Project Clearinghouse

Eco Media Van

Sustainability Problem and Proposed Solution: 

We are researching how to make films in a more sustainable manner. This project, by using solar off-grid power to run our equipment and to provide electricity while we travel, less sustainable means. We are also experimenting with different methods of composting to create healthy soil by substituting a composting toilet for one that requires dumping at waste stations.

Jump to: Contact | Project Description | Funding Sources | How to Join | Metrics for Success | Results
Project Categories: 
Land, Habitat, Watershed
Food
Awareness, Education & Engagement
Social Justice
Transportation
Waste & Recycling
Water
Project Status: 
Proposed
Project End Date: 
06/30/2020
(estimated)
Campus Organization: 
Carbon Fund
Affiliated Department, Unit or College: 
Art
Project Location: 
Both on and off campus

California


Stakeholder Contacts: 
Contact NameEmail AddressContact NumberDepartment
Elizabeth Stephens
estephe@ucsc.edu
415-990-5757
Art
How to Join: 
Send me an email.
Funding Sources: 
Carbon Fund
Arts Research Institute
E.A.R.T.H. Lab
San Francisco Arts Commission
The Rydell Fellowship

Project Description: 

The Eco-van project will incorporate solar-powered electrical components, waste recycling systems, and a compost system for organic waste. It will be created with the help of students, interns, volunteers, and UCSC alumni who support the E.A.R.T.H. Lab’s vision. The E.A.R.T.H. Lab is an Arts Division Center that is dedicated to the creation of Environmental Art, Research, Theory and Happenings.

The van itself serves as the primary mode of transportation and a mobile research and educational unit as my collaborators and I travel to UC Reserves, California cities such as San Francisco, Los Angeles and Sacramento to conduct research and capture necessary film footage for producing environmental documentary films. My films address sustainability, environmental art, environmental justice, and ecological education. I am particularly committed to including diverse and marginalized communities into the environmental discourse.
Graduate and undergraduate students will help with the design and fabrication of the van as well as in the installation of its various components. Students will also be included in the production and postproduction phases of the filmmaking itself. This includes research in the field to help shoot footage, participate in interviews and other related research and then participate as assistant editors later in the filmmaking process.
The first phase of production is finished.
I expect to take one more trip to Bakersfield to shoot the remaining film for "Water Makes Us Wet" in early May 2017.
After this I will be fine tuning the Eco-Media-Van's systems to make them as carbon neutral as possible.
Project end date is 6/30/2020

Metrics for Success: 

The measure for success for this project is to be able to be self sufficient around electricity while traveling and pursuing my research. I also intend to compost all organic waste during these journeys and could measure the amount of compost created. I use my filmmaking and other art works in my teaching, so this experiment will serve as an teaching tool to invite students to consider producing their own work as sustainably as possible.

Next Steps: 
In terms of the solar conversion of the Eco Van we need to make the rack that holds the solar panels on the roof of the van. Then install the panels. We also need to order and install the composing toilet. In terms of the films, we need to finish, exhibit and distribute "Water Makes Us Wet." As soon as this film is circulating in the world we will begin fundraising for production funds for "Composting is Hot." These funds would make it possible to fund the traveling necessary to shoot the film.
Result Categories: 
Behavior Change
Policy
Education/Outreach
Data Collection & Analysis
Results: 

The tangible results that my project will deliver include learning to live more sustainably while producing two feature length documentary films: one about water, "Water Makes Us Wet" (2017) and the other about farming through the lens of composting, "Composting is Hot!" (2020).
Campus members are cordially invited to a test screening at the Roxie Theater in San Francisco to view and comment upon "Water Makes us Wet", June 3, 2017. I expect I will be holding screenings at school as well. My last film, "Goodbye Gauley Mountain: An Ecosexual Love Story" about mountaintop removal coal-mining, premiered at Del Mar Theater to kick off the 2013 Santa Cruz Film Festival and has since screened in many UCSC classes (goodbyegauleymountain.org) The official premier of "Water Makes Us Wet" will take place in Kassel, Germany a the prestigious international art exhibition Documentary 14 in early September 2017. After the premiere we will work on promotion and distribution. We will begin the next film in Spring 2018 and plan to finish it within two years.