Note: This event has now taken place. The information below was correct when it was written, but may now be out of date.
AfSL hosted an evening of short films and fun that exploredthe problem of climate change and discussed ways to tackle it.
The event was organised by Local Project Manager NatalieBarugh and held at St Matthews Church Hall in Stretford. It was well attendedwith 25 people turning up. The night involved the screening of several shortfilms, a talk from Marc Hudson of Manchester Climate Fortnightly, and aninteractive discussion with Sally Cott.
The first film, entitled WakeUp, Freak Out, was a cartoon that discussed different climate patterns inhistory, and the fact that we are now getting close to a point of no return.The sea is more acidic, there are more forest fires, and there is increasedmethane production, all leading to higher temperatures. It emphasised, however,that there is still time to act, by consuming less, we can all do our bit toslow global warming, and stop the planet getting to the point of no return.
In case the film’s message was too worrying, Marc Hudsonsuggested that people discuss their own individual projects, to show thatpeople are helping, and problems are not inevitable.
Marc also answered some questions about the content of Wake Up, Freak Out, as well as climatechange in general. He was optimistic, although it is hard to imagine change, wehave to make it happen. He suggested that many of the things we like aboutliving in a country such as the UK are at risk unless we make changes, but wewould not be the first to suffer. The ones who have not contributed to theproblem would suffer most, so we have to be selfless and try to help them.
The second film, MeetGreen Thing, suggested that people are always happy to do things ifprovided with incentives. What bigger incentive is there than slowing climate change?
Sally Cott hosted a short workshop highlighting theimportance of energy-saving, both environmentally and financially. We can save£5 per energy saving bulb per year, and better loft insulation can save theaverage house around £270 per year. Sally asked the group to think aboutindividual eco-footprints, the area of land or water that is used to absorb ourwaste, and how our demand of something is in relation to its supply. As a groupwe appeared to be somewhere in the middle, whilst we weren’t overly wasteful,we also weren’t as green as we could be!
The final film, TheLost Generation, ended the evening on a hopeful note: a young girl reversedsociety’s expectations of her, and talked of her hope for her generation andthe future.
Email event contact | Stretford
