From Brown to Green

Omnipresent recycling bins at Brown University

"No. Brown - the college."
I became an environmentalist in college. It wasn't difficult as Brown is slightly militant about the environment and may as well have been called Green University. And Rhode Island was a leader in state recycling regulation. However, environmentalism was not the trendy thing to do circa 1992. The majority of people did not recycle (without a money incentive) or conserve resources and many of those scoffed at the "earthy-crunchy" people who did.

Before first year began, we were introduced to the university via a series of outreaches. Recycling was one of those workshops, in addition to those on sex, sexual orientation, race/ethnicity, international awareness and countless others. Brown is a politically charged environment. But, the Recycling outreach was a funny one...in the sense that we made fun of it. Well, we made fun of all the workshops, but Recycling would live in infamy. A very serious workshop leader explained to us the nuances of recycling. Most of what I knew was that I could collect 5 cents for every aluminum can and plastic or glass soda bottle that I brought back to the grocery store and I should toss used paper into the blue plastic bins at the law firm where I worked my senior year of high school. That was a naive understanding. Aluminum cans and plastic containers must be separated from bottles. Newspapers are separated from magazines and glossy inserts from the Sunday paper. And, let's not forget, mixed office paper. The outreach leader kept repeating this phrase so quickly that it seemed like one word. My roommate and I posted the Word of the Day (or WOTD) on our dorm room door and "MixtOfficePaper" would become one of those words.

But, that outreach was just the beginning of our learning. There were large recycling bins on every floor of every dorm, as well as, throughout the campus walk. At every napkin dispenser at the main dining halls were signs posted that said "Take only 1 or 2 napkins, please!!," with 1or 2 underlined several times. To this day, I cringe when I see people grab a handful of napkins. I can only take one...or two. The various snack bars sold reusable mugs designed by students that we could bring back for soda and drink refills at a discount. Of course, we would use our leftover dining credit to buy several mugs per semester and thus defeat the purpose of this, but we did take notice of the effort.

In my everyday life, I slowly and knowingly transformed into a environmentally conscientious being. I am very thankful for that.

View of Downtown San Francisco

"San Francisco is the new Brown"
I dutifully conserved energy and recycled at the office and at home after I learned to be an environmentalist at Brown. But, it wasn't until I lived in San Francisco from 1997-2001 that I appreciated the importance of being more environmentally aware of the world and our bodies.

San Francisco was like Brown except the real world. The Bay Area had always been at the forefront of the green movement - people shopped at Whole Foods (dubbed "Whole Paycheck" because of the premium prices), ate alfalfa sprouts for meals, slathered on Burt's Bees products, and worked 9-5 so that they could be outdoors every minute possible. Many of the hotspots in SF were eco-friendly, which made it easier to adapt to such a lifestyle.

When I lived there, I ate less meat, bought organic foods once in a while, used organic skincare products here and there, and tried to get into hiking/kayaking/fishing/sailing. Notice that I was half-hearted about everything, though. Eating less meat meant I ate more pasta, organic products were so expensive that I never converted completely, and outdoorsy activities weren't exactly my passion. But, like at Brown, I gained a new mindset and greater appreciation for a natural way of living.