Another Prius post

Part of the reason I saddled myself with debt to have my Prius was because of the impact I hoped my purchase could have on the development of technologies to further our independence from petroleum fuels.

What I didn't consider, really, was what a large part the 'image' of having a Prius would play in this. Now, I am confident in the fact that my 'image' played no part in the initial purchase - I don't care much either way about how it looks, how I look in it, or what people think of me being an owner... not only that, but the mere fact of getting a new car causes me a bit of embarrassment (because I really cannot afford it, therefore calling my decision-making abilities into question?). There was a Slate article a while back that talked about yuppies buying Prii because they wanted to look socially responsible...

According to a marketing survey [in a New York Times article]... more buyers bought the Prius this year because it "makes a statement about me" (57 percent) than because of its better gas mileage (36 percent) or lower carbon dioxide emissions (25 percent) or new technology (7 percent).

Well, that wasn't me. I don't care what people think about me, I just care that they think.

One of the coolest parts of having it (aside from the mpgs) has been talking about it! When people find out I have a Prius, or see me with it, they ask questions, and I get to explain why I have it (and then plug my blog, heehee).

UC Davis did a study on the effects of image on ownership of HEVs - how cool is that? (thanks, NoImpactMan!) It's about the benefits of owning an HEV that aren't actually benefits of the vehicle, but of what it means to own one. (note a nifty new acronym - HEVs, 'hybrid electric vehicles')

Check this out:

HEVs served as communication mechanisms in all households, either by projecting their images or by stimulating owner evangelism. In addition, for a handful of participants, the symbolic benefits of their HEVs were significant enough to justify substantial functional compromises.

Even when I feel shy about talking about how I think we should all recycle, even a little bit, or we should stop buying so much crap (and I do get shy), I'm totally cool with talking to people about why I think they should buy an HEV. What a funny way to become comfortable with acting 'evangelical'!

Happy Birthday to Danielle - quoted in the Tennessean!

So they didn't directly plug this blog, but in an 11/5 story on "Eco-Vocab," the Tennessean quoted me, "one Nashvillian, who blogs about green living"!

Check it out here.

I like the question she asks at the beginning: "What if Al Gore suggests you reduce your carbon footprint? Or Leonardo DiCaprio asks about your plans to live off the grid?"

If Leo ever asks me ANYTHING, I guarantee my response will include "hummahnna-hummahnna..."

There's an AWESOME "green glossary" they provide as well (in the right-hand sidebar), with terms like "greenwashing" and "off the grid."

Not only that, but I'm keeping the conversation going over at the Green Shopping forums on the Tennessean's website - check it out; there's more green talk than you can shake a stick at!

NBC's Green is Universal

WOW.

First it was Fox's Bones and the CW's Top Model... now NBC has jumped on the bandwagon, and how!

I was watching this week's The Office on my DVR last night, only to discover NBC's Green is Universal campaign. Apparently the head honcho mandated that all the shows include some green theme.

I was rolling my eyes, but I am also kind of excited. If pop culture can sell mainstream culture the green movement, then it will get even easier and cheaper to be green... maybe.

I think that it will still be hard. After all, it is being sold, which leads naturally in this consumerist era to "buy new stuff to be green!" It's a slippery slope, but I hope that those of us who aren't just trying to sell-sell-sell will be able to use this new pop development to our advantage to affect real attitude change.

aside: my favorite part of the NBC green site is about how to have a green wedding. It totally made me smile :) Also, shout out to my brother, who has used a push mower - we actually have one at my parents' house.

delighted by Pandora.com

I'm not supposed to listen to streaming audio at work, but sometimes at the end of the day after everyone's gone, I just can't help but pull up Pandora.com... and today, Ben Folds' "All U Can Eat" came up on the playlist.

I thought you guys might like to check it out :)
You can get it through iTunes or order it online at attackedbyplastic.com.

The album, supersunnyspeedgraphic, the lp, was recorded in Nashville :)

pop-culture saturation

Do you ever have the experience of never having heard of a topic/person/object before, and then suddenly you hear about it several times in the span of a few days?

Well, I feel like mainstream America is having that experience right now.
The media - both news and pop TV - is saturated with green topics right now!

It's sort of making my head spin; every channel I flip to and every news site I bring up has something about it. This is kind of cool - integrating these kinds of thoughts into the mainstream consciousness will definitely make it easier for the green culture to integrate into the mainstream, which is what has to happen if we are going to affect change.

Some of it irritates me - America's Next Top Model recently did an episode where the girls do an ad for recycling and the girls are living in a "green mansion," but how could it be green when there's tracklighting that's always on and it's housing a bunch of people who only exist to sell us stuff we don't need? - but I digress... some of what's out there is surprising!

The CW website does have a section about being green - they're talking a big game, at least.

The storyline of Fox's Bones last week was about an organic grocer who was murdered and the body hidden in a big compost heap - not the most appetizing of topics, true, but there was a lot of discussion by the characters about organic farming, etc. even though the episode was classic, gooey-gross Bones.

I'm also interested to check out Extreme Makeover Home Edition's episode tomorrow - it's going to Arizona to build a green house on an Indian reservation. Usually, the show is too sappy for me, but I'll have it on in the background so i can hear what sort of green stuff they've done.

And just in case you thought the topic of this blog was original, I just found an entry on TreeHugger about ANTM's "green" tint, and there's a great discussion in the comments.

Anyhow, it's just been on my mind lately about how omnipresent the topic is. Hopefully this will help us to develop good habits... like i was saying in the last post, if we can make being green a subconscious habit rather than something we have to constantly remember to do, maybe we can be successful at it!