Shirley Lasseter isn’t buying her grapes from Chile anymore. Ray Weber is cutting down on his energy consumption. David Montgomery is reusing plastic food containers as flowerpots.
Those are some of the changes people have been making after seeing “The Age of Stupid” on Friday, the first of 12 films and documentaries as part of the 10-day Gainesville Environmental Film and Arts Festival.
The festival’s a not-for-profit event organized by the Hippodrome State Theatre and GoGreenNation.org.
Admission is $3 for children, $4 for students and senior citizens and $5 for adults.
The festival is a collection of environmental films, documentaries and art shows in the Sun Center behind the Hippodrome State Theatre.
Lasseter, the festival’s co-director, said she hopes the films will promote environmental awareness in Gainesville. Trish Riley is the festival’s other co-director.
“We’re hoping to get people from all over the community, not just people who already know about the environment,” Lasseter said.
Lasseter said since screening the films before bringing them to the Hippodrome, she has been more conscious in her decisions at the grocery store.
She said she had never considered how much money and fuel it costs to ship fruit from other countries and the effect those shipments might have on the environment. She said she now tries to buy local foods exclusively.
Lasseter said she would not know how much money the festival raised or how many people attended until after it is over. She estimated the Hippodrome had received $9,000 by Thursday afternoon. She said the budget for the event was $25,000.
About 120 attendees mingled among columns’ wall sconces, sipping wine and nibbling hors d’oeuvres in the softly lit basement of the Hippodrome Theatre Friday in the festival’s first event, the VIP reception.
VIPs were those who donated either out-of-pocket or through their own services to the festival.
One of the VIPs at the reception was Chris Machen, a member of the UF Sustainability Committee and wife of UF President Bernie Machen.
“I hope we’ll change some minds,” Machen said. She used the example of people who don’t believe in global warming, jokingly calling them “people who need more education.”
