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About this episode

This video is a summary of the new university student arm of the three-year-old Earth Keeper Initiative in northern Michigan that has brought an extremely diverse group of people together to undertake large environmental projects under the non-profit Cedar Tree Institute. The Earth Keeper Initiative includes annual Earth Day clean sweeps that have already collected nearly 400 tons of hazardous waste for recycling, student adopt-a-watershed project involves cleaning, testing and monitoring of six Great Lakes tributaries, and the Manoomin (Wild Rice) Project that involves at-risk teens planting wild rice in remote rivers and lakes.. Earth Day 2007 - Out-of-Date prescription medications will be collected at two sites across a 400 square mile area to prevent medicines from ending up in drinking water supply - a big problem according to EPA Earth Day 2006 - 320 tons of electronic waste (old/broken computers, cell phones, etc.) collected for recycling in only 3 hours Earth Day 2005 - 45 tons of household poisons/car batteries collected for recycling in 3 hours. The students team is part of the initiative that includes 9 faith communities (120 churches and temples), two environmental groups, and several American Indian tribes. A movie could be done on how Cedar Tree Institute director Rev. Jon Magnuson and Superior Watershed Partnership Ex. Dir. Carl Lindquist have put together this large coalition of concerned citizens. The extensive media coverage of the Earth Keeper Initiative has caused ozens of communities to call requesting information on how to start similar Earth Keeper coalitions across the world. It shows that people can make a concrete difference using shoestring budgets by setting asider difference and working toward a common goal. The NMU students are currently recruiting 1,500 members at three other universities across northern Michigan People can find out more about the hands-on volunteer Earth Keeper Initiative and our related projects by visiting the following websites - as we are funded by donations/grants that are becoming fewer. The World Magazine articles honoring two projects:http://www.worldmag.com/articles/12177 Earth Keeper related website addresses are: The Cedar Tree Institute:http://www.cedartreeinstitute.com/ The Central Lake Superior Watershed Partnershipwww.superiorwatersheds.org The Lake Superior Interfaith Communication Network:http://www.lakesuperiorinterfaith.com/

• Release Date

  Feb 27, 2007

• Runtime

  03:27