By: Teaneck Creek Conservancy
The Teaneck International Film Festival screening of Plastic People on November 9, 2025, proved to be more than a powerful documentary viewing — it was a moment of civic engagement. The film, which lays out the growing human-health and environmental threat posed by microplastics, stirred an engaged audience of local residents, activists, and Conservancy supporters and was followed by a panel of women leaders we invited to discuss prevention strategies and next steps. Plastic People lays out the science and stakes clearly and has been screened widely as part of a national conversation about microplastics and public health.
That local pressure and public attention came at a critical time: later that month, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy led a multi-state petition asking the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to begin nationwide monitoring of microplastics in drinking water — a concrete policy step that amplifies public concern into regulatory action. The petition (filed on November 26, 2025) joins similar calls from advocates and other governors and strengthens the push for federal monitoring programs that can inform health protections and regulation. By bringing the film to our community, sponsoring the screening, and hosting a conversation with expert panelists, the Conservancy helped translate local education and collective concern into one more voice in a growing chorus calling for better science and policy on microplastics.
Collective action — from film audiences who learn and mobilize, to volunteer organizers who keep the conversation local, to governors who press federal agencies — is how small-scale awareness becomes national impact. The Conservancy’s role in selecting and sponsoring Plastic People, and in convening the panel of women leaders committed to preventing plastic pollution, shows how education, storytelling, and organized civic engagement together move the needle on pressing environmental issues. We’ll keep building those bridges between local stewardship and broader policy change so our community’s voice continues to matter.