I’m sure you think talking about being green and eco friendly is like beating a dead horse. You already know the world is in danger, our wildlife is in danger, our plants, our forests, our lives are in danger. Mother Earth is dying. To you, becoming eco friendly and environmentally aware is a bunch of hooey, hippy crap and bologna. Well you’re wrong. It’s that kind of thinking, that kind of ignorance and blatant disregard for our planet’s health that is destroying what we call home. I know you can’t stop greenhouse gas emissions, take down The Man and save the world, but there are simple things you can do every day that can keep 50 billion plastic water bottles and 1 trillion plastic bags out of our oceans. You can affect our fresh bodies of water and our fellow critters. Yes, I’m sure you’ve heard these suggestions before, but stop seeing them as suggestions and start seeing them as priorities.

1. Bring reusable bags to the grocery store, Target, Walmart, etc. Stop using those ding dang plastic bags. What’s the point of having 10 half full, flimsy plastic bags when you could have two full, sturdy cloth bags. Plus you look cooler filling up a reusable bag and might attract a hottie with a man bun.
2. If you live in the desert, don’t have a lush grassy yard. This is the dumbest thing I think I’ve ever seen. The southwest is using up their freshwater resources to sprinkle their lawns with hundreds of gallons of water. Talk about wasteful! If you don’t like the fact that the desert can’t support living grass, move somewhere else.
3. Cancel your junk mail. You’re going to throw it out anyway.
4. Say yes to paper. When comparing the cost of the environment due to paper bags or plastic bags, the pros usually balance the cons for both options pretty evenly. However, there is one benefit to paper bags that is extremely important and trumps the option of plastic every time. Paper decomposes, plastic doesn’t. Keep the plastic out of our earth and our oceans please.
5. Here’s a crazy idea, simplify. Got too much stuff? Donate it. House costing you a fortune to cool it? Move somewhere smaller. Purchase less to create less waste people. This is a hard concept living in the material world that we do, but care less about what others think and care more about our environment.
6. Instead of buying disposable products for your own convenience, buy reusable products.
7. Sharing is caring. We learned this idea as preschoolers, but this can go a long way in the adult world. Share and borrow books, magazines, boxes, clothes, tools, the list goes on from a friend, family member or neighbor. Not everything has to be brand spankin’ new.
8. Recycle!
9. Students, this is for you! Use all of your school supplies. This means using your notebook down to the last page (front and back!) your backpacks for a couple years, your colored pencils, crayons, erasers, etc. Just because something is a little worn, doesn’t mean you should throw it away.
10. Find products that have glass or recyclable packaging.
11. Start making food from scratch. Sure it’s easier to go to the store, buy prepackaged lunches, snacks and treats, but it’s both healthier and more eco friendly to bake and cook food yourself.

Stop the madness guys. People are just as sick of writing “GO GREEN” articles as you are of reading them. Make a change, be the change. Make the world a little greener.