With each passing year, Earth Day gains more and more followers. The want and need to go green is topping the lists of celebrities, businesses, and more relevantly, schools. Classrooms are armed with recycle bins and paper towels are being replaced with hand dryers, not just a friendly gesture to the environment but to school wallets as well. The world has found itself on a mission, to reduce its carbon footprint. Earth Day is a gentle reminder of what we, the human race, are trying to accomplish.
Starting in 1970 by Senator Gaylord Nelson, Earth Day was only supposed to be a onetime occurrence. Its purpose was to give individuals, not authorities, the right and responsibility to initiate "greener" ways to live. 20 million Americans jumped on board 40 years ago; today millions of people around the world celebrate Nelsons vision for conservation.
Many young people today don't really know how to "go green" many of us think it's a waste of our time, or we just don't bother to make the time. Here are a few simple, clever, ways we can stay in the green and maybe keep a few extra bucks in our piggy banks.
First of all, invest in a hot and or cold drink tumbler! So when you're on your way to school in the wee hours of the morning and you stop to get you usual cup of coffee, not only will you have saved a tree but you'll have saved some money too, coffee houses discount your drink when you bring your own cup!
Second, recycle your notebooks from semester to semester; we both know you didn't fill up that entire five star note book with music appreciation. Just flip the thing over and start working from back to front...beats ripping out all of those pages! But if you can't write back to front them go ahead rip them out... just make sure you toss the pages in the recycler and when the whole thing is filled up into the recycler it goes.
Next, carpool whenever possible or use your college ID card and put it to good use, take the bus...for free! Not only will you not have to fill up your car but you don't have to pay for a parking permit and we all know the parking situation.
And when it comes to laundry for those of us living on our own use cold water, it works just as good and it'll save you some green...in all senses of that phrase.
All in all this whole going green thing isn't too bad we're given the chance to help out our planet and save some cash along the way. Who knows maybe we'll become better people in the end too... reducing fossil fuel emissions can clean up the air, in turn making it better to breathe which will make us a lot healthier. The end result: better people, more conscious people, the beginning of a new age.
