It’s that time of year…. No, not for Santa, but to kick off the 11th year of the Sustainable Film Series! The 2021 Sustainability Film Series (formerly Green Film Series) will allow you to participate, no matter where you hang your hat!! There are a few silver linings to the pandemic—you can pretend you’re back on campus with your friends! Once you pre-register on Eventbrite to view a particular month’s film (over the span of a week), you’ll receive a Zoom link to the discussion that will take place on the 3rd Thursday of each month from January to May 2021, led by a discussion facilitator or panel, knowledgeable about the film topic. You will participate in engaging dialogue from 7-8 pm. See the film line-up below and save these dates in your calendar.
Date & Time: 7:00-8:00 pm, 3rd Thursdays of each month, Jan-May, 2021
Cost: FREE, donations appreciated (Michigan Tech Fund 1368 EO)
Location: Online (register on Eventbrite and zoom link will be sent via email)
Jan. 21 – True Cost (92 min.)
This is a story about the clothes we wear, the people who make them, and the impact the industry is having on our world. The price of clothing has been decreasing for decades, while the human and environmental costs have grown dramatically. This documentary film pulls back the curtain on the untold story and asks us to consider, who really pays the price for our clothing? (2015)
Feb. 18– Minimalism (78 min.)
How might your life be better with less? The film examines the many flavors of minimalism by taking the audience inside the lives of minimalists from all walks of life — families, entrepreneurs, architects, artists, journalists, scientists, and even a former Wall Street broker — all of whom are striving to live a meaningful life with less. (2016)
March 18 – Brave Blue World (50 min.) Michigan Tech World Water Day Event
From reuse to energy generation, new innovations across five continents are explored in this documentary about building a future for sustainable water. (2020)
April 15 – Plastic Ocean (102 min.)
In the center of the Pacific Ocean gyre, researchers found more plastic than plankton. Plastic Ocean documents the newest science, how plastics, once they enter the oceans, break up into small particulates that enter the food chain where thy attract toxins like a magnet. These toxins are stored in seafood’s fatty tissues, and eventually consumed by us. What can we do?
May 20 – 2040 (92 min.)
What would the world look like in 2040 if we actually implement the solutions for climate change that already exist in 2019? It’s a story that’s less often told than that of future catastrophe, and it’s the premise of a new documentary from Australian filmmaker Damon Gameau, who tells the story by introducing us to his 4-year-old daughter, then visualizing in detail how technology could change by the time she’s 25. “I’m calling it an exercise in fact-based dreaming,” he says in the film.
The films are selected by our cosponsors listed below, along with Jessica Daignault, a PhD student in Civil & Environmental Engineering, and Ande Myers, a PhD student in the College of Forest Resources & Environmental Science.
Cosponsors
Lake Superior Stewardship Initiative, Michigan Tech Great Lakes Research Center, Keweenaw Land Trust,
Keweenaw Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, MTU Sustainable Futures Institute, and MTU Dept. of Social Sciences,
Coordinated by the Michigan Tech Center for Science & Environmental Outreach
2021 schedule: https://blogs.mtu.edu/cseo/ and http://lakesuperiorstewardship.org/green_film.php
