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Dec. 6th: Peer Pressure and the Green Green Manifesto

2007-12-06 · John · watch on YouTube · Science & nature · personal update

John argues peer pressure is usually healthy but that the social order sometimes demands mad things like thirsty lawns; he then walks through the Yeti's Green Green Manifesto of household changes (compost, efficient bulbs, cloth bags, no soda, less paper, recycling, local food, native grass).

What is said

00:00:00 — Greeting; still wearing nerd glasses; top three glasses jokes; peer pressure is healthy

  • ★ Despite vicious teasing in comments, John is still wearing his nerd glasses, and he lists the top three glasses jokes so far. (playful) — 00:00:00
  • ★★★ John says that in a lot of ways peer pressure is healthy and good. (hedged) — 00:00:00

00:00:39 — Peer pressure: toddler bathroom lesson; the social order is usually right but sometimes mad (lawns, glasses); John complains, the Yeti acts

  • ★★ In a 'purely hypothetical' example, five-year-old John teaches a two-year-old, 'probably my brother', not to take out 'the equipment' before he is in the bathroom with the door closed. (playful) — 00:00:39 · Hank Green
  • ★★★ John says the social order is usually the way it is for a reason but sometimes thinks mad things, such as covering lawns with thirsty inedible plants or judging people by their glasses. — 00:01:08
  • ★★ John says his usual response to a social order he dislikes is to complain, while the Yeti's response has always been to try to do something. — 00:01:08 · Sarah Urist Green

00:01:38 — The Yeti's Green Green Manifesto: compost, efficient bulbs, cloth bags, no soda, less paper, recycling, local food

  • ★★★ About three months ago the Yeti called John on the road to say she was writing a manifesto: they were not living in line with their values in Indianapolis, with bullet points for living better. — 00:01:38 · Sarah Urist Green, Indianapolis
  • ★ John, a huge fan of manifestos, calls the manifesto potentially the most underutilized of all literary genres. (playful) (hedged) — 00:01:38
  • ★★ Following the manifesto, John and Sarah compost and for three months have bought only compact fluorescent ('Whirlygig') bulbs because they give more efficient light. — 00:02:07
  • ★★ They now use cloth bags instead of plastic at the grocery store; John says cloth bags create less waste and carry groceries better. — 00:02:07
  • ★★ John says shipping heavy liquids is costly, citing a recent study that one bottle of Fiji water requires two pounds of carbon to get from Fiji to the United States. — 00:02:36 · United States
  • ★★ So they no longer drink soda, which is heavy and needs much packaging and shipping, and drink Crystal Light instead; John jokes local tap water tastes like poison. — 00:02:36
  • ★★ They have drastically reduced their use of paper towels by using cloth napkins and dish rags. — 00:02:36
  • ★★ By recycling many more kinds of things, they went from about four kitchen bags of garbage a week before the manifesto to less than one. — 00:03:05
  • ★★ Buying local food, John learned he doesn't hate tomatoes, only bad ones; he likes those from the local farm. (playful) — 00:03:05

00:03:34 — Native grasses instead of lawn; peer pressure from his brother; asks for tips; EcoGeek congratulations; sign-off; scavenger hunt note

  • ★★ Peer pressure be damned, they are letting large parts of their property become native Indiana grasses that need no watering. — 00:03:34 · Indiana
  • ★★★ John concludes that sometimes you listen to the peer pressure of society and sometimes to the peer pressure of your brother, and calls Hank a great brother in that respect. — 00:03:34 · Hank Green
  • ★★ John asks Hank to tell him any other green tips. — 00:03:34 · Hank Green
  • ★★ John congratulates Hank on EcoGeek's three millionth visitor. — 00:03:34 · EcoGeek
  • ★ John tells scavenger hunters that today is a discussion day, not a clue day. — 00:03:34 · Nerdfighter Scavenger Hunt

Humor (significant)

  • John counts down the top three jokes viewers made about his nerd glasses. — 00:00:00 > «And number one, you look exactly like Uncle Junior from The Sopranos.»
  • John's 'hypothetical' two-year-old could be his brother or a friend. — 00:00:39 > «I'm not gonna name any names, but he's probably my brother.»
  • John would show Hank the compost, but it is frozen shut. — 00:02:07 > «But anyway, be grateful you don't have smell-o-vision.»
  • Instead of soda the couple now drinks Crystal Light. — 00:02:36 > «I would just drink the tap water here, but it tastes like poison.»

Threads in this video

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