At the 79th annual Academy Awards, Leonardo DiCaprio and his new pal, former vice president Al Gore, announced that the Oscars had officially “gone green.”
Hot on the heels of Gore’s documentary, “An Inconvenient Truth,” television shows and the celebrities that star in them became green and encouraged the rest of America to do the same. Tyra Banks made going green “fierce” by making the Top Model house look like the rainforest had vomited all over it and reminding the model hopefuls of eco-friendly facts like: “By limiting showers to 10 to 15 minutes, you greatly reduce the amount of water used.”
However, the celebrities-go-green fad remains unknown to many, wondering why going green is Anderson Cooper’s new pet project.
“Going green” refers to a variety of ways consumers alter their daily habits to reduce humans’ negative impact on the environment.
As Loyola students are further introduced to the green movement through the media and active pursuits around New Orleans, many are reconsidering some of the ways they live.
“I think it’s good that more people are being more environmentally aware,” said Py Clark, political science sophomore.
Clark, an off-campus student who said he has been green since high school, consciously implements green habits into his daily life. While many would view his routines as inconveniences, to Clark they are simply a part of living.
The apartment he shares in Central City with three roommates is much like the typical college student’s apartment – sans an air conditioner. Although it’s installed, the Central City roomies refrain from turning it or the heater on, citing both consume high amounts of electricity.
“We don’t use climate control,” Clark said. “The house just adjusts to the climate outside.”
In addition to climate control, Clark and his roommates have also sworn off washing machines and dryers, instead washing their clothes in the bathtub and drying them on a line in the yard.
“We don’t have a washer or a dryer, so not only are we using less water and electricity, but it’s way cheaper,” Clark said.
He is also a passionate animal rights advocate and practicing vegan.
A vegan, much like a vegetarian, refrains from eating meat but also stays away from items containing animal products including eggs, milk, honey and gelatin.
“By being vegan and eating lower on the food chain, I’m helping the environment,” he said. “Livestock and the means to maintain them contribute to 80 percent of our country’s waste.”
While Clark and his roommates represent a more extreme interpretation of going green, many other Loyola students are moderately incorporating ecologists’ suggestions into their lives.
With Whole Foods as one of the closest grocery store to campus, many students, like political science sophomore Nicole Okemura, frequent the market for its natural and organic foods.
Organic foods are produced following government-approved standards. Organic produce is grown without the use of pesticides, artificial fertilizers, food additives and genetic engineering. For animals and their products to be considered organic, they must be raised without antibiotics, growth hormones and typically are treated with more reverence than at a traditional farm.
“I love Whole Foods,” Okemura said. “It offers so many good things that I’m not particularly concerned that it’s environmentally friendly. It just so happens that what I like is Whole Foods, and Whole Foods is organic.”
As Okemura sat on the bench in front of Biever Hall with a cigarette, she showed another student the treasure from her recent market trip, describing the meal she intended to make with the spices and fresh fish filets in her bag.
As she finished relating her culinary plans, her friend asked how much her total was.
Okemura’s face fell as she came to the realization that her paycheck would have gone much further at a traditional grocery store.
But Okemura’s financial concerns are common among green students.
Energy-efficient appliances and light bulbs, which save money and energy over time, are initially more expensive than their contemporaries.
For college students on a strictly limited income, budgeting doesn’t permit splurging – though Energy Star appliances will eventually save more money.
“It just seems like it’s such an inconvenience to us,” said Sergio Gonzalez, music industries studies sophomore. “We as students can only do so much. It’s up to the companies to change their products and the means of producing them.”
Much like Power Rangers and Tickle Me Elmo, many wonder when going green, like all fads, will be gone.
“I don’t care what people’s motivation behind doing it is, as long as they’re doing it,” Clark said. “I just hope that if and when this fad fades, people will continue to live consciously.”
Justin Templet can be reached at [email protected].
