In the first season of Sundance's original series, "The Lazy Environmentalist," eco-minded Josh Dorfman brings low-effort green ideas to successful businesspeople, upper-middle-class families, and even a small town. Each old, wasteful habit is replaced with new, more thoughtfully chosen products or practices. It takes a few simple facts and alternatives before a skeptical patriarch is teaching barbecue guests how to compost paper plates made of sugar cane, and private elementary school kids are begging mom and dad for a sustainable lunch pail. By positioning himself as an ally to the "normal" folks, Dorfman manages to come across as more friendly than preachy, but firm enough to make people think about the toxic consequences of their lifestyles. He introduces a green expert for the unique situations presented in each episode - be it a home energy specialist or green mixologist - and works out a trial run for the newbie using the strategies suggested.

The concerns of money and time are raised in every episode. While the small amount of extra effort is addressed with every new tip shown (usually in the form of a surprised subject amazed that healthier choices typically take the same amount of time), the additional cost is quickly glossed over. So while the expert and Dorfman admit that the upgrades will be "a little more," exactly how much and what effect that could have on a business or household is never completely explored. The emphasis is on being lazy, and in our culture most people are willing to pay for convenience.

For those of us not running a high-end business or living a typical white, middle-class television life, every episode seems to reinforce the idea that going green is a luxury and will remain so until the scientific powers that be can create something that is both affordable and effective. Legitimate environmental and health concerns are raised and novel remedies are explored, but they may seem inaccessible or plain irrelevant to some. This makes for reasonably engaging television that stops short of providing advice that a majority of audience members could adapt to their lives. And if you are wondering what you can do as a college student, only five minutes at the end of an episode is devoted to installing a low-flow showerhead in a frat house, with no other suggestions for us non-Greek students.

The only real drama in the show is when the available green options are not up to snuff; it can be slim pickings in the organic department for things like furniture paint and hair dye. A picky bride's inability to find pesticide-free flowers in the right shade of hot pink and a French hair stylist's disdain for the dry outcome of low chemical conditioner make for almost comical rebuttals of Dorfman's alternatives. Even after these minor hiccups, the newly converted pledge to keep vigilantly greening their lives and the charmingly geeky Dorfman always sympathizes with the green choices that they decide are too inconvenient or simply dislike. "The Lazy Environmentalist" makes for enlightening, socially conscious entertainment - as if that is the sort of thing viewers look for in reality TV.