UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — A screening of the documentary “Divide in Concord” will be held at 7 p.m. on Feb. 22, in the Flex Theatre of the HUB-Robeson Center on Penn State’s University Park campus. The event is free and open to the public.
"Divide in Concord" is a feature-length documentary that follows the tale of banning bottled water in small town America.
In 1775, Concord patriots fired the infamous “shot heard round the world” that began a Revolution and defined a nation. Now an 84-year-old woman has waged another seemingly unwinnable battle. For three years Jean Hill has been trying to rid the town of single-serve plastic bottles of water. Complete with strong opposition from local merchants and the bottled water industry, Hill is leading the controversial crusade.
"The fights over bottled water aren't just happening in sleepy Concord. San Francisco banned bottled water from city government use years ago and dozens of other communities and universities have taken action to curtail bottled water,” said Peter Buckland, academic programs manager for the Sustainability Institute. "Currently, we live in a nation defined by convenience and consumer choice. But it has widespread consequences for people and our environment. What can we learn from a community that chose not to go down that road?"
The screening of the film will be followed by a panel discussion. Panelists are Kelli Hoover, co-founder of the Nittany Valley Environmental Coalition, and Jennifer A. Wagner-Lawlor, co-curator of “Plastics Entanglements: Ecology, Aesthetics, Materials" and professor of women's, gender, and sexuality studies, and English. The panel will be moderated by Buckland.
The event is supported by the Sustainability Institute, University Libraries, and the Palmer Museum of Art.
For more information about the event, please contact Peter Buckland at pdb118@psu.edu.