Author: Alex Zeldin
Since I started my Occidental education, I have never seen such a reckless disregard for both the environment and the people who work for facilities as the marketing for this year’s Vagina Monologues, and this comes from a guy who leaves the light on in his room 24/7 in case he comes home to a crazed butcher lurking under his bed ready to strike.
It all started about two weeks before the event when a slip of paper was mysteriously pasted on every room in each residential hall. Slips later emerged in every student’s mailbox. As tape and paper both come from valuable natural resources, and each piece kills roughly 7.3 trees each, this advertising campaign sends a conflicting message. How is it that an event advocating respect for women’s bodies can subsequently desecrate and plunder the beautiful body that is mother earth?
The zenith of this annihilation came the day the Monologues were set to take place. From the Hameetman Science Center to Thorne Hall, literally thousands of sheets of paper advertising the event littered the campus. The environmental implications of this are so commonsensical that it seems the person who was in charge of this either likes the environment about as much as Dick Cheney or has been living under a rock in a distant world run by the collective villains in the Captain Planet cartoon series.
What’s worse than the environmental implications is how inconsiderate this was to the workers at facilities and everyone else in the Occidental community, as students, professors and deans were stuck picking up the wasted paper.
This was a huge blunder that should not be repeated. Enthusiasm can run high for such a powerful event that everyone should attend, but this gaffe must not set a precedent at Occidental. As the green initiative of the school keeps expanding, we must find ways to spread our messages and at the same time be as eco-friendly as possible. With e-mail and Facebook at everyone’s disposal, there is no reason why paper fliers are used at all in this day and age.
Another issue raised by the campaign is that it may have alienated the student who would have benefited from seeing the show but rather chose not to go because they were so turned off by the wasted paper. This serves as a reminder to all clubs that simply getting the word out is never the best option if people feel they are being bothered.
Take a look at Meg Whitman’s Gubernatorial campaign. Even though everyone and their mother knew she was running for governor, many voters were put off by her incessant advertising.
Today should be a wake up call to all clubs and departments on campus to cut back on their paper use and try to find as many ways as possible to cut down our environmental footprint.
The Vagina Monologues has and always will be a wonderful event that raises money for a noble cause, but let’s make sure to consider all concerns before executing a marketing plan this destructive in the future.
Alex Zeldin is a junior AHVA major. He can be reached at zeldin@oxy.edu
This article has been archived, for more requests please contact us via the support system.
