Mensch tracht, und Gott lacht

Wednesday, July 11, 2007

Global Warming Reality Show

Now that Live Earth bombed like any reasonable person realized it would, I have an idea some enterprising tv exec should jump on. Find some Hollywood star or starlet who likes to spend their time lecturing the rest of us on how we need to change our lives to meet the menace of global warning. (Laurie David, Sheryl Crow, and Leo DiCaprio come to mind) Then ask them to spend a year living in a way that would be "earth-friendly" and film it as a reality show.

Here's what it seems to me would be required. First, they'd have to move to a relatively small place. For a single guy (or gal), that means a 1 BR apartment, maybe 600 sq ft or so. They can get another few hundred square feet for spouse and another BR for a child. They have either to drive a small hybrid or take public transportation everywhere they go. If they travel, they have to fly coach. They have to keep their house cooled only to 80 degrees in the summer and warmed to 60 degrees in the winter.

I'm sure there are lots of other things we could think of, but the idea would be for some prominent person to show us how to live, lead the way in changing our lifestyles. Of course, none of our public scolds would dream of actually taking this up - and that would be precisely the point...

3 comments:

Tom Van Dyke said...

Y'know, much of Europe lives that way already. Their domiciles are puny by American sq.ft. standards, 600 ft. not rare atall atall.

And Lord knows a pint of petrol over there costs as much as good beer.

Me, if I could get good beer at $3 a gallon, I wouldn't need a car or even public transportation, because I'd never leave the house. What would be the point?

Michael Simpson said...

True enough - I suspect, though, that a reality show with Leo DiCaprio swigging down some nice Belgian brew wouldn't do much for the ratings...

Evanston2 said...

Awesome idea! I can see Cheryl getting issued her year's worth of toilet paper, and we could have an "update" with each episode.

I normally don't watch TV, y'know, 'cause I'm keeping my carbon footprint to a minimum...but I'd make an exception for such fine (and educational!) fare.