Last Saturday, April 19, the Majestic Theater aired a free showing of “Microplastic Madness” as a way to celebrate Earth Day with support from both Wayne State College students and the community.
The event was run in coordination with the City of Wayne Green Team, the WSC Green Team and the A. Jewell Schock Natural History Museum at WSC with funding from the Nebraska Department of Environment and Energy.
“Our role as cosponsors is to help promote the movie and encourage students to go see it and learn a little more about sustainability,” WSC Green Team Vice President, Addie Stirek said.
Stirek said that the ability to help coordinate a showing to raise awareness for Earth Day, especially for college students at WSC, is a huge part of their intended role as an organization on campus.
“It’s important to recognize Earth Day as we all live on Earth, and we only get one Earth; there is no back-up planet,” Stirek said. “It’s also important to think about our impact on the Earth and what we can do to leave everything better than we found it.”
WSC Green Team President, Xavier Peardon said he had already seen the movie before the showing at the Majestic and was excited for other students to have the chance to experience it as well. The goal of the film is to be both entertaining and informative.
“Earth Day is a day for recognizing what the Earth does for us and what we can do for it in return,” Peardon said. “Informing students about their environmental impact is the first step toward giving back to our planet.”
The movie itself is a documentary that originally came out in 2019. It tells the story of a group of fifth grade kids in a Brooklyn public school exploring the root causes of plastic pollution. As written in the WSC event description, “the film delivers an urgent yet hopeful message about reducing plastic waste.”
The film presents harsh realities about pollution in an optimistic way by presenting viewers with ways they can help reduce the problem. It pushes the idea that even one individual has the potential to make a difference.
“The showing helps educate moviegoers on microplastics and the actions they can take in their own lives to help with environmental issues,” Stirek said. “We’re hoping to raise awareness of Earth Day and environmental issues and encourage positive growth and change in students.”
To combine green-conscious ideas into the viewing of the movie, the Majestic offered a dollar off the price of concessions for anyone who brought their brown popcorn container and cup to support a “zero-waste event.”
