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

2007-12-06 · letter vlog · John · 4:00 · watch on YouTube

Topic: Science & nature (also: Everyday life) · mode: 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

The parts of the video and what is said in each (★ — how much it matters to the video).

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 · the social order
  • ★★ 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 (September 2007) 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 · Sarah Urist Green
  • ★★ 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

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

Where the stories that moved here went next

Mentioned

Central: Green Green Manifesto · peer pressure · Sarah Urist Green · social norm

Also: Projects: EcoGeek · Nerdfighter Scavenger Hunt

Works: The Sopranos

Organizations: National Health Service

Concepts: compact fluorescent lamp · compost · environmentalism (“Green Green Manifesto”) · lawn · local food · native plant · paper towel · recycling · reusable shopping bag · soft drink

Places: Fiji · Indiana · Indianapolis · United States

Characters: Junior Soprano

Products: Crystal Light · Fiji Water

Also centred on social norm: How to Tip Properly · Why Are Vegetarians Annoying? (An Exploration of a Cultural Rift) · The Stories We Tell Ourselves: Thoughts from Amsterdam · BEEF DAYS · Some Reasons why People Suck

Later videos replying to this one

Part of an exchange of 3 videos, 2007-12-06 – 2007-12-10.