Danny Seo, Rolling In Green
THE NATION’S NEWSPAPER
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Life
Long Island Power Authority
August 31, 2004
Danny Seo, rolling in green
Young, hip eco-stylist is saving
the world, one celebrity at a time
By Marco R. della Cava
years working as an environmental
USA TODAY
activist, author, magazine columnist and
As easy as …
lecturer.
SAN FRANCISCO Say "environment" to
Got eco-sense? Danny Seo’s three
Danny Seo, and it's as if you've punched
He's negotiating with a few high-
the word into the search engine Google:
profile cable channels to do a reality
easy steps to having some:
Out roars an avalanche of ideas and
show — SuperNatural Style With Danny
references that threatens to scramble
Seo — in which he'll dispense an array of
1. Use biodegradable cleaners
your brain.
healthy-living pearls. And Seo will be
around the house. Seo’s favorites
prowling New York's Fashion Week, Sept.
include the all-natural brand
But a day spent racing between
8-15, luring models and celebrities to his
business appointments with this self-
Re-Treat party, for which the price of
Method for everything from dish
described eco-stylist finally reveals his
admission is your old cellphone battery.
soap ($5.49) to wood polish
succinct and daring philosophy: Ask not
($5.99) and phosphate-free
what you can do for the environment,
"My job isn't to convince you to
Seventh Generation laundry deter-
but what the environment can do for
protect the environment," he says. "I'm
gent ($7.99, all prices
you.
also not here to tell you this is cool. But I
drugstore.com).
am here to tell you that it's just an easier
Seriously.
way to live, and it helps the
2.
environment."
When buying appliances and
For example, Mother Nature can help
electronics, look for the
make you hipper (think Toyota Prius
Confused? Here's his light-bulb
Environmental Protection Agency’s
hybrid cars), healthier (organic foods
moment: "A flat-screen TV is very high-
Energy Star label. These high-effi-
keep toxins at bay) and wealthier
tech and trendy. But some are also far
ciency models use fewer resources
(recycle some free wallpaper samples
more energy-efficient than those bulky
and sometimes come with finan-
and turn the living-room wall into a quilt-
tube TVs, so you'll also save on bills."
cial incentives.
like marvel).
Wow, guilt-free consumerism.
And you thought being green meant
3. Recycle your old cellphone and
being jeered as a granola and wearing
"He's fun, he's smart, and he makes it
rechargeable batteries, whose ele-
unsightly sandals? Seo says bring on the
seem so uncool not to think about the
ments are particularly harmful to
Armani — the designer's hemp denim
Earth," says actress and friend Rosario
the environment. Go to the
collection, that is.
Dawson. "He's a new Martha Stewart."
The M word. Given the growing
Rechargeable Battery Recycling
"I think it's possible to live an eco-
awareness of environmental issues and
Corp. website (rbrc.org) and look
friendly existence that embraces style,"
Seo's access to the celebrity set, this soft-
up no-cost area drop-off locations.
says Seo, 27, who has spent the past 15
spoken Korean-American from rural
Reprinted with permission. All rights reser ved.
AS SEEN IN USA TODAY LIFE SECTION, TUESDAY, AUGUST 31, 2004
Pennsylvania could have a shot at Martha's mantle.
Organic Style) and book publishers (Generation React: Activism
for Beginners and Conscious Style Home: Eco-Friendly Living
After all, she may have been chummy with the traditional
for the 21st Century).
American family, but Danny's crowd is younger and impressed
by starry shopping forays that range from helping Chynna
'Club sandwiches, not seals'
Phillips find a fluffy, down-free comforter to advising Brad Pitt
on purchasing a hybrid vehicle.
Seo's style and youth caught Oprah Winfrey's eye; not long
after he popped up on her show in 1998, People magazine
Another omni-media?
named him one of their "50 Most Beautiful People."
Seo won't comment on Stewart's fall from grace but reveres
Today, Seo remains largely focused on the nexus of fashion
her dedication to quality and the brand: "Martha owns that
and sustainable living. But he hasn't given up his activist ways.
space. Everyone else just follows."
A passionate anti-fur crusader, he managed to draw attention
That's not to say he isn't busy making his move.
to the ongoing horror of baby seal clubbing in typically Seo
style. Wandering around the Sundance Film Festival a few years
In addition to the TV show, which he's crafting with Hearst
back, Seo came across Paris Hilton, who was intrigued by his T-
Entertainment, Seo and his small team at Danny Seo Media
shirt: "Club sandwiches, not seals."
Ventures are putting together a cross between a magazine and
a catalog. ("I might call it a magalog," he says, arching an
He promptly produced one in her size, she wore it,
eyebrow.)
photographers snapped her in it, People magazine ran the
image, and soon Abercrombie & Fitch started selling the tees.
It will be filled with organic products that range from
cleaning supplies to holiday gifts, as well as clever crafts tips
"I don't judge celebrities," Seo says. "If I can use their power
along the lines of taking the oyster shells from that last seafood
for a purpose, though, what's wrong with that?"
meal, filling them with a soy-based wax and creating
decorative table candles.
More power to you, says William Schlesinger, dean of Duke
University's Nicholas School of the Environment and Earth
"If I have a style, it would be called country acid," Seo says.
Sciences, where enrollment has doubled in the past three
Indeed, Seo loves the rural life. When he's not bouncing
years.
between the coasts, Seo hunkers down in a 172-year-old house
on a 500-acre Christmas tree farm, not far from where he grew
"Hey, if I could get my hands on spokespeople like that to
up in Reading, Pa.
spread my message, I would in an instant," Schlesinger says.
"While there isn't a huge groundswell (of the masses going
Seo, born fatefully on Earth Day (April 22), is the youngest of
green) just yet, there's no doubt Seo could be catching an early
three children of an anesthesiologist father and a stay-at-home
wave."
mom. The eco-epiphany came on his 12th birthday. He had
read about the rain forest burning and whales being killed, and
But many manufacturers already speak Seo's language of eco-
he announced to his mother that he was now a vegetarian.
stylishness. Officials with the Environmental Protection
Agency's Energy Star program, which rates the most efficient
Her confused response: "No, Danny, you're a Taurus."
appliances on the market, say the number of products that
make the grade has nearly tripled to 28,000 since 2000.
Seo says his parents remain uninvolved in his career, "but
they taught me great critical thinking skills." His sister in
"People are looking for a product with the style and features
Virginia is a teacher, while his Bay Area attorney brother "has
they need but then are also asking if it will save them money,"
some sort of Chandler Bing job — you know, the kind you don't
says EPA spokeswoman Maria Vargas.
really get."
"That's a huge behavioral shift. What's next is making sure
Not long after that birthday party in 1989, the young idealist
people realize that when they save that money, they're also
founded an environmental group called Earth 2000. The aim
saving the environment."
was to save the planet in a mere nine years. (Hey, he was 12.)
Sleeping especially easy
The group did manage to get local environmental legislation
passed, at about the time when Seo was flunking high school
Seo works that very vein, using the carrot of savings to
civics. He passed on attending college and instead dedicated
prompt an eco-conscious choice.
himself to writing, both for magazines (he's an editor-at-large at
Reprinted with permission. All rights reser ved.
AS SEEN IN USA TODAY LIFE SECTION, TUESDAY, AUGUST 31, 2004
That's what has brought him to this famously green town;
stunned to be taking cues from a twentysomething who looks
he's meeting with executives of Kimpton Hotels, a chain of 40
like a barista.
boutique properties around the USA.
But then Seo wows them with a few funky notions that he
They've hired Seo to help expand the eco-suite concept —
likens to MacGyver on an eco-trip. Like suggesting that the
energy-efficient lighting, green linens and the like — that has
hotel tell guests to mix used coffee grounds from the in-room
been so successful at the local Triton Hotel, where Seo is
machine with cleansing lotion from the bathroom for a top-
designing his own signature suite not far from the planet-
notch exfoliating scrub.
friendly bamboo retreat designed by Woody Harrelson.
He finishes to applause and heads for the street where the
"Occupancy dipped after Sept. 11, but demand for these
bellman hails him a cab.
suites remained high," says Kimpton marketing vice president
Steve Pinetti. "People stay in them to feel they're doing
Seo is tired, but he has many more eco-chats to go before he
something for the Earth."
sleeps. Besides, he really doesn't have an off switch. The planet
still needs saving, and he still needs more ideas of how to get
Seo bounces into the conference room with a few props,
people to help him save it.
including Ethos bottled water (proceeds help bring clean water
to Third World children) and The Preserve toothbrushes (made
"Something I forgot to mention to you," he says. "Another
from recycled yogurt cups; the manufacturer melts mailed-
advantage of a hybrid car is that you get to drive in the carpool
back used brushes into park benches).
lane even if you're alone."
He breezes through his life story, then hammers home his
Actually, that rule has not yet been greenlighted by federal
point that consumers need to be given the tools to be do-
officials.
gooders: "We're telling people to be eco-conscious, but we're
not telling them how."
"Really?" asks Seo. Big exhale, then a smile. "Maybe I just
heard it from myself."
Heads nod in the executive ranks, although they still seem
Celebs do their part at home, on road
u Edward Norton. "Big supporter of solar energy" who
recently "teamed up with BP Solar to create a program that
Even the greenest Hollywood celebrity isn't likely to swap
incorporates solar energy into low-income housing."
the Gucci-and-Gulfstream lifestyle for a solar-powered yurt
anytime soon. But some stars are making an effort to be less
u Christina Aguilera. "The Dirrty girl actually cleans up. Her
wasteful. Among eco-stylist Danny Seo's favorite famous
contract rider for a recent concert tour requested organic
crusaders:
fruit, organic soy milk and no disposable plates, dishes, cups."
Also, she supports the Natural Resources Defense Council.
u Brad Pitt. "Gave up all his cars and only drives hybrids. . . .
It's believed the gardens of his Los Angeles home are organic.
u Cameron Diaz. Taped a series of eco-minded public
Keep your eye on him to be the next eco-celeb activist."
service announcements with pal Gwyneth Paltrow. "She
basically made driving a hybrid smart, sexy and cool."
u Pierce Brosnan and Keely Shaye Smith. "This Hollywood
power couple has devoted serious time to a number of green
u Kevin Richardson. This Backstreet Boy has green homes
and animal rights charities," most recently "saving the last
in both Kentucky and Los Angeles, featuring solar paneling and
remaining native redwoods in California." Shaye Smith also is a
"a gray water system, which recycles (waste) water. . . . He
dedicated organic gardener.
recently converted one of his cars to run on natural gas and
has his own gas pump at his house."
Danny Seo, rolling
in green
V O C A B U L A R Y
1. succinct
APPLICATIONS: environment, cause & effect, analysis, research
DISCUSSION: Who is Danny Seo? What is his environmen-
2. hybrid
tal philosophy? What ventures is Seo in the process of start-
ing? When did he have his “eco-epiphany”? On what is Seo
3. forays
primarily focused? How does he prompt consumers to make
eco-conscious choices?
4. epiphany
ACTIVITY: ENERGY STAR is a government-supported pro-
5. nexus
gram that encourages individuals and businesses to protect
the environment by helping them make energy efficient
6. ethos
choices.* Make a list of all of the appliances and other items
in your home that use energy (e.g., ovens, toasters, TVs,
clock radios, curling irons, etc.). Take an inventory of the
brands and model numbers you are currently using. Then,
through research, identify an alternate brand or model that
meets ENERGY STAR’s approval. Create a graphic organizer
that compares and contrasts the results of your findings.
*Source: www.energystar.gov
Focus on: Energy
USA TODAY Snapshots®
APPLICATIONS: trends, statistics, science, application, problem solving
Identify at least three fac-
electric power. Geothermal,
World energy consumption
tors that have led to the
biomass, solar and wind ener-
Consumption of energy globally (in
quadrillion British thermal units):
increase in world energy con-
gy sources provided the
sumption. Do you think the
remaining 4%.*
dramatic rise in energy use is
Which of the above
’80
285
cause for concern? Explain.
resources are non-renewable?
’90
346
In 1998, 86% of the energy
Which are renewable? Why
produced globally came from
aren’t renewable sources of
’99
382
oil, natural gas and coal. These
energy widely produced or
three resources accounted for
consumed in the U.S. and
’101
493
85% of the U.S.’s total energy
around the globe? How could
consumption. About 11% of the
humans, and Americans in
’201
612
energy Americans consumed
particular, fix this imbalance?
1 – projections
Sources: Energy Information Administration; Office of Energy Markets
came from nuclear and hydro-
*Source: U.S. Geological Survey
and End Use; International Statistics Database and International Energy Annual; and
World Energy Projection System.
By Shannon Reilly and Marcy E. Mullins, USA TODAY
