PB&J can save the Earth

Bear with me: I’m tapping into my eco-roots. (Yes, my natural hair color is green.)

Unless you’ve been living in a landfill—or driving a motorized pestilence known as an SUV—you know environmentalism is hot right now. I would normally cast a scant eye on anything that smacks of hype, but I’m stoked that green is in the limelight. If anything, I’m no longer that freak who’s using scratch paper to print documents or bringing corrugated cup sleeves with me when I pick up coffee (sorry, it’s impossible to carry a commuter mug with me at all times). Okay, maybe I’m still that freak, but I don’t have to explain myself anymore.

All that crunchy nutty behavior closet-environmentalists used to do in private is now going public. This is my current favorite: the PB&J Campaign. The bare-bones charge is simple: Eat a peanut butter-and-jelly sandwich to save the Earth. It sounds kind of hokey at first glance, but the classic PB&J represents plant-based products that can viably replace foods with huge carbon footprints. At the same time, the campaign is quite literal: instead of sitting in the drive-thru, idling your car to pick up a burger that caused deforestation, over-grazing and expended so much water and energy, pack a peanut butter-and-jelly sandwich!

While the website cunningly proselytizes vegetarianism, it offers compelling points—and pretty applicable ones at that. Sustainability takes time and money. ‘Cause shopping at a Whole Foods on a daily basis? That’s a luxury left for all those Humvee drivers. 

—Jiyeon Yoo