There Are No Green Rock Stars
There’s a lot to like about Alanis Morissette. She’s an epic rocker, writes with honesty and courage, and is generous with her time across a number of charitable causes. Morissette also has some earth-friendly personal cred, adopting a vegan lifestyle and vigorously supporting wildlife conservation. Bonus points for dating an environmental lawyer.
But the eco press does her no favors with articles such as Alanis Morissette on Green Tips for Rock Stars, published today by Planet Green. This is because there are no green rock stars, and pretending there could be such a thing trivializes both the environmental movement and the personal contributions of musicians working within an unsustainable industry.
Rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic
The Planet Green piece cherry-picks comments made by Morissette on a video segment over at Spin Earth. Jared Sagal asked the performer what musicians can do to help the environment. Morissette replied, offhandedly, that her tour uses buses run which run on biodiesel, donates uneaten backstage food to local shelters, and favors rechargeable batteries. The performer went on to say that she tries to keep the lights switched off in her hotel room and uses towels until they’re good and nappy.
All of which sounds ridiculous. It’s not that these actions are a bad thing — quite the opposite. But in the context of a modern rock tour, worrying about laundering an extra towel or two is laughable when considered alongside the tons of waste generated by event concessions; the vast amounts of energy consumed by concert lighting, sound, and air conditioning; and the entire culture of consumption which surrounds any mass event. Morissette’s buses may be biofueled, but not the thousands of cars which brought people to the auditorium.
You have to be pretty deeply inside the green loop to ignore such obvious paradoxes. Most people aren’t, so when they see a celebrity stepping off a chartered jet to lecture about the necessity of reducing one’s carbon footprint, they just snicker. And the environmental movement gets a little smaller.
Beyond the cult of celebrity
The real environmental heroes aren’t the glitterati, and it’s time we stop appropriating their fame for the cause. The authentic champions of the earth are people like our grandparents, who knew how to repair clothing, grow some of their own food, and enjoy entertainment which didn’t involve a credit card and a day-long drive to some faraway venue. Real environmental heroes live modestly. They know that embracing simplicity — minimalism, if you prefer to call it that — is the real key to restoring environmental balance.
Reduce your consumption, and you are the true green rock star.
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About the author
Chris Baskind writes about the environment and simpler living. He's also an advocate of carfree transportation, relying entirely on bicycles since June, 2009.Three years ago, Chris launched Lighter Footstep, a pioneering website focused on greener, healthier, more affordable living. It was recently acquired by the Mother Nature Network (MNN). Connect with Chris on Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn.
Although I certainly agree with you that the true Green rockstars are the likes of our grandparents, I also hate to talk poopoo about people who are making (or trying to make) a difference.
Anytime you can get a celebrity onto a movement, it has the potential to be a very positive thing for that movement. First, these rock stars influence people. When one of these individuals steps off a jet to speak about green endeavors, they obviously are being a bit hypocritical by flying the jet, but they are potentially having a positive impact on thousands of individuals.
Also, these folks do not need to take steps to preserve the environment. They do not need to use biodiesel busses, turn the lights off… etc. The fact that they do is positive and that they are telling other people is also positive.
Ultimately, everyone can be greener. We, as bloggers, could be greener by telling people to not use their computers or not use our own computers. Although there are certainly inadequacies that can be pointed out of these rock stars, I think it is of great benefit to promote the positive environmental steps that these rock stars take.
Well… I am sorry but I found the arguments just ludicrous. Concerts are made for large audiences, Is not as if Alanis is spending alone all this energy. If you have divided the energy spent for the number of people having fun, then you'd certainly get to a reasonable number. If they werent there, each one would probably be spending energy doing something else, that could even surpass the energy and consumption of the show!
Concerts are notorious for their energy and water use — not to mention the tons of waste they produce (and this could be any mass event, such as a football game).
I respect your opinion, but this is why numerous groups are working on LEED certification for such events. Concerts are designed to encourage consumption, and you're not thinking of the thousands of aggregate road miles driven to even a modest gathering. Nor does anyone pulls their circuit breaker before leaving home.
I'm certainly not saying we should stop having concerts, or that efforts to green them are unworthy. But the idea of using as an environmental spokesperson a celebrity whose carbon footprint and resource consumption is many multiples of the average person is plainly wrongheaded, and the irony doesn't escape notice.
The environmental movement has matured to the point we no longer need to piggyback on the fame of rock stars and actors (though many are committed conservationists). People understand the need for change. We've arrived at the action phase, and it's time for the celebrities to take a bow and step offstage. From here out, it's up to us.
Well, it certainly wasn't my intent to talk smack on Alanis — and I tried demonstrate my appreciation of her music and environmental convictions.
Nor am I being nihilistic: Nobody is suggesting we stop having concerts or shut down our personal electronics. People will consume. That's neither avoidable, nor a bad thing. What we want is sustainable consumption.
You're right — celebrities have influence. They get noticed. But it's not as if people haven't heard the environmental message, and we're past the stage where we need someone like Paris Hilton stumbling unconvincingly through a few scripted talking points about the virtues of buying a hybrid car.
The kind of positive impact we need now is the real work of remaking our lives, not sound bytes from celebrities.
Those are all really good points, because it is the majority of actions (direct or indirect) that matter.
Perhaps Alanis could tell her fans “please carpool or find green ways of coming”, rather than driving? Or offer bus pick ups of groups of people?
If they're really her fans, they may comply.
Thom Yorke. radiohead.com
Thom Yorke. radiohead.com