by Emily Calhoun

The Animal Friendly Organization sponsored a private screening of Leonardo DiCaprio’s new documentary of Before the Flood on Tuesday, October 11, in the Campus Center Theater. Before the Flood tells the story of DiCaprio’s journey as the appointed United Nations Messenger of Peace. DiCaprio focused on the real crisis facing the world: climate change. The documentary provided evidence to show the realities of climate change. It also gave predictions of what the future will look like if we globally continue to live the damaging lives we currently live. Finally, it gave examples from around the world of how the crisis is currently being handled and how people are attempting to stop it. The documentary was followed by a brief question-and-answer period with a representative from the Defenders of Wildlife organization. The question-and-answer session was informative and truly got the audience engaged with the subject matter of the documentary. It also helped us gain a better understanding of the small changes we could make in our lives in order to help reverse climate change. I knew that I would enjoy this documentary, as one of my favorite things to do is watch documentaries on humanitarian issues. I was surprised, though, at how much the documentary really impacted me. As a result of this experience, I have stopped eating beef and am limiting my consumption of dairy products in order to reduce my impact on the planet.