Lana Condor is all about living green, and unlike her To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before character, Lara Jean, she’s not keeping her true feelings a secret. “I have been very passionate about conservation efforts, sustainability, protecting our earth, climate change, and will continue to be for as long as I live,” Condor tells Her Campus in an exclusive interview. “I’ve been able to do some cool and different experiences that highlight how we can find better sustainable practices and put them into real life.”
Like many Gen Zers, Condor is an advocate for green jobs — careers that involve making a business or industry environmentally friendly — and has been inspired to find ways to bring these positions to the film and television industries. That’s part of why she’s partnering with 3M’s Green Works, a docuseries that highlights five individuals’s sustainability efforts to address climate challenges. “If a massive company like 3M can prioritize sustainability and green practices, that will only trickle down to all the other amazing companies that I think would be inspired to do the same,” she says.
While, according to a June 2024 study from LinkedIn, 40% of Gen Zers lack the skills needed for green jobs, Condor believes there’s something out there for those who are passionate about protecting the earth. “It doesn’t matter what industry you’re in, you can absolutely find or seek out a greener job,” she says.
As Condor continues to raise awareness on green jobs, sustainability efforts, and climate change, she’s practicing what she preaches. While living in California, Condor’s eyes have been open to many environmental issues, and she’s doing her part to ensure she doesn’t add to them. “My home is very sustainable. It’s powered by the sun. I have all these amazing solar panels, which I feel good about,” Condor says. “I was also looking into this gray water machine that takes all of the water that you use in your home — from flushing the toilet or rainwater drop off — cleans it, purifies it, and puts it back into your house and your irrigation system. Those are obviously big things that I do in my private life, but on a much more macro scale.”
She also uses a reusable water bottle, minimizes online shopping (because “it does have to get into a car, drive, and delivered to your house”), and buys refillable products like deodorant, lipstick, and moisturizers. “Those little things really do make a difference,” she says. “And if you do those little things every day, it becomes a practice, and then you’re inspired to have your practice grow bigger.”
If you’re curious about what you can do to preserve the planet, Condor has you covered. “The number one thing is to educate yourself,” she says. “Find people, places, and companies that are really putting green jobs and conservation efforts at the forefront and learn from them.”
One of her greatest hopes, Condor says, is to inspire young people, especially those from diverse communities, to not be afraid to make a change. “A huge topic and issue that I hear a lot of the time is people being like, ‘Well, I’m just one person. How much am I really going to make a difference?’ But you’re enough,” Condor says. “If every single person does something small, it adds up to be something really big.”