#Studentseries: An Interview with Garance Vidart on Green Living
Sciences Po Student Garance Vidart
This week, we talked to Garance Vidart an environmentally-conscious Sciences Po student, who is currently finishing her masters in Communication. Garance is part of our #studentseries and she is absolutely eager to share her point of view.
How would you describe your level of environmental awareness and activism, both in your everyday life and other larger initiatives you have taken?
I think of myself as highly aware of the sustainable development movement, and active in the simple ways that I can: recycling, buying locally-produced food, using public transportation and my bicycle. I am taking a class on the communication strategies linked to sustainable development in order to better understand the implications of climate change in today’s world and they way government entities, companies and civil society are today acting in order to bring about change.
What environmental issues are most important to you?
Climate change – and even though I cannot bring about substantial change on my own as a little human being, there a small steps I can take in helping out. I like to keep informed on the subject.
What steps can students take to be more sustainable in their everyday lives?
Many simple steps: using two-sided printing, even cutting down their printing quota, we use screens now… Turning off the lights in their homes and at school, not letting the tap run, things like that… I feel like within our schools and offices, people should make greater efforts in being and living “green.”
In your previous internships have you noticed good corporate sustainable practices?
In one of my offices, kind of. Others, NO!!! I was shocked at the amount of printing that is made in offices and lack of initiative to recycle. I would actually get angry at my boss for dumping hundreds of printed pages in the trash…
Having lived in multiple countries and cities throughout your life, what sustainable initiatives stood out to you in particular? In your opinion were they successful or not?
In my office in Canada, recycling was pretty big and someone would collect our recycled paper every week, a good initiative, but people were spending way too much time printing out files that they would store away and never use… what’s the point? They also launched a contest with cool prizes for those who would not use the elevator for the entire summer and use the stairs instead, cool idea.
