Pamela French wants to know: “How would you make New York City a greener apple?” Interesting question — and one you could really ask in any city.
The television director/producer and mother of two, has made it her mission to get educated herself, raise awareness and hopefully provoke some much-needed action. With nothing more than a Flip camera and a fearless curiosity, French roams the streets of Manhattan asking anyone and everyone what they’d do to improve New York’s collective attitude around the environment and sustainability.
She invited Tonic along on her latest shoot, while posing the questions “How would you make New York a “greener apple” atop the city’s latest green installation, the Highline Park.
Tonic: How did Greener Apple get started?
French: I wanted to start a blog and a friend said to me, “You’re not a writer, so why do you want to do a blog? Why don’t you go buy one of these little flip cameras and do something?”
So I went and bought a Flip camera. I have two young children, I’m a native New Yorker and I started thinking about my environment and where I’m from and what I’m doing and I thought, why not pose the question, “How would you make New York a greener apple?” I don’t know where it came from. You know those moments where something happens.
Tonic: Where are you with the project now?
French: A year later I’ve made over 40 films. Its just really now starting to take. The original ones I thought were brilliant. I used to ride around on my bike, stop traffic, run the reservoir. Then I did one for every major event in the city, whether it was Halloween down in Tribeca with the kids, or the inauguration for Obama — the day, how the city felt about it. I always try to have a little theme to it.
Tonic: What are you learning?
French: It’s wonderful to see how people — our generation — don’t really know. Its an awareness thing because then they start thinking, “Well, how would I?” They start looking at their life a little bit more. And what they could do — maybe just one little thing to make a difference. Also what I find really amazing, are the kids. Our youth are so much more ahead of us in what they would do.
Tonic: Tell me some of their ideas.
French: The kids that are getting more information. Right now there’s a big movement in schools. They’re trying to put it into the curriculum, learning about energy. Some of the things they do on a day-to-day basis is recycling. They’re learning how to recycle, what’s recyclable, what’s re-usable, what’s garbage.
They’re really big on plastic bags. Bike more, less cars. Turn the lights off.
Tonic: What’s the most radical suggestion you’ve gotten?
French: One of the models from Project Runway at the Bryant Park shows said to take all the energy that people are expending at the gym and use that to generate power. Treadmills and bikes — turn that into energy.
Tonic: Impressive idea. What else?
French: Lots of roof gardens. Again, I’m learning as I go along. The roof gardens are an interesting idea. For school it’s great because it gives them a science component and they can grow their own food, which is a brilliant idea. But right now, I don’t know if it’s necessarily doing as much as it sounds like.
Tonic: Do you have bigger plans for these films?
French: Ideally, going back, I did a documentary a few years ago about getting into kindergarten. I’m a native born New Yorker and a real advocate for city schools, public schools, and again, having two young children — they’re the future. I think I’d like to take the “greener apple” to schools. I’d like to really do a documentary about greening New York City schools. With budget cuts in the economy right now, what’s the first thing to go? Unfortunately, recycling is not the high priority and it costs money.
Tonic: Why do you think people respond to you?
French: I’m not an environmentalist, I’m not granola — I am definitely a consumer. I’m a consumer. But I know if I can do my part and you can do your part and she can do her part — we can only make it better.
I found that I got this voice, and I wanted the city to recognize it. I’ve financed this all myself. Yes, I’d love for someone to sponsor this or someone to finance a documentary and do this for the schools.
What am I doing in my home? What am I doing in my kids’ schools? We’re a melting pot; This is New York City. We’re so far behind in recycling. Go look out west, go to Portland, go to San Francisco, go to Canada. And everyone thinks, “We’re new York.” It’s cleaner, but is it greener?
Tonic: So what are some of the things that you personally do to make New York a “greener apple”?
French: I ride my bike. Canteens for my kids, I try not to use water bottles or juice boxes. Very conscious of lights, very conscious of flushing toilets, very conscious of brushing your teeth and not letting the water run. These are little things. Not doing a load of dishes until its completely full. I always recycle, I don’t always know where it’s going, but I recycle. If I don’t have a bag and I go to Target or the grocery store, I make it a point to pack them and put in as much as you possibly can. I do drive a car. I carpool. Everyone says to me, Pamela, its not very “green” apple. And I say what do you want me to do, throw it away? That to me would be worse. I’ll run it ’til it dies. I recycle my clothes. I do thrift stuff. I give my clothes to other people. That might all sound kind of crazy but all of it’s consuming.
Top of mind for most people: Get rid of cars and stop using water bottles. In another of French’s films, one woman suggested the Rude Patrol. She would follow people around and when they dropped trash, she would come up behind them, scold them and make them clean up their trash. Creative, yes. Effective, not so sure.
How would you make New York a “greener apple”?
Photo courtesy of creativecommons.org.