Many institutions and communities are engaged in decision-making about athletic fields and playground surfacing. Building professionals, planners, and designers often need to assess competing proposals for infrastructure. With increasing awareness of the need to reduce plastic use and pollution globally, it is important to consider the role of the built environment in contributing to the total burden of plastics.
In this webinar, Ryan Johnson provided an overview of the contribution that buildings and construction make to global plastic consumption. He highlighted the ways in which plastic building materials have been found to affect health and environment throughout their life cycle. Ryan highlighted artificial turf as a case study and presented information from Habitable’s Turf Product Guidance. This guidance provides information for building professionals and others. Dr. Winnie Courtene-Jones discussed the health and environmental implications of macro- and micro-plastics.
The webinar was moderated by Dr. Rachel Massey.
Featured Speakers
Dr. Winnie Courtene-Jones is a Lecturer in Marine Pollution at Bangor University and holds an Honorary Associate Research role at the University of Plymouth. She is a marine environmental scientist with over a decade of experience researching the sources, environmental prevalence, effects, and solutions to (micro)plastic pollution. Her research has led her to study (micro)plastic pollution in a variety of terrestrial and marine environments, from agricultural soils and coastline to some of the most remote parts of our planet, including the deep sea and oceanic gyres. She has led research into the global land-sea releases and movement of plastics ('eXXpedition Round the World), and the environmental degradation and impacts of biodegradable and bio-based plastics across terrestrial and marine environments (NERC-funded “Bio-Plastic-Risk” project). Since 2021, Dr. Courtene-Jones has been supporting the development of the UN Global Plastics Treaty – a legally binding instrument to address plastic pollution. She has attended the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee sessions and is a core member of the Scientists’ Coalition for an Effective Plastics Treaty, co-leading working groups on 'Microplastics', 'Alternative & substitute Plastics', and ‘Plastic Product Design’.
Note: This webinar does not make any claims about particular products, vendors, or individuals. All statements of fact are supported by peer-reviewed scientific research and other evidence-based sources. This information is provided in the context of a recent defamation lawsuit that seeks to silence a webinar on the environmental impacts of artificial turf.
This webinar was co-hosted with Habitable. Habitable works to improve human and environmental health through science-based solutions that inspire materials innovations to eliminate pollution, mitigate climate change, and create a more equitable future.