2021 Plastic Waste Reduction Summit

Moving the Gros Morne Region Towards

a Circular Economy

Challenges and Solutions for Local Businesses & Tourism Operators

February 17th and 18th

Agenda: Day 1
Challenges of Plastic Pollution

9:30am – 9:55am OPENING REMARKS AND KEYNOTE

Jennifer Constable, Co-Founder of Plastic Free Lunenburg.
- Becoming a Plastic-free Community in Atlantic Canada

9:55am – 10:40am PANEL DISCUSSION: PLASTIC ISSUE AND IMPACTS. Q&A TO FOLLOW

Dr. Max Liboiron, Director of CLEAR plastic pollution lab and Associate Professor in Geography at Memorial University, Newfoundland.
Imari Walker, Environmental Engineering PhD Candidate at Duke University, North Carolina.
Susan Debreceni, Program Lead of Volunteer Engagement and Community Programs
(U of T Trash Team), Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. University of Toronto, Ontario.
Laura Markley, PhD Candidate, Civil & Environmental Engineering at the College of Engineering and Computer Science, Syracuse University, New York. Founder of wastefreephd.com

10:40am – 10:55am 15-MINUTE BREAK

10:55am – 11:05am MESSAGE FROM THE MINISTER OF ENVIRONMENT & CLIMATE CHANGE CANADA

11:05am – 11:30am AHOI PRESENTATION – PLASTIC POLLUTION IN GROS MORNE

Rebecca Brushett, Executive Director of AHOI
Emily Walsh and Aaron Hingston, Intern & GMCA/ AHOI Student Assistants

11:30am – 12:10pm BREAKOUT SESSION: CHALLENGES OF REDUCING PLASTIC WASTE

Small group discussions to identify challenges/obstacles facing businesses and municipalities, as they try to reduce plastic waste.

12:10pm – 12:25pm REGROUP AND PRESENTATIONS

Small groups share the obstacles and challenges they’ve identified.

12:25pm – 12:30pm CLOSING REMARKS

Agenda: Day 2
Solutions to Reduce Plastic Waste

9:30am – 9:40am OPENING REMARKS AND REVIEW OF DAY 1 BREAKOUT SESSION

9:40am – 9:55am KEYNOTE - SINGLE-USE PLASTIC VS REUSABLES DURING A PANDEMIC

Dr. Antonia Sappong, MD, CCFP, B.Sc., Co-Founder Plastic Free Toronto, General Practitioner, Inner City Health Associates - Seaton House men's shelter, Member of the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment (CAPE)

9:55am – 10:40am PANEL DISCUSSION: PLASTIC SOLUTIONS. Q&A TO FOLLOW

Gros Morne Institute for Sustainable Tourism (GMIST)
No9 Coffee Bar, Lunenburg, NS.
Tour Gros Morne, Norris Point, NL.

10:40am – 10:55am 15-MINUTE BREAK

10:55am - 11:05am MESSAGE FROM THE MP FOR THE LONG RANGE MOUNTAINS, NL

11:05am – 11:30am AHOI INITIATIVES – SOLUTIONS FOR GROS MORNE

Rebecca Brushett, ED of AHOI
Jackie Bauman, Former MUN Master of Arts in Environmental Policy Student Intern

11:30am – 12:10pm BREAKOUT SESSION: STRATEGIES FOR REDUCING PLASTIC WASTE

Small group discussions to share ideas and identify solutions to the key findings from the breakout session on Day 1.

12:10pm – 12:25pm REGROUP AND PRESENTATIONS

Small groups share the solutions and ideas they have for overcoming challenges with reducing plastic waste in the region.

12:25am-12:30pm CLOSING REMARKS

Research and Reports Referenced
All Published in 2020
(click titles to download reports)

1. Healthy Recovery Plan: For a Safe and Sustainable Future. Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment.

2. Multi-Materials Stewardship Board Releases Coastline Litter Audit Report

3. Plastic rain in protected areas of the United States

4. Predicted growth in plastic waste exceeds efforts to mitigate plastic pollution

5. Regional report on plastic pollution in Newfoundland and Labrador, 1962-2019

6. TRAPPING TRASH IN THE TORONTO HARBOUR-Seabin Studies

7. U of T Trash Team Home Waste Audit Summary

Many thanks go out to our partners in the 2020-2022 Zero Plastic Waste Initiative!