With the younger generations, environmentalism goes through phases. Sometimes “going green” is what all the cool kids are doing, and sometimes talking about recycling is the best way to ward off unwanted dates.

A couple of weeks ago, the inaugural People’s Climate March took place in New York City, just days before the UN’s Climate Summit (a meeting between world leaders about environmentalism). Out of the 400,000 who showed up, over 50,000 were college students. Is environmentalism cool again?

The People’s Climate March was a large success, with around 400,000 attendees, of whom a large portion were college students.

I talked with the treasurer of the QC Environmental Club and asked her about their club’s happenings this far this semester, to which her response was: “Six people showed up to our second general meeting, which was really good for our club actually!”

So…maybe the environmentalism on the Queens College campus isn’t the most happening cause, but being environmentally aware is definitely gaining “cool.”

Aside from organizing people to attend demonstrations like the People’s Climate March, the QC Environmental Club hopes to really build their club this year, taking part in initiatives like a job fair for professional alternatives to the cutthroat job-culture that can end up being bad the environment (alternatives to putting profits before the Earth), a “sustainable eco-friendly” fashion show, and “upcycling” workshops to make beauty from trash.

The main issue, though, comes down to this: With youth, especially students, environmentalism has become more of an accessory than a cause. Students will wear a “Go Green” t-shirt and eat vegan food, yet they won’t make simple changes like separating their recycling from their trash and using Blackle instead of Google to conserve energy.

This student holds up a sign with an important message but does she believe it?

Plain and simple, it’s hard to care about a cause that feels distant. Which is why so many students are involved in the fight for net neutrality, the battle against tax raises, and other issues that seem to affect them more. But they still want to “Go Green,” or at least appear to be doing that.

In fact, at the People’s Climate March, there was a good amount of trash left behind from attendees, some of whom were students. Right-winged commentators seized on that and mocked the socks off these “environmentally aware people,” calling them hypocritical amongst other less polite terms. (Read some commentary on that here.)

The aforementioned club treasurer commented on the state of environmentalism amongst youth: “It’s becoming cool to be green…most people aren’t against the environment – it’s a lack of information, a lack of knowledge. The environment isn’t in the most immediate danger so students are more worried about immediate things like homework and work and such. So we need to make it easy, make it cheap, and make it impactful so that people take steps to help the environment. But this will affect us in our lifetime, and definitely in our children’s, so we need to get involved.”

So…environmentalism…gaining ground amongst youth or just an accessory to wear along with a 70’s band t-shirt? Let’s hear what you have to say in the comment section!