It’s easy being green for Adrian Grenier
By Lauren Santye
Rider will be celebrating Campus Sustainability Day with celebrity guest speaker Adrian Grenier, most commonly known for playing Vincent Chase in the HBO series Entourage.
Campus Sustainability Day is held on Oct. 23 at colleges and universities across the country.
“This is a day to celebrate our accomplishments at Rider and how far we’ve come,” said Melissa Greenberg, Rider’s sustainability manager.
Because of scheduling issues, Grenier was unable to come on Oct. 23, so he will be speaking on Oct. 24 in the Cavalla Room.
According to Greenberg, Grenier, who is listed as one of the top 20 green celebrities, will be discussing how to live a more environmentally conscious life.
Grenier was chosen to be the speaker for several reasons.
“He’s a really active environmentalist,” Greenberg said. “He’s got a green website, he promotes green living and is going to be a great influence.”
Grenier, 37, who is known for more than living in the limelight, co-founded the website SHFT in 2009 with independent film producer Peter Glatzer.
The site aims “to convey a more sustainable approach to the way we live through film, design, art and food.”
The goal is also looking to embed sustainability into the everyday lives of people.
“Sustainability should be folded into the fabric of our lives, a part of our consciousness that touches everything we do,” according to SHFT.com. “It should be reflected in our culture, our art, our music and design and nudge us further toward the sustainable direction in which we’re inevitably headed.”
The website has something for everyone and covers a multitude of green topics.
“There is a section on music, where they talk about different bands that are green and the things they do on their tours,” Greenberg said.
According to Forbes.com, SHFT even owns a wine label called SHFT House Wine.
“It’s a hedonistic, decadent blend out of Paso Robles -— an area that’s getting rave reviews on their Rhone-style wines,” Grenier said on the site. “Our wine only uses organic vineyards and is made by the new breed of vintners who are working using sustainable methods. And the bottles are recycled glass, lighter weight, and have no capsule, which is the foil sleeve, and the labels are recycled paper with veggie dye.”
In April, Grenier’s Food Tripping app was launched. The app is free and according to usatoday.com, it allows people to find sustainable food on the go.
“The app finds farm-to-table restaurants, organic grocery stores, produce stands and juice bars,” Grenier said. “There’s often a saturation of information, and a lot of times companies can buy their way through the clutter. This tool is a filter to cut through all the clutter and find the best food wherever you are.”
Greenberg always looks to find a keynote speaker with celebrity status to draw people in and get them in the seats.
“He’s a current celebrity and a lot of people are going to come just because they are fans of him, and that’s OK,” she said. “It’s great he’s going to draw a huge crowd and we get to educate more people than would normally come to a lecture on sustainability.”
Katelyn White, an Eco-Rep on the Lawrenceville campus and a senior journalism and environmental science major, is looking forward to Grenier’s arrival.
“I’m very excited for Adrian Grenier to come speak at Rider, White said. “At first I had no idea that he was involved with so much to spread awareness about sustainability. I’m hoping that the audience can take away some of the information that he touches upon and apply it to their own lifestyles.”
Campus Sustainability Day will be held on Rider’s campus mall this year. The Bronc radio station will be playing environmentally friendly musicians from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. During this time informative tables will be set up by the Sierra Club NJ, Sustainable Lawrence, Rock the Earth and Climate Central. Organic.
