Do-It-Together Fest « It’s Getting Hot In Here

From Cleveland resident and Oberlin alum Lora DiFranco:

photo by Erick Snyder

This past weekend was probably one of the best of my life. How can you top the combination of music, activism, and community? My friend Matt Scheuermann organized the weekend-long DIT Fest in Kent, Ohio because he wanted to exhibit how the “do-it-yourself” ethic can be a lot more effective and fun when we “do-it-together.”

While I’ve been a fan of punk since my early high school days, it was just last year that I was exposed to the DIY punk scene. The bands I’ve become friends with burn their own CDs and package them using recycled beer boxes. Concerts are held in musty basements where vegan cupcakes are a more widely accepted currency than cash. These bands realize that there’s more to their music than record sales, MTV, and money. In fact, it goes beyond music and into activism.

I learned a lot very quickly from this new community, and decided to try to apply the DIY ethic to my own life. I’m passionate about stopping the unnecessary waste that our civilization creates, so I decided to write about it (trust me, you wouldn’t want me to sing about it) and publish a zine called GreenLight with my friends. We’re currently working on our 4th issue, which is going to be all about food- local food, food desserts, climate impacts of food choices, etc.

We’re also just starting to come up with ideas for a new website. I would like it to be a hub of DIY projects- putting the “reduce, reuse” back in “reduce, reuse, recycle.” Most young people on tight budgets realize that there is more to green living than $200 organic denim jeans, so let’s start brainstorming and do it together!

If you have ideas about DIY projects you’d like to see or a skill you’d like to share (recycled notebooks, patching up the holes in your jeans, alternative menstrual products, etc.), please feel free to check out our MySpace page or send us an email at greenlightzine [at] gmail [dot] com.

And if you’re looking for some great new music, check out No Target Audience, The Sidekicks, Ghost Town Trio, and Delay!

About Mattie

Mattie is the Coordinator of the Ohio Student Environmental Coalition, based in Columbus. He founded OSEC at Power Shift 07, and is proud to support a growing statewide network of student groups working for a clean, safe, and just future for all. Mattie originally got involved as a Syracuse University student who saw a pressing need for climate action, later as an Energy Justice Network intern who began to realize the human impacts of coal, and finally as an OSEC organizer committed to building an economy and climate worth fighting for. He also has a degree in women's studies and sociology, is a founding member of the Mountain Justice Spring Break Planning Collective and an intentional community in Columbus, and is the convener of the Energy Action Coalition's Dismantling Oppression working group.

3 Responses to “Do-It-Together Fest”

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1 Morgan Sep 21st, 2008 at 12:20 pm

I love the tone of this post. As Macalester students religiously proclaim, “together we can figure it out.” Coming up with better systems for people to work together is critical to building a clean and just energy future. You might be interested in reading the Open Space guide for more ideas on how groups of people can come up with extraordinary ideas.

http://itsgettinghotinhere.org/2008/03/21/open-space-guide/open-space-beta/
2 Kai Bosworth Sep 22nd, 2008 at 2:35 pm

For more awesome combos of music and activism, check out Substance at http://www.livewithsubstance.org

1 links for 2008-09-21 - Kevin Bondelli’s Youth Vote Blog Trackback on Sep 21st, 2008 at 2:31 pm

It’s Getting Hot In Here