First, our hemp-clad friend eyed the setup suspiciously. He paced along the length, occasionally making eye contact with the woman behind the table while poking his fingers through the holes in his jeans pocket, and she met his gaze with a sugary-sweet smile. She was on to him. He picked up her informational materials and put them down without reading them, and then he opened his mouth to speak. I grabbed a couple more Mr. Goodbars and sat back to watch the show. This was going to be good.
“So, what do you guys do?” he said, waving one of her handouts in feigned disinterest. (Read: How are you guys pretending to be environmentally conscious while really serving a Fascist system and being a handmaid to the Man?)
My table neighbor said, “Well, we’re involved in…” but before she could give her spiel, Captain Planet Jr. cut her off. “Like what have you actually done?” he said impatiently, as he slapped the handout down on the table. The woman raised her eyebrows slightly and went on. “We’re responsible for the dual flush toilets that you see in the bathroom,” she said, flashing him her smile again.
His face lit up, he has her now! Everyone knows that bathrooms that are functional are so not green! He could barely contain his smugness as he said, “Well if you’re trying to be ‘green’ [makes huge air quotes] why do you still use paper towels?” (Read: Zing!)
Completely unfazed, our ecological maven immediately replied, “It’s the most environmentally friendly thing we have right now.” The freshman seemed slightly surprised at her quick rebuttal, but he was not done with her yet. “Well … what about using air dryers? You know the rainforests…” but this time it was her turn to cut him off. She said, “Air dryers use energy. We found that paper towels use less resources.” (Read: Bring it on! I can do this all day.)
I had my money on the woman tabling at this point: she obviously knew how to deflect his biodegradable jabs, but he refused to give up. He came at her again with another suggestion.“What about cloth hand dryers?” This time he was quite obviously pleased with himself. He was just about to take a bow when the woman spoke up again. She wrinkled her nose and said, “No, that’s worse. Those would need to be washed frequently, and that uses water and energy.” (Read: In your face!) He fiddled nervously with his hemp bracelet, looked down at his Birkenstock-clad feet, muttered something under his breath about not having time to explain, then hurried off into the throng of flyer-wielding table-dwellers, with his WWE pins clicking against the buckle of his messenger bag.
Well played, neighbor!
I went back to shuffling through our pamphlets, but that conversation made me think. I can imagine that the freshman struck up this debate with good intention buried somewhere in there. The problem with his argument is a problem that plagues the whole green movement, as well as any of the other fashionable causes through the years. If you want to be cool, focus your righteous indignation on people who don’t recycle, and mention casually that you take three-minute showers, are 1,500 pages below the print quota and are in every way the greenest person to walk this earth (in shoes made of 100 percent recycled material).
Their exchange reinforced the point that the disconnect between looks and action can be large, but it also showed that, for many of the people who really commit themselves to action on this campus, results are valued over showmanship, and decisions are made considering the full range of repercussions instead of being built on the popular frenzy. Idealism’s value is in the fact that it motivates high expectations and ambitious ideas, but ultimately results are what move us forward. Giving freshmen reusable bottles, swapping incandescent lightbulbs for fluorescent ones, and sticking with the infamous one-ply are small but important choices, and they are all steps along the path to a greener Princeton and a greener world.
Sophia LeMaire is a mechanical and aerospace engineering major from Longmeadow, Mass. She can be reached at slemaire@princeton.edu.
Read More
Why can’t lecturers win the President’s Award for Distinguished Teaching?
Jerry ZhuLet’s acknowledge those who make “boutique teaching” possible, those who work tirelessly to make our rigorous curricula more accessible, and those who dedicate their time to advising and guiding us through all the challenges we face at this University. Lecturers should be eligible for the President’s Award for Distinguished Teaching.
Let’s acknowledge those who make “boutique teaching” possible, those who work tirelessly to make our rigorous curricula more accessible, and those who dedicate their time to advising and guiding us through all the challenges we face at this University. Lecturers should be eligible for the President’s Award for Distinguished Teaching.
Princeton’s administration of justice is Trumpian
Frances BroganThe disparity between the University’s approach to Giberson and its approach to pro-Palestinian protestors reflects a concerning trend of appeasing an increasingly emboldened right rather than resisting the threat it poses to academic freedom and the wellbeing of Princeton students.
Secular Opening Exercises? Don’t throw out the baby with the bath water
Frank StrasburgerThe secular makes no room for the spiritual. What Opening Exercises are meant to convey is the spirit of the institution so that it may be kept alive from generation to generation.
The secular makes no room for the spiritual. What Opening Exercises are meant to convey is the spirit of the institution so that it may be kept alive from generation to generation.
