The event was hosted by Greenation, a nonpartisan coalition of Michigan residents that aims to promote environmental change while building a stronger economy and more community-based neighborhood environments. Greenation also promotes sustainable energy education and the creation of nonconventional jobs in the sustainable energy niche.

Derrell Slaughter, Lansing director of Greenation and organizer of the summit, said he sees the green movement as a way to redefine Michigan’s future.

“I have family members who are struggling right now in terms of jobs and trying to make ends meet,” Slaughter said. “I see the movement as a way to help them and lift them out of their situation.”
Greenation President David Bullock said the organization and its goals were a vocation to him.
“It’s a calling — it’s the defining movement of our time,” Bullock said.

Bullock said other Greenation projects include urban gardening projects, youth recycling programs and cleanups of General Motors factory sites in Lansing and Detroit. Greenation also purchased five homes and “adopted” three neighborhood blocks in Highland Park, Mich., and works with the community to promote green awareness while building neighborhood relationships.

East Lansing Mayor Vic Loomis, one of the keynote speakers at the summit, said in his speech the community was beginning to work toward green energy in the aftermath of Michigan’s manufacturing crisis and will continue the trend in the future.

“We recognize that, as a suburban community, we are part of a state that clearly was manufacturing-oriented,” Loomis said. “What we have to do now is retool those skills.”

Loomis said East Lansing also was looking to encourage green jobs by integrating the MSU and East Lansing communities.

“There is so much wonderful research that is taking place on the campus of Michigan State University … (We need to) turn that into jobs and keep those jobs in the city of East Lansing,” Loomis said.

Journalism and Residential College in the Arts and Humanities junior Emanuele Berry said she worked with Greenation in one of her classes. She and other members of her class used social media networks such as Twitter, Facebook and YouTube to inform the public about Greenation and its goals as an organization. Berry said the way Greenation went about the process of green was intriguing and was helping residents think green for the future.

“A lot of times in America, we don’t fight for our future ­— we’d rather live in the present than think about our future in a longer time scale,” Berry said. “(Greenation) helps people create jobs and could help get the economy in Michigan going.”