Amid the ads for zit creams, deodorants & cosmetics are numerous guilt trips aimed at insecure ill-informed girls to convince them that their mere presence in the world is raping Mother Earth. The "Ed's Note" at the beginning sets the tone:
The rest of the issue is the same rehashed eco-propaganda that we see every freakin' day in the media. There's a plug for An Inconvenient Truth ("Al Gore is a rock star in our books! An Inconvenient Truth chronicles exactly what is happening to our world, from the shift in global warming to what we can do to stop it."). There are suggestions for being "earth-friendly every day", including the one to "nag your parents" ("By now many of you have perfected the 'But I really reeaaally want it' technique handed down by proud mall patrons that came before you. Now it's time to put your skills to good use. If you notice your parents breaking the rules, let them know how you feel about it. If they don't listen the first time, they sure will the tenth."). There's a tip that teens can assuage their guilt by buying carbon offsets, with a link to - who else - davidsuzuki.org for details.Since April is Earth Month there's no better time to start making green lifestyle choices! Not too long ago I read about a climate-change report that was being prepared by the world's leading scientists. According to the Globe and Mail, the draft of this report states that there is absolutely no doubt the world is heating up. Now. And we can only expect more frequent heat waves, droughts and rain storms, as well as more violent typhoons and hurricanes.
Heavy stuff to be sure, and by now you're likely all caught up on the inconvenient truths. So VerveGirl's dedicated this issue - and will continue all year round - to helping you make green choices. Start by taking the time (if you haven't already) to calculate your carbon footprint. I did and, while I've been separating my garbage and recycling for a while now, it's a whole other thought process when it comes to reducing and reusing. Let's just say I am on my own personal mission to lighten my load on this earth.
We encourage you to visit the websites recommended in this issue, and davidsuzuki.org for ways you, your family and friends can go carbon neutral. Also, keep in mind that we all owe it to the planet to be environmentally as well as socially conscious. So when you are organizing your summer job or vacay, plan to incorporate some aspect of giving back - volunteer locally or gain a new perspective by travelling! Perhaps you'll be inpired by our special report on Argentina's cartoneros.
From tips on being earth-friendly, Vervegirl guides you through getting ready for Prom 2007, From fitness and fashion to etiquette tips and important info on alcohol abuse, we want you to look and feel your very best. Last thing. We wonder how many Proms will make like Oscar and "go green" this year? If yours is, then tell us how you're doing it in the Green Room @ vervegirl.com!
Most disturbing is a suggestion that teen girls stop eating meat: "Incorporating meat-free meals into your weekly diet can also make a difference. The production of meat is extremely water-intensive and factory-farming practices have been known to lead to the pollution of local ecosystems". This from a magazine full of ads showing glamorous stick-thin, blemish-free models shilling products at insecure girls who already think they're fat and are desperate to land a date for the prom.
Kyoto activists are opening a new front - using guilt to enlist insecure and impressionable teenagers into spying on and applying pressure to the adults around them. Fidel Castro would approve.
2 comments:
It seems that the more a person is cocooned in an artificially controlled micro-environment the greater they think their, and by extension mankind's impact is on the global macro-environment. A lawyer who gets out of bed in a warm house, goes into his heated garage gets into his car with heated seats drives to his office and parks in a heated undergroung parkade and rides the elevater from parkade to office and returns the same way each night believes mankind has a major impact on the global environment. A subsistance hunter using a dog sled for transportation and living in year round in a tent can only hope for global warming in case his banked fire dies out during the night.
Demonstrates again that those teen magazines really are trashy.
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