“Is what you do everyday moving you closer to the goal of how you want your world to be?”
Conversations: Simran Sethi
The Green for Sundance… a block of environmental programming on the Sundance Channel which she co-hosts and writes is one her greatest contributions.
She writes:
So, if you want a healthier environment, and your water is served with plastic cups… you know what I mean? All of those disconnects — I’m trying to bridge them in my own life. I work on that really hard, but because we live in such a disposable society, it took two seconds to put this water in this cup and this will outlive us, this cup. Those are the kind of connections that I’m really trying to build in my own life and trying not to chastise others for. And that’s another good example. Now we have cups made out of corn and stuff like that. It’s really cool what you can do with a vegetable. But are they ending up being composted? Are they mostly genetically modified? We can’t rest on our laurels. I hope people won’t grow complacent. And I’m really optimistic that people aren’t checking green off of their list. But in case they are, we’re here.
ET: Are you cool with Wal-Mart?
SS: It’s not a yes or no question. And I hope people will continue to ask those questions. I’m a contributing author to a book that’s soon coming out called Ethical Markets: Growing the Green Economy, it’s a companion book to the PBS series. I did my first book reading in New York a couple of months ago. And this woman really, really, really needed me to say that Starbucks is okay. You know. They have fair trade coffee. They have organic milk. Absolutely. Their cups are only 10 percent post consumer recycled. Yes, they pay a price premium for their coffee but they command the market. They can drive prices even higher. Do you know what I mean? Absolutely, Wal-Mart is to be lauded. I mean, the kinds of eco-efficiency they’re doing, which will save them billions of dollars, earn their shareholders millions of dollars, cut prices and change the business paradigm like reducing like their gold sourcing… They are working toward being sustainable, with cotton… I think diamonds as well but that’s the main thing right now. That’s their main thing to turn around. Whether it’s in their jewelry, whether it’s in their food, whether it’s in their clothing, whether it’s in their shipping, whether it’s in their transportation, their commitment is to be lauded because when Wal-Mart does that, Target has to do it.
E: And they’ve proven it’s a viable business model.
SS: Absolutely. The fact that Wal-Mart knows they need to do this in order to improve their place; you know, their image in the marketplace — I think it is very significant. Their changes aren’t superficial — the people that they are working with and the kind of work that they are doing. Trust me, I’m not saying I love Wal-Mart. But what I am saying is that it is a really good start, and I think it should be viewed with healthy criticism, but I think if you really look at what they are doing, whether it’s trying to ensure that everybody in America is buying compact fluorescent light bulbs — these changes are going to make a huge difference across sectors and communities and that, on some levels, it’s really to be lauded.”
