Rooster, the new HBO hit comedy, co-created by “friend of EMA” Bill Lawrence (Scrubs, Ted Lasso, Shrinking) and Matt Tarses, centers on a complicated father-daughter relationship set on an evolving college campus. Steve Carell stars as Greg Russo, a bestselling author and father obsessed with helping his professor daughter Katie (Charly Clive) through her public separation from husband Archie (Phil Dunster). Greenlit for a second season, Rooster grapples not only with relationship dilemmas but also with the personal and professional struggles of going green. It offers space for sustainability to steal, or at least borrow, parts of the show.

Green Transport

Ludlow College’s contained backdrop is the perfect location to display sustainable commutes. Faculty housing and student accommodation are within ample walking distance to classes.

Walking

The professors are regularly seen walking to work, heading to their respective lectures and seminars together, or taking “coffee walks”. From the beginning Greg asks professor Dylan Shepard (Danielle Deadwyler), “Can I walk with you? I got the first-day jitters” (S1E2).

Steve Carell & Danielle Deadwyler - Rooster S1E3

Running

If walking is too time-consuming, then running is another option. Greg sprints over to the hotel where his daughter’s estranged husband Archie is being interviewed by the BBC, to confront him after discovering Archie had gotten his mistress, Sunny (Lauren Tsai), pregnant.

Cycling

Cycling is one more alternative. In a previous scene, Archie offers to drive Sunny to her “dentist” appointment, but she insists on cycling so he gives her a push (S1E1).

A little unnecessarily, given the walkability of the campus, Greg adopts an electric bike - in his version of a midlife crisis - and gifts another one to his daughter, and then to his friend Dylan.

The Green Initiative

A major subplot in Rooster is the Green Initiative, advanced by the university’s trustees and championed by Greg’s ex-wife Elizabeth (Beth) Stoddard (Connie Britton). Beth is an accomplished Ludlow alum, CEO, philanthropist, and pioneer in corporate gender equality.

Infrastructure & Energy-Savings

Having contributed financially, the new student center is named after Beth. She boasts that the Green Initiative will position the college as “the first ever passive-energy campus in all of New England” (S1E5). Beth displays more modern awareness than college President Walter Mann (John C. McGinley) and Dean Riggs (Alan Ruck), the most powerful men at the college. But as Dylan said of Riggs, they’re “walking relic(s) of the past”, resistant to change (S1E3).

President Mann complains, “The trustees are shoving a very complicated policy down my throat” (S1E2). Walt continues to lament the initiative later, “You know, I hate this damn building”, referring to the greenhouse that has been mixed into the pre-existing Neo-Gothic architecture (S1E2). His lashing out hides the fact that he does care about the planet. Walt dabbles in handcrafted “woodwork” (S1E1) and reminds his students to “clean up” the trash (S1E2).

Another part of the initiative is automated lighting which switches off at 7pm daily. This occurs at a delicate moment for Archie, who suddenly finds himself in a darkened room with his student, Liv. Archie lets out a “this Green Initiative shit” as Liv removes her shirt, misinterpreting the situation (S1E5). The scene turns the Green Initiative into a scapegoat for Archie’s own poor choices.

Provoking Walt’s fear of being replaced by Beth, the CEO looks forward to being on campus more often so that she can help lead the university “toward the future” (S1E5).

Paper Trails

The implementation of the Green Initiative highlights the struggle of bringing everyone on board with change.

For instance, another plan is rolled out to move the Ludlow Review, “a cornerstone of the arts program”, online (S1E2). Walt explains to Dylan, a major defendant of the review that, “every year we print it, it just winds up littered all over campus like a paper factory exploded” (S1E2).

Dylan complains about how “so many people are gonna be upset” with it going digital (S1E2). Walt tries to reason with her that actually only the 36 students who get published will be upset, as well as some of their 72 parents, and Walt himself.

In a later episode, Beth - although still a proponent of the Green Initiative - actually supports Dylan’s endeavor to keep the Ludlow Review in print (S1E5), showing an outdated preference for hardcopy. The arguments for retaining copies in print are only seen amongst the older generation. Perhaps the students themselves would not have felt so strongly about this change since it’s far easier to share a published work online.

Sadly, Archie’s lights out incident leads Dylan, as interim Dean of Faculty, to place the Green Initiative on hold for up to two years, until they research “best practices”, reasoning that “lights going off in the academic buildings is a major liability” (S1E5). Her not-so-hidden agenda is returning the Ludlow Review to print.

Plant-based & Low-Waste Living

Rooster plays on Greg’s nut addiction, Archie’s penchant for vegan milk, and the students’ low bar of eating leftovers off of other people’s plates to show a diversity of plant-based and low-waste living.

Vegan Options

When Greg accepts the job, initially promised to Dylan’s friend, the president’s executive assistant, Cristle (Annie Mumolo) simply sends the friend a box of pears and an email (S1E3).

Greg’s nut obsession features throughout season 1. After accepting the writer in residence position at Ludlow, he receives flavored nuts as a welcome gift to his faculty home (S1E3). His chewing is so loud it makes it hard for Katie to set boundaries with her helicopter dad. Sunny, the Gen Z grad student Archie left his wife for, defends Greg to Archie, saying, “Lots of people love nuts, I love nuts” (S1E2).

An undercurrent of the show is the upheaval of lingering workplace toxic masculinity in a post MeToo era. After several verbal warnings, Greg is yet again called in for unintentional inappropriate behaviour. This time he buys coffee for everyone who is summoned to the meeting, including an oat latte for one of the men. He intentionally refuses to cater to Archie, who would have liked an “oat milk cortado” (S1E4).

Due to Dean Riggs’ desire to spite Dylan for speaking poorly of him to President Mann, Riggs moves the free speech zone to right in front of Dylan’s office. This pits the vegans (rallying for jackfruit in the cafeteria) against the gun control protesters for the space (S1E3).

Zero Food Waste

In a moment that depicts the food insecurity some students face while studying, two of Tommy (Maximo Salas)’s friends are seen eating the leftovers from the restaurant where Tommy works (S1E2), ultimately reducing food waste.

Reusables

Unlike Walt who always buys his protein drinks, Sunny makes her own which she brings to the gym in a reusable cup paired with a reusable straw. Her go-to is a home-made protein shake with “pea proteins and a little bit of dehydrated cherry for flavors and antioxidants” which Walt admits is “incredible” (S1E3).

Moving to a circular economy is not always a linear route. Consistency is key but also really hard sometimes. Walt nostalgically asks Archie if there is anything problematic in his life which he still has a soft spot for, like “plastic straws” (S1E3).

The generational disparity in reusable uptake is visible. Greg buys a plastic water bottle, while most of the students bring reusable bottles to their lectures (S1E2). Katie sometimes takes a reusable mug to the cafeteria (S1E4). But as an imperfect human does not always remember it.

A few repeated scenes of take-away consumption return, mainly of the famous local hot chocolate with the peppermint twirler. There are many disposable coffee and hot chocolate cups in the show, which could be reduced by the cafeteria switching to real mugs. And if Greg were to accept his hot chocolate addiction, he could invest in his own reusable mug to use at the all-year-round Christmas shop.

Danielle Deadwyler & Steve Carell - Rooster S1

The generational differences, complexities, and cognitive dissonance of sustainability today are on full display in this deeply funny and entertaining show. As Sunny said on neuroplasticity, “through repetition and intention, we decide who we’re gonna become” (S1E2), and thus there is potential for young and old alike to become greener together. Season 1 of Rooster sometimes creeps dangerously close to the cliff of marginalising green initiatives as less than ideal and unfun. However, (SPOILER ALERT) with Beth’s surprise appointment as President of Ludlow, season 2 is set to be greener than ever.

Interested in the intersection of media and the environment? Learn more at our EMA Blog!

Cassie Jo is an entertainment journalist specializing in sustainability on screen. She holds a Master’s in Environmental Policy from Sciences Po and is also trained in sustainable production, climate communication, and editorial strategy. Her work spans sustainability coordination on set and climate script consulting.

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3 Ways Sustainability Stole the Show in HBO’s Rooster