On the brink of a new season, Shippensburg University raised awareness of climate change and depletion of energy resources through a sustainability film festival Wednesday night.

Shippensburg is currently competing in Outdoor Nation Campus Challenge, a race for the title of “Most Outdoorsy School in the Nation.” As part of the competition, students log moments they spend in nature. Since this film was projected on the Huber Art Center, it offered a chance for students to gain points and learn more about their ecological impact on the world.

The event was headed by geology professor Sean Cornell, who is involved in the Sustainable Ship movement.

The first film, “Saving the Last Wilderness,” was short and to the point. It opened with a scene of porcupine caribou on an icy mountain. The narrator described how artic refuges are being threatened by the demands for oil in a secluded area. Suddenly, the music took a depressing turn as it showed the caribou antlers getting caught in the pipeline.

Cornell discussed how extracting oil only meets short term needs and has grave effects down the road.

“What we do now is borrowing from the resources in the future,” Cornell said.

The second film was part of the “Years of Living Dangerously” series and titled, “Revolt, Rebuild, Renew.” To portray different angles of a dangerous world, it focused on various plots. Just as one scene got interesting, the camera switched to another, keeping the audience engaged and creating suspense.

One of the issues “Revolt, Rebuild, Renew” focused on Hurricane Sandy and how it affected the poor in Rockaway, New York. Many hung on by their fingernails as they scrambled to find a place to stay. Citizens had to deal with the consequences of society’s careless actions and did nothing to deserve the punishment.

In addition, the film showcased three different college students participating in Climate Corps. According to its website, Climate Corps strives to “find innovative ways to measure, analyze and reduce organizational energy use while also optimizing bottom line savings.”

The students in the film set out to create greener environments in an office supply store, a casino and a southern university. This involved everything from implementing a recycling program to switching large building light bulbs to LED ones.

By the end of the final film, I felt empowered to go recycle every plastic container sitting in my trash can and reduce my carbon footprint, even if it is just by a little bit.

Cornell talked about how SU recently received a grant for sustainability and is taking steps toward educating the faculty and students about the environment. Ironically, according to Cornell, since SU switched from divided recycle bins to a single one, the recycling rate has gone down.

Currently, SU is in 14th place, out of 90, for the “Most Outdoorsy School in the Nation.” This year is SU’s first time hosting the sustainability film festival. The event ran from Sept. 19 to 22 and offered free solar-cooked popcorn.

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