THE LAZY ENVIRONMENTALIST, hosted by Josh Dorfman, screens Tuesdays at 9PM on Sundance Channel.
From a Lazy Environmentalist perspective, I have to admit that I’m not altogether unhappy to see gas prices rising again. For better or worse, the most effective way I’ve encountered to convince people to make environmentally sound choices is to appeal directly to their wallets. So when gas prices rise, fuel-efficient alternatives start to look much more appealing. In “Lazy Driver” I’m working with a really busy courier service – delivering on the order of several hundred packages around Los Angeles per day – to figure out how to boost the fuel economy of their cars (to reduce greenhouse gas emissions), reduce fuel costs and still enable deliveries to be made in time.
THE LAZY ENVIRONMENTALIST, hosted by Josh Dorfman, screens Tuesdays at 9PM on Sundance Channel.
Working with John Tran, the mayor of Rosemead, CA, was particularly fascinating. To be sure, The Lazy Environmentalist typically focuses on helping individuals conveniently make environmentally conscious choices that fit their lifestyles. However, this same philosophy can also be applied to a town or city. In fact, sometimes the best way to help people easily and enjoyably reduce their environmental impact is to focus on making changes at the municipal level. For example, Rosemead’s recycling rates are very low; only about 25% of recyclable trash is diverted from the landfill and actually recycled. So in “Lazy Mayor” I present Mayor Tran with a municipal recycling solution that can lower the town’s costs while also making it easy, convenient, and financially rewarding for Rosemead residents to sort the recycling in their homes. It’s the kind of win-win-win solution that saves taxpayer money, financially incentives people to participate in environmental action, and benefits the planet in two major ways: 1) it reduces greenhouse gas emissions and 2) it reduces our demand for virgin natural resources from which to make new products.
THE LAZY ENVIRONMENTALIST, hosted by Josh Dorfman, screens Tuesdays at 9PM on Sundance Channel.
In this episode I’m challenged to help green a wedding that’s already well into its planning. The challenge itself was really fun especially because the groom shared my aversion to all things both “eco” and “beige.” That was one of the first rules that the couple set – no beige at the wedding no matter what. And thank God! I see no reason why environmentally friendly choices shouldn’t be outstanding and make a wedding even more beautiful or tasty or memorable precisely because of the fact that they are eco-friendly. To my way of thinking, green should be an experiential enhancer.
THE LAZY ENVIRONMENTALIST, hosted by Josh Dorfman, screens Tuesdays at 9PM on Sundance Channel.
Episode two is definitely one of my favorites. In “Lazy Principal” I get to hang out with kids, gauge their point of view, and see how effectively I can engage them in environmental action. I’m also helped by my good friend and outstanding green innovator and teacher, Mike O’Brien, who I call upon to help me implement change in a classroom and in other areas around the school.
THE LAZY ENVIRONMENTALIST, hosted by Josh Dorfman, screens Tuesdays at 9PM on Sundance Channel.
I’m really excited for this first episode. I think that viewers will hopefully find this show to feel different than many other environmental shows that they’ve watched before. One of the primary reasons is that in this show we don’t engage in “green show and tell” by which I mean simply presenting eco-friendly options for the camera without anyone being able to evaluate them. Instead, I set out to see how well many of the most cutting-edge environmental alternatives perform under real life conditions based on the feedback and opinions of our “heroes” who are trying out my suggestions in each episode.
