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OAR brings music and environmental awareness to MSU

Alisha Green

Here are some interesting facts from the two movies screened as part of the Campus Consciousness Tour on Nov. 20:

“For the Price of a Cup of Coffee”

Here is a link to the trailer for the movie on YouTube:

 

  • A Starbucks in San Francisco can produce about 500 gallons of trash each day.
  • There is not enough sunlight and oxygen to decompose even biodegradable objects in most landfills. The rotting garbage produces methane gas, which is a greenhouse gas and major contributor to global warming.
  • In 2005, people in the U.S. produced 245 million tons of garbage, and 35 percent of it was paper products. The paper industry is No. 3 in energy consumption and No. 5 in water pollution.
  • 40 percent of American waterways are unsafe for drinking, fishing, and swimming.

“Oil + Water”

Here is a link to the trailer of the movie on YouTube:


  • Tyler Bradt and Seth Warren, world-class kayakers, converted a diesel fire truck from Japan to run on any type of oil.
  • They toured across the U.S. and were the first people to travel the entire Pan-American Highway without using a drop of petroleum.
  • Their tour through 16 countries attracted the attention of American Ambassadors, who began setting up press conferences and demonstrations for the group.

The oils they used included salmon, pig, chicken, palm, canola, and plant oils.

When OAR came to MSU last week, music wasn’t the only thing they brought. Their concert on Nov. 20 was just the finale to a day full of events as part of the Campus Consciousness Tour that sought to inspire environmental awareness and activism.

Reverb, a non-profit that works with musicians and their fans to spread ideas about environmental sustainability, organized the tour.

From 12:30 to 1:30, representatives from MSU, OAR and Oxfam – an international anti-poverty group – held a town hall forum in the MSU Union to discuss sustainability on campus as well as environmental issues worldwide.

Virginia Borcherdt, a senior in the Residential College of Arts and Humanities, was an onsite volunteer for Reverb and was present at the town hall forum.

“We had some great dialogue about the music industry and what they’re doing to become more environmentally conscious,” Borcherdt said.

Skye Black, a sociology senior, is on the Environmental Stewardship team for the Office of the Vice President for Finance and Operations and took on much of the planning and coordination for the day’s events.

She said the music was an important aspect in attracting attention to their message.

“With environmental events, we generally find ourselves preaching to the choir, but with something like this, it really helped us reach out to a wider crowd of people,” Black said.

Black said that students have many opportunities to get involved in environmental movements on campus. Eco, MSU’s Student Sustainability Organization, and the Outdoors Club are just two groups on campus committed to preserving and enjoying nature.

“I think students need to realize what a great resource being a part of this campus is,” Borcherdt said.

She added that she hoped students attending the day’s events would walk away with a deeper understanding of the impact they can make by being a part of MSU. She and Black agreed that college campuses are often a hotbed for activism and a good place for students to organize for movements in which they believe.

Continuing the tour’s series of events, two environmental movies were screened in the Communication Arts and Sciences Building in the afternoon.

Alex Cummings, an advertising senior and vice president of the MSU Outdoors Club, represented the group at the movie screenings. He said they are committed to preserving nature in the hope that people can continue to enjoy it for recreational activities.

“We understand that there is a chance that 10, 20 years from now it won’t be the same thing as what you’re looking at now,” he said. “We want to make sure we do something so it’s there in the future.”

Cummings echoed Black and Borcherdt’s message of taking small steps to become environmentally friendly.

“I hope that students become more aware of things around them in their everyday lives, take the messages and do something with what they’ve learned,” Cummings said. “We don’t expect people to make radical changes in their lives – to turn things around 360 degrees –but there are small things that everyone can do.”

Questions? Comments? Contact Alisha Green at greena11@msu.edu 


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