Today marks the first day of National Public Health Week and the University of Minnesota School of Public Health is hosting its 4th Annual Film Festival in the Mayo Memorial Auditorium.

Tonight I attended the first film, A Crude Awakening: The Oil Crash. The movie was quite an eye opener and definitely has inspired me to become more eco-friendly. The film was full of amazing statistics:

* The United States makes up 5% of the world’s population but uses 25% of the its energy

* Our country led the world in oil production for nearly 100 years yet reached its oil production peak in 1930 (to learn more about the Hubbert Peak Theory, go to: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hubbert_Peak_theory)

* At the rate oil is being depleted, our grandchildren may not be able to ride in airplanes

* If all fossil fuels are depleted, we may only be able to support 1.5-2 billion people (and currently our world population is nearly 6.6 billion)

* We have “dirty� oil that will only last us approximately 200 years

If you haven’t yet seen this movie, I suggest you do. It will definitely make you think twice about alternative fuels and what you can do to make a difference before it is too late.

For more information about National Public Health Week and/or the University of Minnesota Film Festival, go to: http://www.sph.umn.edu/filmfest08/home.html

Films are free and are located in the Mayo Memorial Auditorium (For directions: go to http://www1.umn.edu/twincities/maps/MMA/index.html)

This week’s schedule is as follows:

Monday, April 7th, 5:30: A Crude Awakening: The Oil Crash (http://www.oilcrashmovie.com/index2.html)

Tuesday, April 8th, 5:30: ¡Salud! (http://www.saludthefilm.net/ns/main.html)

Wednesday, April 9th, 5:30: Unnatural Causes (http://www.unnaturalcauses.org/)

Friday, April 11th, 5:30: Sex Ed and the State (http://www.sexedmovie.com/)