|
如果瑪莎•史都華（Martha Stewart）在她即將鋃鐺入獄時真的擁有新世代覺醒的話（她剛買下Body &
Soul雜誌，謠傳她企圖給她的生活品味王國帶來至少一點綠意。）也許她該跟一名年方27歲，卻早以環保生活專家聞名的競爭者好好學習。
那便是丹尼•徐，前兒童環保運動人士，在12歲時創立了環保組織，並加以經營成為價值連城的搖錢樹、來自白宮的邀請函以及主流通俗雜誌的報導──全都在他高中畢業以前。隨後他離開華府社交政治圈（Beltway）前往更耀眼的領域。現在他是明星們的環保顧問，《有機品味》（Organic
Style）特約編輯，時尚、美容及家庭用品設計師，三本在出版版圖上開創「生態時尚」（eco-chic）類別的書籍作者，以及（還沒完啊？）從精品飯店連鎖到手機回收配備等公司的環保顧問。
2004年他打算（在一家還不知道名字的電視台）開始一個叫「超級自然品味」（SuperNatural
Style）的實境電視節目，內容是關於……你猜對了，是關於環保生活。它將包含從高科技環保屋，有機花園、時尚、烹飪、娛樂到寵物照顧的一切。首要的主題是：作環保很簡單，更不用說也很時髦、新潮、省力…噢對了，還有對地球友善。他相信環保運動最好加緊腳步並增加一點性吸引力，同時也向生態人士挑戰，要求他們不要因他囊括六個年度風雲人物，並將星巴克及奇異（GE）公司名列最欣賞的企業而心懷怨恨。
但在變得像傳統消費主義一樣問題叢生以前，「生態消費主義」到底有多少可行的空間？Grist
Magazine近日致電給丹尼•徐在賓州的農場（作為「超級自然品味」節目的實驗室與佈景之用），討論美國是否真能從環境問題中買出一條生路、名人們為哪些急切的生態困境尋求他的協助、以及他為何對政治感到厭倦。
|
If Martha Stewart really is having a new-age awakening as she prepares
to enter the clink (she just bought Body & Soul Magazine and rumor has
it she intends to give her lifestyle empire a hint, at least, of green),
she might want to take notes from one competitor who, at the tender age
of 27, is already burnishing his reputation as America's reigning
environmental lifestyle expert.
That would be Danny Seo, the former pre-teen activist who founded an
environmental organization at the age of 12 and brokered it into a
top-dollar book deal, an invitation to the White House, and profiles in
major glossies -- all before he graduated from high school. Seo has
since left the Beltway for more glamorous horizons. Now he is an
environmental consultant to the stars; an editor at large for Organic
Style; designer of fashion, beauty, and home products; author of three
books that have put the "eco-chic" genre on the publishing map; and (are
we done yet?) a green consultant to companies ranging from a boutique
hotel chain to a cell-phone recycling outfit.
Later this year, Seo plans to launch a reality-TV program (on an
as-yet-unnamed network) called SuperNatural Style about -- you guessed
it -- green living. It will cover everything from high-tech green homes
to organic gardens, fashion, cooking, entertaining, and pet care. The
overriding theme: It is easy being green -- not to mention hip, trendy,
affordable ... oh yeah, and planet-friendly. Seo believes that the
environmental movement better hurry up and get some sex appeal, and
dares eco-activists not to begrudge him for raking in six figures a
year, and for naming Starbucks and General Electric among his favorite
companies.
But just how far can eco-consumerism go before it's as
problem-riddled as traditional consumerism? Grist recently rang Seo at
his farm in Pennsylvania (which serves as the lab and set for all things
SuperNatural) to discuss whether America can really buy its way out of
environmental problems, what pressing eco-dilemmas celebrities want him
to sort out, and why he has wearied of politics. |
|
問：描述你成為環保運動人士的成長過程，是什麼促使你這麼早便投身政治？
答：這事我已經講過一百萬次了，我會試著不要略過細節。這發生在我生日那天：我在地球日出生。我想，當你是個小孩而你的生日和某節日同一天時，它當然會對你有些影響。每年我生日的時候，都會有些關於地球處境及鯨魚和雨林問題，以及和這些相關的駭人恐怖故事。因此每年生日時我都在納悶世界末日是否就要來臨了。
步入12歲時，我單純地相信我所讀到的每個問題，同時也懷抱理想，相信自己能解決它們，於是我決定在12歲生日那天創建一個環保團體。這是一份禮物，來自所有參加生日派對的朋友們。我那時好像是說「你們可以留著所有帶來的禮物，我不想要，但你們得做點別的事來代替。」大家都以為我想要現金，但我說：「我要成立一個團體，希望你們成為裡頭的創始成員。」這個團體（Environment
2000）在我18歲時，從12名成員成長到25,000名成員。
問：你如何在那個年紀學到社會運動的訣竅？
答：這是我生命中真正像個「環保人士」的一段日子。當時沒有多少成人在支撐或運作Environment
2000，只有一群青少年。我學習從游說陳情、立法程序到公共關係、募款及民間活動的一切。我們非常有效地杯葛了像Eddie
Bauer這樣的公司，使他們終止皮草的使用。我們學到如何善用媒體，因為我們發現他們喜歡報導年輕人，可以利用媒體來傳達訊息和招募成員。我們從未費盡心思去吸引成員，他們都是自己找上門來的，贊助者也找上我們。我們只是從實踐中學習而已。我甚至在13歲時自己填寫稅務法規501(c)(3)的非營利組織免稅申請表，但裡頭拼字錯誤之多，我簡直不明白財政部賦稅署是怎麼通過的。
問：所以這不只是課外活動？
答：我中學被當，沒有任何擅長的項目，也沒有課外活動。你總是聽說那些故事，年輕人為理想奮鬥但也同時在班上名列前矛之類的事蹟。他們就像有超級非凡成就的人，非常閃亮、非常完美，幾乎有些讓人毛骨悚然。我可不是，我不打算上大學，也沒有計畫讓自己揚名立萬。
問：但你的名號還是從此成為暢銷招牌，你簽下寫書合約、電視節目、產品生產線，還為連鎖飯店作設計。
圖說：丹尼•徐與女演員布萊絲•丹納（Blythe Danner）合影。
答：我其實沒有用什麼策略，我只能說，傻人有傻福。現下我經營事業，而且有個不只是商業性的企業組織，這裡當然有個完整的策略，而我們也知道自己的方向。但約莫22歲以前，我仍只是隨波逐流，有什麼就拿什麼，也沒有多想。我說的是我第一份寫書合約，我唯一做的事就是回覆出版商蘭登書屋（Random
House）的電話。 【文章連載】
■環保宗師少年郎 與丹尼•徐對談(上) (中) (下) |
Q: Describe your coming-of-age as an
activist. What motivated you to get political so early?
A: I've told this story a million times
so I'll try to not skip over details. I guess it began on my birthday: I
was born on Earth Day. And I think when you're a young kid and you share
a birthday with a holiday, obviously it has an influence on you. Every
year on my birthday, there were all these stories about the status of
the earth and the problems with the whales and the rainforests and all
these really horrific, scary stories. So every year on my birthday I was
wondering if the world was coming to an end.
By the time I turned 12, I was naive enough to believe every problem
I read about but also idealistic enough to believe that I could just fix
it. So I decided to start an environmental group on my 12th birthday. It
was a gift to me from all of my friends at my birthday party. I was
like, "You can keep all the gifts you brought. I don't want them. But
you have to do something else instead." Everyone assumed I wanted cash.
But I said, "I want you to become the founding members of a group I'm
going to start." The group [known as Environment 2000] went from 12
members to 25,000 members by the time I was 18.
Q: How did you learn the tricks of
the activism trade at that age?
A: This was a whole period of my life when I was really, like, "The
Activist." There weren't many adults backing Environment 2000 or running
it, it was just a group of teenagers. I learned everything from lobbying
and the legislative process to public relations to fundraising to
grassroots campaigning. We had very effective boycotts against companies
like Eddie Bauer to get them to discontinue fur use. We learned how to
exploit the press, because we discovered they love to write about young
people and we realized we could use the media to get our message out
there and recruit members. We never solicited members; they came to us.
Financial supporters came to us. We learned just by being hands-on. I
even did the 501(c)(3) application myself when I was 13. There were so
many spelling errors that I don't even know how the IRS could have
approved it.
Q: So this was more than an
extracurricular activity.
A: I failed out of high school. I was
not excelling in anything. I didn't take extracurriculars. You always
hear these stories about young people who have taken on a cause but they
are also, like, first in their class. They're like these
super-achievers, so polished, so perfect, and it's almost a little bit
creepy. Not me. I had no plans to go to college, no big plans to make a
name for myself.
Q: And yet your name has since become
a mass-marketed brand. You've got book deals, a TV show, product lines,
you're styling hotel chains.
Seo cozies up with actress Blythe
Danner.
A: There was no strategy, I can tell you
that much. There was a lot of dumb luck. I mean, now that I'm running a
business and now that I've got more of a commercial, entrepreneurial
enterprise, there's definitely a full strategy here and we know where we
are going. But until about the age of 22, I was sort of just gliding
along, taking whatever came my way. There was no thought put into it. I
mean my first book deal, all I did was answer a phone call from Random
House. |
