An environmental awareness with style
You came by bike?
Just a few years ago, the word "bicycle" was enough to amaze the amusing group that my friend Annemarie had invited to her apartment in the chic 16th arrondissement on Sunday. "You came by bike Are you tired of life?"
I nodded, the others looked startled and thought I was an adventurer, fearlessly making her way through the urban jungle between Citroëns, vans and buses. In short, I was a heroine.
First rethink
By the summer of 2007, the city council installed the bicycle rental system Vélib to reduce air pollution in the city and provide alternative means of transport for short-distance residents.
In the first few weeks, Mayor Bertrand Delanoë had to endure bitter malice à la: "Parisian on the bike? What a crazy idea!" But very quickly the ironic voices stopped, because Vélib struck like a bomb.
Half Paris jumped on the rental saddle and was delighted by the completely unusual speed with which one suddenly came through the city due to disregard of traffic rules. The euphoria over the eco-wire chair also had a very welcome side effect: from one day to the other, environmental awareness in the capital très became chic.
In Paris eco is suddenly chic
And because everything that the Parisians find chic spills over to the whole of France a little later, a bio-jolt went through the country.
Today there is no trend magazine that does not regularly report on new organic products. Biorestaurants sprout out of the ground like mushrooms after a summer rain.
Ecomode comes to the ready-to-wear.
At the Prêt-à-porter fair there are own halls for chic eco-fashion. In the business district of La Defense, just outside the city, the hotly contested high-rise competition for the Tour Phare won not the architecturally most beautiful design, but the model that impressed with its energy balance. And the limited edition cotton bag "I'm not a plastic bag", designed by Anya Hindmarch, became a cult item and sold out within one day in the trendy trend shop Colette.
I did not even try to get hold of one of the rare specimens. Why, after all, there are still three jute bags at home that I brought with me when I moved from Germany five years ago.
Together with my energy-saving lamps, the bike, the battery and the washing machine with austerity program, for which my French friend Rémy has little understanding.
Relationship stress through eco-habits
At first there were always relationship crises between us: it annoys me that I constantly turn off the lights when I leave the room, or do not use the standby mode of my TV. That's so handy.
But we have the biggest discussions in the supermarket. Rémy always uses the elaborate and mostly double packaged products? even if it is also loose or at least simply packed. His reasoning: "That's better!" This behavior is normal. French just!
If eco, then please noble
With the advent of the Vélib-related eco-trend, however, I hoped for a rethink. At Rémy and all our friends. That came too? just different than expected. Because the Parisian in itself is convinced: If already environmentally conscious, then please with style! You do not just eat a bio-steak, you have to go to the city's finest biorestaurant. Organic cotton alone is not enough, what counts is the coolest organic t-shirt label.
Even the small talk at the dinner with Gilles, Julien, Anne and Claire, all well-trained graduates of Grandes Écoles with highly paid leadership jobs, has completely changed. At the entrance, we chat about the sustainability of luxury products of traditional French companies such as Dior, Godard, Hermès.
The main course determines a discussion about the damage caused by cattle keeping of fast food chains. Everyone agrees that meat is much better anyway? awarded by the gourmet guide? To buy organic butchers. This is followed by the exchange of good delicacies for organic food for dessert, and to top it off, Julien comes out with a cup of coffee: "Listen, we sold our car, we're cycling now, Vélib!"
Stylish eco-lifestyle costs money.
In Paris, these people already have their own name. They are called Vélibobos, which means something like "cycling creatives, scene people and intellectuals with good jobs and big salaries". The high income is an important aspect, because their stylish eco-lifestyle costs money.The consumption of organic meat, the purchase of sustainable Hermès products or the holiday in natural design guesthouses makes the already extremely high cost of living in Paris even faster. I myself can not go there anymore.
How long does the trend last?
Yes, even worse: the trend has unintentionally declared me an outsider in terms of environmental awareness. For "être écolo" in Paris has nothing at all to do with the switching off of lamps or the turning of faucets. I am no longer a hero of transport, because now everyone is cycling. The question remains how long the trend will last. Until the next cold snap? The six months, which is a new restaurant à la mode? Or really a whole season longer?
