The Lazy Environmentalist

Does the spectre of Al Gore hang over your head as you’re sorting paper and plastic into your blue box? It does for me, and I hang my head in shame every time I slide into my very un-green car instead of a pious Prius.
 
But I’m also a believer in the phrase “work smart, not hard,” which at my lowest moments is amended to simply “be smart, don’t work hard.”

So I was encouraged by Josh Dorfman’s opening words on Sundance’s new series The Lazy Environmentalist: “I’m lazy, you’re lazy. This is our moment.”

In each episode, the bespectacled host tries to convince self-proclaimed lazy people in some of the most wasteful professions that they can do their jobs while using simple and eco-effective techniques.

This week, he’s challenged with fashion stylist Wendell Haskins, who’s worked with rock and R&B stars like LL Cool J, Mariah Carey and Elton John to make them look covetably cool.

Dorfman and Haskins trawl the greenest of green pastures in New York checking out fashions for the latter’s new client – R&B and hip-hop artist Ryan Leslie. (I had his “You’re Not My Girl” in my head for the rest of the episode.)

Keeping in mind that Americans waste 68 pounds of clothing and textiles per person each year, they looked at organic cotton tees, vegetable-tanned leather shoes, vintage jeans, and jackets made of recycled cork, glass fibre and cedar scraps.

Haskins had just one proviso: if it’s whack it’s got to go back. But he did find some sweet scores, like a studded leather jacket and vegetable-tanned leather boots.

The episode also spotlighted a principal who wanted to launch green initiatives in his school – did you know the average American goes through 700 pounds paper per person per year, and one of the biggest culprits is the school system?

The show’s an eye-opener, filled with thought-provoking facts and easy-to-implement tips. It even helps me assuage that spectre of Al Gore hanging around my recycling bin.

The Lazy Environmentalist airs Wednesdays, March 10, at 8 p.m. ET on Sundance Channel.

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