Program for Sunday March 15, 2020

Madhavi Venkatesan started the Sustainable Practices film series in the fall of 2017 and screened Divide in Concord in the spring of 2018. The film documents the first plastic water bottle ban in the U.S., in Concord, Massachusetts and this screening was a turning point for Sustainable Practices Ltd. The film’s embodiment of all the elements of sustainability literacy, stewardship, environmental activism and courage inspired and helped the group understand what is needed to make the individual behavioral and system-wide economic changes required of us today. In many ways, Divide in Concord influenced the Sustainable Practices Cape Plastic Bottle Ban campaign and the filings of the 2019 Municipal Plastic Bottle Ban and the 2020 Commercial Single-use Plastic Water Bottle Ban. Madhavi will share information about these efforts, along with the motivation for the environmental activism that defines the actions of Sustainable Practices.

Madhavi Venkatesan is the executive director of Sustainable Practices Ltd.  She earned a PhD, MA, and BA in Economics from Vanderbilt University, a Masters in Sustainability and Environmental Management from Harvard University, and a Masters in Environmental Law and Policy from Vermont Law School. A recipient of a Fulbright Distinguished Lectureship (Philippines), she has contributed to numerous books and journal articles on the subject of sustainability and economics. Madhavi resides in Brewster and is on the faculty of Northeastern University in Boston.