What does it take to confront an industry that has so thoroughly embedded itself in modern life it can seem almost invisible? In this conversation, Judith Enck — founder of Beyond Plastics, former EPA Regional Administrator, and author of The Problem with Plastic — joins the award-winning investigative journalist Andrea Bernstein to discuss power, accountability, and the long fight to protect public health from corporate convenience masquerading as progress.

Drawing on Enck’s years in government and advocacy, and Bernstein’s unmatched eye for the intersection of money, influence, and public harm, the conversation will explore plastic not simply as waste, but as policy, politics, and culture: a crisis manufactured in plain sight. A timely exchange about environmental responsibility, institutional courage, and what it means to take on systems built to outlast outrage.

This conversation is a co-production of Damascus Citizens for Sustainability and the Deep Water Literary Festival:
When: Sunday, June 21, 2026 from 1:30 pm to 2:30 pm
Where: Krause Recital Hall, DVAA, 37 Main St. Narrowsburg, New York
Get tickets here.