On Individual Action

We are gearing up for our next installment of Ecofest (after two successful years of the Ecolympics), which runs from April 15-22. In addition to the marquee events that we have planned -- we just added former National Poetry slam champion Regie Gibson to feature at our Eco-slam on April 16, we have a plethora of individual challenge events to help us raise awareness about our footprint on the environment. 

Certainly it's going to take more than committing to shorter showers, eating less meat and using reusable cups and bags to create a sustainable world, especially, according to this article by Chris Hedges, when we find out that individuals and municipalities consume only 10% of water resources while agriculture and industry gobble up 90%, but we must walk before we can run. 

All great movements start with individual action. Someone somewhere decided it was time to stand up and act. Check out these films from the Wild and Scenic Film Festival and see individual action in action. 

Here's Hilton Kelley fighting industrial pollution in Port Arthur Texas:

Here's Annie Leonard educating us that, hey, guess what, we're not broke:

I wasn't able to stay for the evening's feature, but it's a story about the founder of Bikes Not Bombs, located in Jamaica Plain and you can now see My Own Two Wheels. 

The main afternoon feature was Taking Root: The Vision of Wangari Maathai, a Kenyan who won
the Nobel Peace Prize in 2004. She started a movement to plant a million trees
and on the way she helped bring down the dictatorship. The new goal for her foundation
(Maathai died of cancer in September 2011) is to plant 14 billion trees. Now
that's a goal! You can read about this very inspiration person and her work here. 







When it comes down to it, individual action is indeed about action. You can find

other great examples at the Wild and Scenic website.

Ecofest 2012 Events

The Call of Life

We are gearing up for this year's Ecofest (formerly the Ecolympics!), with the main events running from April 15 to April 22. We have a whole bunch of events that will help tune us in to our own ecological footprint on the environment and the consequent species loss. Sign up for our individual events (take a shorter shower, eat
less meat, bring your cup around to coffee, recycle, and more!) beginning on April 1.

April 8: A screening of the Call of Life, a documentary film about the present mass extinction. This screening will be at 7pm in the Rich Hall cinema room (not Danielsen, as previously advertised). All are welcome. Eco-Pizza provided.

April 16: 7pm @BU Central. Eco-Slam -- an environmental poetry slam and open mic. Come cheer on our eco-poets as they vie for eco-sustainability in our first-ever Eco-Slam. Featuring former National Slam Champion Regie Gibson in a special performance. Bring a poem for the open mic. Win a door prize. Become eco-inspired. All are welcome.

April 18: 12pm. Fred Wasserman from BU's Biology department presents a lunch-time seminar on "What is ethology?" Come and find out! Lunch will be provided. RSVP to core@bu.edu. Location: STH 406 (Classics Library, 745 Commonwealth Avenue). All are welcome.

April 19: 6pm. Musician and artist Miranda Loud from Naturestage presents her acclaimed multi-media lecture, Saving the Elephants, Saving Ourselves: The Role of the Arts in Social Change, that demonstrates how artists are using their art to draw attention to the plight of elephants, and shows how art can awaken empathy and kinship with other species.
Location: Kenmore Classroom Building 101 (KCB 101, 565 Commonwealth Avenue). All are welcome.

April 24: 6pm. Darra Goldstein, founding editor of Gastronomica: The Journal of Food and Culture, and Russian professor from Williams College presents a seminar on What we Talk About When We Talk About Food. All are welcome. Location: Barrister's Hall, BU Law School (765 Commonwealth Avenue).

We are also working on some eco-excursions. Stay tuned for those.