PPC Webinar – Plastic-Free Presents: Mindful Gifting for Healthier Holidays

Every holiday season, millions of people face the challenge of finding thoughtful gifts for the ones they love. Unfortunately, cultural norms around holiday gift giving often create an ocean of waste in their wake—in packaging, wrapping, and in the many gifted items that are used a limited number of times before breaking or being discarded. Many of these items are made from plastic that offgases toxic chemicals and sheds microplastic particles, which are harmful to animals and people, especially children. Fortunately, there are alternative ways to celebrate and by forging new traditions, we can gift mindfully for healthier, lower waste holidays.

Join us for a special holiday webinar featuring Alejandra Warren, Co-Founder and Executive Director of Plastic Free Future and Dr. Manasa Mantravadi, Pediatrician, Founder/CEO of Ahimsa in a discussion moderated by Plastic Pollution Coalition Co-Founder & Managing Director Julia Cohen.

DATE: Thursday, November 17
TIME: 2-3 pm PT | 5-6 pm ET
Click here to convert to your timezone.

PANELISTS

Dr. Manasa Mantravadi
Pediatrician, Founder/CEO of Ahimsa

Dr. Manasa Mantravadi is a board certified pediatrician who practices in Indiana as a Pediatric Hospitalist. She takes care of children who are ill enough to be admitted to the hospital and cares for them in this setting. She received her medical degree from IU School of Medicine and completed pediatric residency at Northwestern University/Lurie Children’s Hospital. She trained at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital for fellowship in Endocrinology. Most recently, she launched the world’s first colorful stainless steel dishes for kids, Ahimsa, after the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) highlighted the growing evidence of chemicals in plastic harming children’s health. The company has been featured in Parents Magazine and was the recipient of The Good Housekeeping Parenting Awards 2021. She is now on the Council for Environmental Health and Climate Change as well as the Council for School Health at the AAP. She loves to educate and empower parents with evidence-based information to raise healthy children and protect our planet.

Alejandra Warren
Co-Founder & Executive Director, Plastic Free Future

Alejandra Warren is an intersectional environmentalist working on diverse plastic reduction, resource conservation and intersectional justice projects in California. She co-founded Plastic Free Future in 2020, a non-profit organization dedicated to the reduction and elimination of plastic pollution through promoting reusable alternatives and focusing on outreach to systemically excluded communities. From soil to humans, Alejandra strongly believes in the interconnectedness of all organisms and that working to heal our relationship with the environment will lead to happier, healthier, and more resilient communities.

MODERATOR

Julia Cohen
Co-Founder & Managing Director, Plastic Pollution Coalition

Julia Cohen is Co-Founder and Managing Director of Plastic Pollution Coalition, based in Washington, D.C. Julia has nearly three decades of experience in leading executive, strategic, communications, fundraising, and outreach efforts for a wide range of government, entertainment, and non-profit groups.

She has served in leadership positions with numerous organizations, including Environmental Working Group (EWG), Woman’s National Democratic Club (WNDC), MADE SAFE, National Democratic Institute for International Affairs (NDI), Save The Children’s YouthNoise, Youth Vote Coalition, Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA), Rock The Vote, and as a Program Officer, Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration, US State Department.

RESOURCES

• Ahimsa Holiday ‘22 – with the purchase of the Mindful Mealtime set this holiday season, you will receive 2 FREE gifts!
• Plastic Free Future
• So Kind Gift Registry – SoKind is a platform that makes it easy to give and receive homemade gifts, charitable donations, secondhand goods, experiences, and presents of time and skill. Here’s to more fun and less stuff.
• 10 Ways to Give Without Buying Stuff (Treehugger)
• A Thoughtful Non-Toy Gift Guide: 31+ Gift Ideas for Children That Aren’t Toys (Nourishing Joy)