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On Alter Eco, reluctant heartthrob (but enthusiastic eco-enthusiast) and host Adrian Grenier describes the alter eco as the part of you that takes the time to care about the planet. As he says, "I mean, why preserve life if you can't enjoy it? I find that you can, and here's how: our alter eco." In the Jekyll and Hyde dance that characterizes the inner-monologue of many, when it comes to eco-mindedness, the alter-eco is our Jekyll and apathy is our Hyde. What Grenier posits is that the part that cares about the environment can also foster a happier, healthier, even cooler lifestyle: one needn't sacrifice anything to be eco-friendly; rather, one merely needs to tap into that part of themselves that cares and is engaged in the world around them.
Some ways to tap into your alter eco:
- Foster a spirit of community activity/responsibility in your everyday life. When you see and believe that your actions affect others, you're more inclined to be mindful of specific ways that your actions affect others ecologically and otherwise: you can feel good about not using that plastic bag you don't need for your takeout lunch when you believe it matters.
- Look at how cool you're becoming! It's no coincidence that some of the hottest retail trends are also some of the most eco-friendly ones. The absolute necessity of taking charge of our environmental future has made socially engaged celebrities like Adrian Grenier and Angela Lindvall pave the way for the rest of us. When you tote an aluminum water bottle, you're both a trend setter and eco-betterment participant. You're win-winning and using your alter-eco.
- Learn to love what we've taken for granted, because without serious efforts to preserve them, we'll lose them forever. Sure, things like rainforests are depleting, and that's dead serious, but it's also old news. Newer news (to many) is global warming is an incontrovertible fact—the ten warmest years in history were in the last fourteen—and our dependency on oil is completely unsustainable. A walk down the street, (even in my own, make that especially in my own, New York) a swim in the ocean, or a breath of fresh mountain air does wonders for sparking an essential appreciation of what we could lose without caring, without doing.
This is my no means an exhaustive list. The important thing in tapping into your alter eco is finding ways to care and to do, because caring and doing are the only things that will preserve our planet, and hence our lives, and caring and doing (so awesomely) is finally cool again!
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