protect our planet and ourselves, from the negative health, climate, and environmental impacts from the production, usage, and disposal of plastics.
Cleveland Heights Green Team is a grassroots organization with the mission to reduce and to better manage local impact on our environment through advocacy, stewardship, and education.