Movies, natural disasters helped make environmentalism popular again
CITYWIDE Not only is it easy being green, but it’s pretty damn “hot.”
From celebrities firing up their look-at-me hybrids to the fashion-forward types donning pricey organic cotton jeans and toting eco-friendly purses, being environmentally conscious is where it’s at, not only for the A-listers, but also the average Joe.
In Santa Monica, environmentalists and those who aspire to be gods of green have found themselves a comfort zone, where the city government churns out sustainability initiatives and residents screw in solar panels atop their roofs.
But along with all that support for the green movement, there inevitably arrives a faction critical of all that “green con-sumerism,” taking swipes at those who are out to save the world and look darn sexy doing it.
There could be a backlash by the hard-core environmentalists who criticize the people who drive the hybrids, warns Dr. Keith Lockitch, a resident fellow of the Ayn Rand Institute.
There is a misunderstanding of what the term “environmentalism” actually means, the roots of the movement based on the goal to protect nature for nature’s sake, not for mankind, Lockitch said, who opposes the inherent concept of environmentalism.
“We now see Priuses on the highway and we see people criticizing this because they’re not getting rid of the cars and gas consumption,” Lockitch said on Thursday. “I agree that the so-called moderates are not as consistent... it is eco-narcissism.”
Eco-narcissism is a derision against the celebrities, the people who try to make environmentalism glamorous.
Meanwhile, some local organizations admit there is a trendy element to main-stream environmentalism, but as long as the decision to be eco-friendly means positive results for the earth, so be it.
It is in human behavior for people to follow what’s trendy, to want others to know they’re doing a good deed, said Ruben Aronin, of Global Green U.S.A., a sustain-ability advocacy group located on Main Street.
Global Green uses that behavior to try and shift human values in the process, said Aronin, adding that the organization does not come from a “lecturing standpoint.”
“One of the tactics in shifting values is to show people a better way to live, and if getting (them) to change to a compact fluorescent light bulb because their neighbors are doing it because it’s the cool hip trend... then we’re happy,” Aronin said.
Once people see the gas savings from driving a hybrid vehicle, the utility savings from using a CFL bulb or solar panels, they’ll become more enthusiastic about environmentalism, perhaps delving deeper into the issues, Aronin said.
“Rather than be critical of it, I want to take advantage of how people are and operate,” she said. “As a result of someone driving a Prius and being more green in the home, the next time they make a purchasing decision, they will be more likely to continue to embrace... green decisions,” she said.
There are those who purchase hybrid and electric vehicles because it’s chic, and then there are those who do it because they want to decrease their dependence on oil in the Middle East, said Christine Dzilvelis, who organizes the Alt Car Expo in Santa Monica.
The public has especially become more attuned to technological developments in hybrid and electric vehicles in the past two years with gas prices escalation combined with the events in the Middle East, she said.
“I think some people will buy things feeling they’re doing the right thing and not do too much research, that’s a small part of it,” she said on Friday. “People genuinely want to do these things to have positive impacts.”
Dealerships selling hybrid vehicles have struggled to keep up with demand, the wildly popular cars leaving the lots at lightening speed.
The Lexus Santa Monica dealership sells both the RX400 hybrid sport utility vehicle model and the GS450 hybrid sedan, both of which have proven to be big hits.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on August 4, 2007. Read the original PDF.