nvironmental consciousness has become ultra-hip in the last few years. It’s the kind of thing that would have been impossible to imagine even 10 years ago: hipsters getting street cred for using recyclable materials and reducing their energy emission just seems like an odd proposition. Even harder to fathom would be the man that started the trend: the formerly humorless Vice President Al Bore (ahem… I mean Gore). But it has happened, and now everyone from Goths to Punks to Scenester Club Kids are soldiers for the environment.

This seems more than a little strange when you consider the places that they regularly haunt. When’s the last time you’ve been to a club? If you’re a regular Martiniboys reader, I’m guessing that it wasn’t too long ago. Flashing multicolored lights, bottles, plastic cups, straws, napkins, DJ booths, elaborate stereo equipment, projection screens – this is hardly the definition of ‘going green’.

In the Al Gore era, there is tremendous pressure from political groups, the media, and just about anyone else walking the streets to reduce waste and conserve energy. So how is it that the places we go to relax and have fun are getting off Scot free? Well, in the case of über-chic super-clubs, it’s hard for the clientele and management to maintain the fine balance between environmentalism and opulence.

But that’s not to say they haven’t been trying. The Opium Group, which owns four of the hottest South Beach single-worded nightclubs (Set, Mansion, Opium, and Prive) has made the influential decision to implement environmental measures. All of these fit into the familiar Miami genre of clubs that pride themselves on their decadence, the kind that feature scantily-clad SoBe bimbos booty shaking with celebrity VIPs against a backdrop of lavish furniture and flashing lights. In other words, these are generally the biggest environmental enemies of them all. It’s a big step, then, that they are doing something about it.