Name: Lars

Social Justice Group: 2018-2019, Environment: Plastic Pollution

Date of Fieldwork: December 19, 2018

Name of Organization: Environmental Law division

Person (people) with whom I met and their job titles: Hilary Meltzer and Nathan Taylor

Type of Fieldwork: Interview

What I did:

We had a facetime with Hilary Meltzer about the different bans and laws that either protect plastic factories or help the Environment. She and her assistant were there. We talked about the different laws that effect plastic in the US.

What I learned:

I learned that the main focus of some Environmental activists in NYC is not to ban plastic bags, but to ban Styrofoam in NYC because the attempt against bags failed. I also learned that a big way trash gets in the rivers is by rain fall and it sweeps up all the litter and puts it in the sewer, which right now empties out in the Hudson and East Rivers.

What I learned about Social Justice “work” and/or Civil and Human rights “work” from this fieldwork:

People who work in law, if they want to make a ban or law then they need to work around other laws that might prevent them from making laws. They need to have a compromise that doesn’t only benefit them, or benefits them less than it could. Also, you need years of experience to be able to influence the courts because almost no one can be prepared enough to do anything with only an idea.