School Prom Nights..
Greenhouse gas emission, green awareness and global warming are being drilled into the psyche of all us, especially the next generation, namely students.
And while Greater Victoria high school students might think about environmentally friendly issues on ordinary days, when it comes to arriving at once-in-a-lifetime graduation dinner-dances, their carbon footprint is not the first topic that comes to mind.
For the students it’s all about creating a lasting memory. This June's graduates are arriving at downtown hotels as usual in sleek limousines, special buses or spiffed-up cars. The number of friends they can celebrate with along the way and not vehicle emissions is what determines the vehicle choice. Students claim it is unfair to judge their green awareness based one big, coming-of-age event
Students are happy to splurge out for the event and being green, or at least seemingly seen to be, doesn’t come into the equation. In fact, ‘Graduation’ business for limousine companies in Victoria has never been better. Paradoxically, grad students don't ask for the limo in the fleet that uses less-polluting bio-fuel, while U.S. corporate clients do.
It seems the students’ reasoning is that while a person may get married more than once in their lifetime, they only graduate once. "We are all for green - but not for grad," says Jean Bigelow, Glenlyon Norfolk School's director of student life. The private school lists students' eco-friendly accomplishments through the year, such as garbage-free lunches and a vegetable garden for a local food bank.
Some parents organizing graduation night transportation think practically, if not in green terms. For instance, 94 of the 283 members of the Oak Bay graduating class arrived for their dinner-dance at the Fairmont Empress hotel on buses last weekend, after a grad block party. It was seen as more practical solution to having them all drive down in their cars, due to a lack of parking around the hotel.
Even the rising cost of fuel does not seem to worry the students when it comes to the cost of the graduation limo hire. Despite an $8 fuel surcharge, up from $7.50 last year - if you are going to the expense of hiring a limo then gas is usually not a big deal, especially if you’re not travelling very far.
While being concerned about the environment is important, take just one day off to celebrate in style and enjoy yourself by contacting Hire Limos for a prom limo big on style.
