3 Ways Abbott Elementary and Quinta Brunson Show Sustainability on Screen
ABBOTT ELEMENTARY – ABC’s “Abbott Elementary” stars Quinta Brunson as Janine Teagues.
Quinta Brunson, the screenwriter, executive producer, and star of Abbott Elementary as the ever-optimistic Janine Teagues, is set to receive the EMA Futures Award at the upcoming 34th annual EMA Awards on October 26. Her mockumentary, which takes place in an underfunded Black inner-city school in Philadelphia, passes on and off-screen sustainability standards with flying (green) colors. On-screen, the show aligns with the Climate Reality Check (meaning climate change exists in the fictional world, and at least one of the characters is aware of it). For three years straight, Abbott has earned the EMA Gold Seal for sustainable production, rewarding its off-screen environmental efforts. Quinta Brunson has consistently sprinkled sustainability and climate references throughout her show, which is now in its fourth season.
Here are 3 inspiring ways that the Climate Creative and her show display sustainability on screen:
Eco-conscious Lifestyles
Adopting an eco-conscious lifestyle can vary from person to person. These are the sustainable ways of life portrayed in Abbott Elementary. Some of the teachers carpool with each other to reduce their environmental impact. Jacob (Chris Perfetti) is one of them, explaining his carpooling arrangement in Season 1, Episode 8, ‘I carpool with Janine occasionally to reduce my carbon footprint, and Tariq (Zack Fox) is there sometimes when he needs to use the car, which is… all the time’.
A couple of other moments when more sustainable transport modes are put forward comedically include Gregory (Tyler James Williams) saying, ‘I’ll walk over’ to avoid catching a lift with Jacob (Season 2, Episode 3). And in Season 3, Episode 9, Janine also chooses walking over driving. Unsure of whether she wants to accept a permanent position at the school district, Janine aggressively turns down a parking pass from her colleague, Emily (Kimia Behpoornia), saying, ‘I don’t really need a parking spot. I can just walk’. Confused, Emily points out, ‘It’s like a 20-minute walk’ to which Janine responds, ‘Yeah, but that’s okay. I love to walk. (...) Look, love it. Doing it right now. Doing a good job at it.’
Eating a more plant-based diet and wasting less food can positively impact one’s emissions, and Abbott Elementary does a great job at showcasing vegetarian and vegan choices throughout the series. For instance, in Season 3, Episode 1, Jacob asks the other teachers at lunchtime, ‘Who’s ready to go eat tofu?’. Normalizing opting for vegetarian and vegan options on screen can constructively influence opinions off-screen, as evidenced by a recent Rare report.
ABBOTT ELEMENTARY – Tyler James Williams as Gregory. (Disney/Gilles Mingasson)
The show also features a brilliant school-related sustainable practice. Abbott starts a school garden, which gets tended to secretly by Gregory, originally the substitute teacher and Janine’s forever workplace crush (Season 1, Episode 7). He uses his green fingers to touch it up after he notices Jacob and Barbara (Sheryl Lee Ralph) flailing. Gregory's tenderness for his plants extends to softly speaking to them, which Barbara overhears, and he explains that he does this ‘to stimulate growth’ (Season 3, Episode 11). It turns out Gregory’s father owns a landscaping company. After Gregory finally reveals his hidden love and talent for greens and his father offers him work in the business, Mr. Johnson calls out ‘nepotism.’ The janitor then complains about how difficult it is to get into the ‘notoriously hard to break into landscaping industry’ (Season 2, Episode 22). By Season 3, Episode 9, gardening is well and truly a school club activity. Gregory goes after a garden program grant and submits his proposal, ‘Gregory’s Garden Goofballs,’ to the school district (a good excuse to visit Janine). The care Gregory displays for the school garden is beyond endearing. The garden is a success, as much on screen as offscreen, growing real fruit and vegetables, which the film crew can take home.
Sustainable Stuff
Promoting sustainable and reusable products and less wasteful packaging make up another relatable sustainability effort Quinta Brunson ensures is reflected on screen. In Season 1, Episode 3, we see a humorous yet insightful portrayal of the challenges of reusing and repurposing items. When Janine receives an unsolicited donation of a non-functional, ancient printer missing its cord, Mr. Johnson assumes, ‘Trash?’ and Janine answers, ‘Yeah.’ But when Jacob sees Mr. Johnson about to throw it away, he proclaims, ‘This is not trash! (...) We are so quick to throw things away. We’re always asking for new, new, new. This is a perfectly good… I can’t find a brand name’. ‘Oh I know its name, it’s called trash’, interjects the janitor. Unbothered, Jacob’s mission becomes saving the bulky piece of machinery. He finds a spare cord from the school’s computer room, exclaiming ‘Yes!’ but then looks at it quizzically, ‘Is that European, or…?’ - it was British. When fixing the printer doesn’t work, Jacob thinks about repurposing it instead. ‘I will find another use for you. What could you be?’, ‘Could be trash,’ mutters Mr. Johnson disapprovingly from the hallway. In a last burst of creativity, Jacob transforms the printer into a pot plant with a built-in shade distribution system propped up by an A2 pencil. Unfortunately, as soon as Jacob waters the plant, mud, and water seep out from the bottom, prompting Mr. Johnson to repeat, ‘It’s trash’ with Jacob forced to admit defeat.
In several episodes, Abbott Elementary subtly highlights how Tupperware reduces packaging waste linked to food and takeout restaurants (Season 1, Episode 9). Similarly, Janine sports a fashionable pink reusable bottle throughout the show. Quinta Brunson has also convinced her film crew to switch to reusables by putting her money where her mouth is and funding the transition.
In Season 2, Episode 8, Barbara becomes obsessed with an ‘inappropriate’ tattoo and the non-PG related clothing choices of her student’s mother (Raven Goodwin), which she disapproves of until she discovers the mom owns her own fashion line, ‘Forever B*tch Apparel’ which promotes ‘locally made, Black-owned, and sustainable business practices.’
ABBOTT ELEMENTARY – From left, Quinta Brunson as Janelle, Janelle James as Ava & Chris Perfetti as Jacob. (Disney/Gilles Mingasson)
Climate Convos
Quinta Brunson creatively weaves climate into the conversations found in her comedy. In Season 1, Episode 2, the teachers are compelled to watch the charismatic local newsman, Jim, who notes, ‘we haven’t seen anything like it’ when talking about the mounting temperatures. His words are subtle and act as background noise while we listen to the teachers explain their respective obsessions with the newsman. Later in the same episode, Ava asks, ‘Why is it February and hotter than the devil’s booty-hole outside?’ Jacob quips, ‘Climate change, we are living in the midst of its effects.’
After breaking up with Tariq, Janine nostalgically says, ‘I miss yelling at Tariq for taking two-hour showers,’ to which a stunned Jacob asks, ‘In this climate?’ (Season 2, Episode 1).
A seemingly lighthearted but excruciating debate (for Jacob) unfolds between the teacher and his students over a mural. The students eagerly push for the silly sock show to be memorialized on the mural, but Jacob tries to reason with them, ‘You might not even remember it in 20 years.’ But one of the students pipes up, ‘You said we’d all be dead in 20 years from climate change’. Jacob retorts, ‘I said unless we act now.’ But the student returns with, ‘We’re in school now; how are we supposed to act?’ (Season 2, Episode 17). The School strikes for climate is one example of climate activism that some children globally have resorted to.
EMA Futures Award Honoree Quinta Brunson and her show Abbott Elementary lead the way culturally and environmentally by incorporating relevant and relatable climate conversations and sustainability issues into the script and production. The show aligns perfectly with EMA's mission to get more climate messaging in popular media. Watch this year’s EMA Awards nominees and catch new Abbott Elementary Season 4 episodes on ABC and Hulu weekly.
Cassie Jo is an entertainment journalist specializing in sustainability on screen and is currently completing a masters in Environmental Policy at Sciences Po Paris.
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