Kermit was wrong.
Let’s give the planet a break. She is some six billion years old, after all. At her age, she deserves it. She’s selflessly given us sunflowers, shade, trees and snow, and in return we’ve only burdened her with fossil fuels, deforestation and landfills.
The backlash of a ruined planet was inevitable. Mother Earth has been patient with her ungrateful human spawn but, like any good parent, she knows that insubordinate children must sometimes learn hard lessons. Wildfires in Texas and floods in Tennessee are just warnings of further damage to come if we don’t start giving a fed-up Earth the respect she deserves.
Luckily, it has never been easier to assuage your green guilt. Even the simplest actions can make an enormous difference, especially when carried out on a global scale. So, go on, try to incorporate these simple earth-friendly steps into your daily routine–the planet will thank you!
1. Turn off lights when you leave a room.
Turning off the lights is literally as simple as the flip of a switch, yet so many of us regularly forget to do it. Build the habit like you would any other: with conscious effort and reminders. A “lights out!” note on the back of your door or a cell phone alert to switch off your bedside lamp before class will make turning off lights second nature in no time.
And if you want your lighting to be even more energy efficient (and your electricity bill to be less expensive–going green saves you green!), swap your traditional light bulbs for a longer lasting fluorescent variety. Don’t worry, your apartment won’t look like a bad department store–you won’t even notice the difference (but the planet will).
2. Be a part-time vegetarian.
The animals we eat produce 18% of the world’s greenhouse gases, more than all the world’s cars, planes, trains and boats combined (which are responsible for 13% of total greenhouse gas emissions). Animal waste creates nitrous oxide and cow farts (really) produce methane. And because it takes a lot of land to raise enough animals to satisfy the world’s demand for meat, forests are flattened to make room for farms.
You don’t have to swear off hamburgers forever to eat greener, though. Try to designate just one day as herbivorous per week – Meatless Mondays make for a fun alliteration – and you might discover that pasta and salad and tempeh and tofu are excellent meals in their own right.
3. Take a hike.
Chapel Hill is one of the most picturesque and pedestrian friendly places in the country. Take advantage of our fair city’s many sidewalks and easy on foot navigability. You’ll save gas (good for the planet and your wallet) by walking or biking more often, and you’ll sneak in some extra exercise as you do it.
4. Think.
Consciousness is perhaps the most important element of environmentalism, or any activism for that matter. None of us mean to pollute the earth–we often just forget to consider easy eco-friendly alternatives to our everyday actions. Take a carbon footprint test online. Remember that newspapers, magazines, soda cans, cereal boxes and receipts are recyclable. Use reusable water bottles rather than plastic ones.
How do you stay green, collegiettes?
Sources:
Kermit the Frog (photo): Muppet Wiki, http://images.wikia.com/muppet/images/f/f3/Kermit4.jpg
Franklin Street (photo). Wikimedia, http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/52/Franklin_Street_Chapel_Hill_NC.jpg
Recycle symbol (photo): Wikimedia, http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/52/Franklin_Street_Chapel_Hill_NC.jpg