Friday, March 29, 2024

Traveling environmental justice event to take place on campus

March 18, 2019
Pins on a student's backpack during the Global Climate Strike Walkout on March 15, 2019 at the Hannah Administration Building.
Pins on a student's backpack during the Global Climate Strike Walkout on March 15, 2019 at the Hannah Administration Building. —
Photo by Sylvia Jarrus | The State News

“Points of Intervention Tour”, a traveling environmental justice event, will come to campus this week.

The two-day event is hosted by several university organizations — the MSU Surplus Store and Recycling Center, Residential and Hospitality Services, MSU Sustainability, the Associated Students of Michigan State University and the Broad Art Museum and Art Lab — in partnership with the Post-Landfill Action Network, a zero waste nonprofit.

"(We) believe that the emerging generation of students has the capacity to exercise solutions for real change if they are equipped with the necessary skills to lead and organize on the microcosm of their campus," the nonprofit's spokesperson said in a press release.

The tour aims to increase awareness of the differences between "a linear and circular economy," and invites attendees to question "dominant and unsustainable consumption patterns," and develop skills to intervene in the face of injustice, according to the press release.

The event, held on March 19 and 20, will feature speeches, workshops and a resource fair. It will also educate students and community members on how to advocate for environmental justice in business practices, local policies and campus operations, the press release said.

The first event will take place Tuesday evening in the MSU Union Ballroom. The discussion will feature speakers from various occupations and backgrounds to talk about "eco-consciousness" and activism. On Wednesday, the Broad Art Museum will set up consciousness-raising workshops from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m., and an interactive resource fair from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the museum and the Broad Art Lab. Workshops are open to everyone.

The resource fair will be held inside Oscar Tuazon’s Water School installation, which is currently on exhibit at the Broad Art Museum. Over 25 exhibitors, including student groups, will be presenting their work at the resource fair.

"Every participant will leave with new tools to make a positive impact in a wasteful society," Zero Waste Coordinator at the MSU Surplus Store and Recycling Center Jackie Zarzychki said in an email. "I hope that (Points of Intervention) will start some new discussions on campus about our university's role in moving toward a zero-waste culture and a circular economy."

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