Bill De Coste
From North Park (Solutions Architect)
None. I don’t think there’s a reason to be green. By the time we’ve ruined the planet, we’ll have figured out a way to get off of it and go somewhere else. Global warming? Really? One plus one equals three. Tell me the reason why you have no reason to believe that one plus one doesn’t equal three. There’s no evidence at all for global warming. Zero evidence.
Kori Neessen
From South Park (Student)
We try to grow our own vegetables; we recycle. We have tomatoes and about a hundred pepper plants; we have chives, parsley, basil, some other stuff. We eat primarily organic; we eat a lot of vegetables. We only take the trash out about once every two weeks, recycling about twice a week. We do abuse water, though. We take long showers — but it’s a low-flow showerhead that came in recycled plastic and cardboard. And I take the bus, and we recycle the bag that the newspaper comes in as a dog-poop bag.
Joanna Ritchie
From East County (Vet Tech)
I would say very green. At least I try to be. Although I know my carbon footprint has increased since I moved back to California because of my driving; it’s the only way to really get around here. I try to reduce the amount of waste that I produce. I can get it down to a grocery bag, like, every two weeks. If you think about how everything is recyclable, you know, you have that mentality. Then, when you buy things, you’re more aware of that and you alter your choices to have that kind of lifestyle. My friends and I were green even in high school. We started an environmental science club.
Jiksa Degise
From Normal Heights (Student)
recycle. I get my five cents per can. I take them in; I get the money for ’em. I take them in every couple months. I don’t drink that much — so I don’t have that many bottles or cans — but I end up getting, like, seven, eight bucks each time. It works for me; plus it’s helping the environment. That’s about how far it goes.
Kourtnie Bridge
From North Park (Student)
I am [green]! At school they teach me how to recycle. They teach us how to save water. Sometimes you can conserve water by putting bottles in the toilet, and it saves a lot of water. And they teach us to turn off the water when you brush your teeth and to only take a five-minute shower. I only take five-minute showers and I’m out!
Robin Simmons
From MIra Mesa (Retail Manager)
think I’m really green. I love that they’re going to pass this law where you have to pay to get a bag at the store. They just talked about it on NPR this morning. Schwarzenegger’s office said he would sign it if it gets that far. So, I try really hard and I think of myself as really green, but then I’ll notice that I’m in the shower for a long time. There’s little things: I don’t take bags when I’m in the grocery store; I grow a lot of my own vegetables; I’m a vegetarian, so I’m not eating meat. But I do drive 30 minutes to work. There are things that are contradictory, but I try.