I have to be honest: when I first heard that Adrian Grenier would be speaking at Northwestern, I didn’t really care why. I went to the event primarily to stare at the seventh sexiest man alive in 2007 according to People Magazine, and not necessarily to listen to what was coming out of his beautiful mouth. But somewhere between laughing at his self-degrading jokes and gawking at his not-all-the-way-buttoned t-shirt, I tuned in to what he had to say. And it made him even hotter.
While the event was supposed to start at eight, due to technical difficulties, Grenier didn’t make it out onto the stage until 40 minutes later, at which point every female in the audience had so much pent up anticipation for the moment that they would finally see his chiseled face in person that there was no way he could possibly live up to their expectations. But somehow, with his signature scruff and aforementioned deliberately unbuttoned t-shirt, he didn’t disappoint.
While he was far more shy and soft-spoken than you would expect from a famous celeb, spending most of his speech looking down at his notes rather than out at the audience, he was also a lot more real. Admitting his childhood faults, calling himself young, overwhelmed, and cynical about the influence that his efforts could really have on the environment, he seemed to be about as down-to-earth as I can imagine an actor who starred in “The Devil Wears Prada” could be. Seriously, that movie’s a classic.
Grenier seemed to truly understand the sustainability problems of being a college student, one who’s looking to be more environmentally conscious but doesn’t have the time to do so, the belief that her changes can really make an impact, or the knowledge of where to start. The future of our world depends on your generation, he said. “And you still have homework to do. What a shitty deal.”
And to this problem, Grenier believes he has found a solution. He advocates the importance of the first step, in making small changes in your lifestyle and ensuring they’re “contagious, fun, creative, and something you would do anyway” in order to help them catch on with your family and friends. He thinks that these small changes can add up to make a big impact, finding “solutions through small, attainable, and graspable (is that a word? Sometimes I make them up) opportunities.” Oh, and he’s adorable.
One roadblock to the environmental movement that Grenier acknowledges is the inability to see the results of such small changes, a problem he overcame when he accepted that he can’t save the world alone. Which is why he advocates making community-wide changes, like NU Green Cup, that help the environment as well as enrich lives, helping those individuals to stick with the program. This is why he started SHFT.com, a website that promotes appreciation for the environment and provides eco-friendly recommendations for consumers. Far from radical, SHFT looks to bring the environmental and sustainable movement into pop culture through the arts, music, food, literature, and design. Rather than being didactic or “preach-y,” like many environmentalists can come off, Grenier calls himself an “environmentalish.” He’s not an expert but a friendly informer, and this accessible message can be seen in his organization as well. It’s “environmentalism that is attainable to students, an alternative to anxiety in the media.” It speaks to students on their level, it’s accessible as a website or even as an app, and, most importantly, it fits into our schedules.
On top of managing SHFT and traveling the country to speak about sustainability, Grenier is currently working on a movie. In his free time, he’s getting the crew to be more sustainable, and succeeded in getting rid of plastic water bottles on set, proving that if he can fit environmentalism into his life in the fast lane, we can squeeze it into our busy schedules too.