Alternative rock band Guster’s visit to MU brought not only a concert, but also a message of environmental activism.

Guster’s lead guitarist and vocalist Adam Gardner told MU students Wednesday the power to help the environment stemmed from their individual actions. Gardner said students might feel their impact on the environment is small, but their small impacts add up to a large one.

“As a student I think, as any individual, you look at this problem and it’s just ‘It’s so huge,’” Gardner said. “’This is a global problem. What am I going to do about it? What can I do as one person that can actually possibly make any sort of dent in this issue?’ And the reality of this is, I’ve seen firsthand, lots of little dents adding up to a massive impact and actually chipping away.”

Gardner, who founded the environmental awareness group Reverb with his wife in 2004, detailed the steps his band takes on tour to prevent ecological waste. Gardner said Guster gives out free water at concerts, allowing fans to refill their own water bottles instead of using multiple plastic bottles. He also said Guster plans on doing an acoustic tour to save electricity in the near future.

MU sophomore Olivia Firmand said finding out about Gardner’s environmental conscientiousness made her more of a fan.

“I thought it was really cool,” Firmand said. “I never knew he was into the environmental and recycling stuff. It makes me like him even more.”

Communications Director for Campus Facilities Karlan Seville first got the idea to invite Guster to MU when she heard Gardner doing a similar question-and-answer session at the University of Kansas four years ago. When she heard Guster would be coming to MU, she accepted an offer to co-sponsor the performance.

“I came back and was really excited about bringing them here, but we could never connect with the right people on campus to bring Guster here,” Seville said. “[MSA/GPC College Music Committee Senior Chair] Kellie Donahoe called me one day and said ‘Hey, we’re bringing Guster here, do you want to co-sponsor it?’ I said, ‘Absolutely.’”

Seville said Gardner’s role as a member of Guster allows his message of sustainability to reach students more effectively than the university’s usual sustainability efforts do.

“I think it’s important because it comes from someone who a lot of students already know,” Seville said. “It puts sustainability efforts in public eye more than we can on a daily basis. I think the student body maybe has more respect for a band member than they would for a staff member.”