The Greener Eastern Initiative, sponsored by SIFE, Earthkeepers and SGA, made it possible for the “Green Fox,” Paul Hughes, the writer, producer and host of the radio show The Great Green Home Show, to visit on Feb. 17. Hughes shared his expertise on environmentalism, while educating willing students about what they can do to become more eco-friendly.
He also came with career information for environmentalists. According to Hughes, what he called the “green space” – which includes businesses and processes which are eco-friendly – is ever-expanding and Eastern students would do well to claim a part in it as soon as possible. There is a great wealth of career opportunities in this field, Hughes said.
Nearly everything under the sun relates to building a healthy green infrastructure – even microfinance, as Jake de Grazia, who was accompanying Hughes for the seminar, pointed out.
De Grazia is 27 years old, but, despite his young age, has already done much to further a cleaner world. De Grazia’s main passion is cleaning and improving select areas of China, but he began a project that could affect the whole world.
To help himself and others buy products without worrying too much about social or environmental repercussions, he began a variation of a consumers’ report for social and environmentally-responsible brands and businesses.
“When you buy something, you give your approval to that company and everything that it does,” de Grazia said. “You’re voting with your dollar,” Hughes added.
By making selective purchases, we can help to boycott unjust activities, de Grazia said. This endeavor, named “The Carrot Project” is a small operation with a miniscule budget, but it is completely co-operative with its members. Anybody who signs up may contribute to it.
Hughes insisted that ours is a throw-away society where we are born into sociological confusion. We are therefore forced into consumerism to find an identity. We have to fight to regain our minds. We are absent because of the concentrated consumerism we have been fed, Hughes said as an explanation. If we break away and find ourselves in a new context, the green movement, then we will have what it takes to change this country.
Throughout the presentation, Hughes named a vast variety of green careers, ranging from canning food from organic farms to overseeing green financial investments.
His empowering advice stated that Eastern students could drive the enterprise of the green space and lead it into a promising future where pollution, wastefulness and governmental exploitation of finite resources are things of the past.
The Carrot Project:
www.carrotproject.com
The Great Green Home Show:
www.wilm.com
keyword: green