After meeting political composer Frederic Rzewski, music performance senior Joseph Herbst was inspired to take his saxophone and play to inspire people about various global environmental issues.
He said he hopes his music will spark interest in people so they never forget about environmental disasters, while spreading awareness to various environmental issues that have yet to be addressed.
He said his next song will be done within the new few months and be about the Flint water crisis. His inspiration for writing about the Flint water crisis came when he volunteered to help families in need of clean water.
“The stories that struck me most were the ones of parents not knowing if this was all their fault,” Herbst said. “They couldn’t prevent it because they didn’t know, but they still feel guilt because they’re a parent.”
He said the parents took the blame because they were giving their children lead-contaminated water without knowing it was dangerous.
“These are human beings and families that are being affected,” Herbst said.
Herbst is a part of MSU Greenpeace, a nonprofit student organization that hopes to raise awareness for global environmental and sustainability issues.
Last year, MSU Greenpeace led a campaign to have MSU Culinary Services switch to a more sustainable tuna provider. After many meetings, the residence halls agreed to switch tuna providers.
Communication junior Neal Page said the group is currently working on the use of krill oil in different products at various Walgreens locations. MSU Greenpeace just finished walking the streets of Chicago to promote its cause.
The use of krill oil in products is bad because krill are being over-fished in areas where whales and penguins consume them as the main part of their diet, Residential College in the Arts and Humanities sophomore Claire Bogrow said.
“We are trying to make the world a better place,” Page said. “I would like MSU Greenpeace to be a vehicle for your environmental activism.”
MSU Greenpeace is currently looking into the issue of recycling in East Lansing. Bogrow said that a main area of concern is with DTN and their apartment complexes, because of the larger quantity of residents who might not have access to on-site recycling at these complexes.
Bogrow also said MSU has made an effort toward recycling. However, she said the student population needs to be educated on the necessity of recycling.
MSU Greenpeace hopes to accomplish this by using stickers, T-shirts and talking with the community.
In the future, Bogrow said the decline in bee population may be the next issue to address.
“Any calls to action or something immediate that we can make an impact in is something we look forward to,” Page said.
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