New faces of environmentalism: Generation Y is carrying the torch for Mother Earth

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By Katie Vaughn | Saturday, April 21, 2007 | 53 comment(s)

Robb Russman is one of six young, environmentally conscious Quad-Citians profiled for an Earth Day story on the new generation of environmentalists. The primary difference between these environmentalists and those of previous generations is that they focus on individual impact and changes. Russman, for instance, has lived without a car for a year and a half. When his gas-guzzling truck had transmission problems, he decided to forego a vehicle to offset the impact his truck had on the environment.

On this day 37 years ago, an estimated 20 million young Americans participated in a new grassroots event called Earth Day. They protested against environmentally harmful practices and demonstrated to bring issues facing the environment to the national agenda.

Today, those children of baby boomers are at the forefront of the environmental movement. And they’ve put their own spin on what it means to “live green.”

Certainly, not every American under the age of 30 drives a hybrid and composts trash. But a 2006 Cone and AMP Insights study of “Millenials” — or Generation Y, the 78 million Americans born between 1979 and 2001 — showed that 61 percent felt a responsibility to make the world a better place.

When asked about the most pressing issues facing them, 36 percent of this group answered with the environment, which ranked third after education and poverty.

Young people today are exposed to environmental issues and given access to information about it at an earlier age than in past generations. They grow up with environmental science programs in schools, and many feed off the activism and awareness of their parents, said Jason Koontz, an assistant professor in the biology department at Augustana College in Rock Island.

The media and entertainment industries have undoubtedly played a role in informing teens and young adults about environmental issues, said Mike Orfitelli, a biology teacher at North High School in Davenport. Hybrid cars and alternative fuel regularly make headlines, while films such “An Inconvenient Truth,” former Vice President Al Gore’s documentary on global climate change, have started public debate.

But the way in which some millenials generally break from past environmentalists is in focusing their efforts not on broad movements and causes, but on themselves. They think about the impact they personally have on the environment and make individual sacrifices and changes to lessen the damage.

Katie Vaughn can be contacted at

(563) 383-2282 or kvaughn@qctimes.com.

Here’s a look at what five environmentally minded Quad-Citians are doing.

Robb Russman, 25

None of the cars Robb Russman of Davenport has driven could be described as kind to the environment. First there was the ’87 Crown Victoria and, later, a “big Chevy half-ton” truck. When the gas-guzzling truck started acting up in the summer of 2005, Russman sold it and decided to save up money for a different vehicle.

“Then I saw ‘An Inconvenient Truth,’ ” he said.

Russman was struck with the idea that if he was fortunate enough to live in a city with public transportation, he should use it. So he did what many would consider the unthinkable: He decided to live without a car.

The idea behind his sacrifice was to forego a vehicle for a while to offset the impact his old rides had on the environment. But while Russman’s home and work are located on a bus route, going carless hasn’t always been easy.

His job as a barrista at a downtown Davenport coffee shop requires him to arrive by 6:30 a.m. To get there on time, he must leave between 5:30 and 6:10, depending on if he uses the bus, his own two feet or a ride from a friend to traverse the mile distance.

And although the Quad-City native no longer has to worry about car payments and insurance or speeding tickets, he said it can be frustrating to have to rely on friends or public transit to get from point A to point B.

‘The only drawback is not being able to come and go as I please,” he said.

But Russman hasn’t regretted his choice. He’s been cognizant of environmental issues since learning to recycle for a Boy Scout badge as a child. But living without a car is one of many decisions he makes daily to put the health of the environment before his own convenience.

“We have one earth, that is it,” he said. “If we destroy it, it’s done.”

Savannah Medina, 16

In her first year at Davenport North High School, Savannah Medina joined the environmental club. Now a junior, she is president of the group and oversees the activities of its 15 members.

She ran for president because she had ideas she wanted to implement in the club to make a positive impact on the local environment. Club members regularly clean up litter around campus and care for the school’s courtyards, where they also have added plants and flowers.

Orfitelli said the group has developed a native planting area in front of the school. By employing water-retention practices, they’ve reduced the runoff that regularly spills onto 53rd Street, he said.

As president, Medina has added broader community projects to the environmental club’s activities. Members rake leaves for Quad-Citians who cannot do it themselves, and they have sponsored running events.

An avid recycler who picks up trash in her neighborhood with her sister, Medina is considering studying environmental science in college. But one of the biggest challenges she faces is raising environmental action in her classmates.

Teenagers hear about global warming and other issues, she said, but it’s sometimes difficult to connect with the messages.

“I think they hear it, but I don’t think they realize how much it’s going to impact them,” she said.

Medina hopes to prompt students to make simple changes such as recycling more and littering less. A small project earlier in the year indicates she may succeed: The club set up a bin for recycling soda bottles and students filled it.

She hopes to add bins throughout the school soon, she said.

Kristen Ellis, 28

Many young Americans walk the environmental talk, but Kristen Ellis lives, sleeps and breathes it.

She’s part of the Living Lands and Waters crew, meaning she lives on a Mississippi River barge when she’s not touring the country working on environmental projects with the organization.

While a student at the University of Missouri – Columbia, Ellis was a nursing major, until one day when she was out turkey hunting. She realized how much she loved the outdoors and promptly changed her major to fisheries and wildlife.

After graduating in 2003, she attended a river cleanup, where she encountered Living Lands and Waters. She stayed late to help load garbage, and when she learned a position on the team opened up, she jumped at the opportunity.

Now the group’s riverbottom restoration coordinator, Ellis spends her days out in the elements and her nights with the team on the barge. It’s cramped quarters for crew members, who encourage one another to be as environmentally responsible as possible, she said.

For instance, they follow the toilet-flushing guidelines of “If it’s yellow, let it mellow; if it’s brown, flush it down,” and remind each other to turn off lights, she said.

Overall, Ellis said, living on the barge isn’t too much of a sacrifice.

“It’s kind of like camping, with amenities,” she said. “Our backyard is the river.”

Brian Gunderson, 21

For Brian Gunderson, the week leading up to Earth Day verges on chaotic. As president of Global Affect, the environmental organization at Augustana College, he’s responsible for coordinating and overseeing a week’s worth of special events from a hybrid-car show to a river cleanup.

“Earth Week is our big function for the year,” he said. “We try to educate the campus.”

The Augustana senior joined the organization his freshman year, and before that was active in an environmental group at his high school in Edwardsville, Ill. His town offered curbside recycling, so he was surprised to find the practice wasn’t prevalent on campus.

That’s changed this year, as Global Affect’s efforts resulted in the college offering recycling pickups for the first time, an impressive accomplishment, said Koontz, the organization’s faculty adviser.

When students are surrounded by environmentally conscious peers, it’s somewhat easy to live green, Gunderson said. But off-campus or after college, it can prove more difficult. He hopes to hold a seminar on post-college green living, he said.

Gunderson said that when he’s out on his own, he will seek out a job with a short commute from his home. He also plans to shop at markets that support local growers — and do anything else he can to lessen his own impact on the environment.

A double-major in sociology and religion, Gunderson said he is interested in working in community development or city planning. While many communities physically separate residential and urban areas, he would like to promote mixed-use developments in which housing, commercial spaces and public transportation co-exist.

— Katie Vaughn