The Wallace Stegner Center’s 26th annual symposium on “The Plastics Paradox: Societal Boon or Environmental Bane?” to be held on Thursday to Friday, March 25-26, 2020, will be held virtually, bringing together speakers and attendees from across the country. The program will explore the role of plastics in the modern world; the environmental impacts of plastic production, use, and disposal; plastics and the law; human health and plastics; and the ongoing debate about the need, viability, and desirability of alternatives to plastics. The opening keynote on day one will consider the life cycle of plastic, including the plastics disposal dilemma. The Stegner Lecture on day two will place plastics in the larger context of our consumptive lifestyles and will be followed by two facilitated panel discussions—with extensive audience dialogue—about global, national, and local solutions to the plastics paradox. For a complete list of speakers and their bios click here »