Spring Break
Employ easy, quick methods to go 'green'
Bailey Singletary
Issue date: 4/4/08 Section: Opinion
Bailey Singletary is a junior majoring in communication. She can be contacted at opinion@reflector.msstate.edu.
I haven't completely jumped on the "green wagon" of being environmentally friendly, but I have done a few things here and there to try to use less energy. No, I don't drive a hybrid and I don't own the movie "An Inconvenient Truth," but I think there are different ways of helping out the environment beside being insanely obsessed with global warming. For example, April 22 is Earth Day and I think it would be refreshing if everyone participated in this eco-friendly event.
While doing research on Earth Day, I found the Web site www.earthday.net and took an ecological footprint quiz. Sadly enough, even though I watch what I do, I found that my footprint is 1.3 acres, and if everyone lived like me we would need 2.9 planets. But what shocked me even more was that the average American's footprint is 24 acres.
I'm not saying that everyone should resist purchasing gas, but I do think if the weather allows, it would be a good change of pace if people tried to walk or ride their bikes to class or wherever they go. I understand it's pretty much impossible for most people to ride bikes or walk to the grocery store, but little steps such as walking to class count more than some think. Everyone is often in such a hurry to get places. Maybe it would be nice to be able to walk at your own pace and talk to people on the sidewalks.
Earth Day could be used to become an eco-friendly type of New Years resolution day for people to become more "green." Maybe people could use Earth Day to begin the routine of recycling. All those pizza boxes and beer cans could be reused, and guys could get more practice of crunching the cans on their foreheads; it's a win-win situation. Some cities offer recycling pick-up that ties in with regular garbage pick-up, and even though Starkville doesn't participate in this, it does provide numerous locations for people to take recycled items.
I haven't completely jumped on the "green wagon" of being environmentally friendly, but I have done a few things here and there to try to use less energy. No, I don't drive a hybrid and I don't own the movie "An Inconvenient Truth," but I think there are different ways of helping out the environment beside being insanely obsessed with global warming. For example, April 22 is Earth Day and I think it would be refreshing if everyone participated in this eco-friendly event.
While doing research on Earth Day, I found the Web site www.earthday.net and took an ecological footprint quiz. Sadly enough, even though I watch what I do, I found that my footprint is 1.3 acres, and if everyone lived like me we would need 2.9 planets. But what shocked me even more was that the average American's footprint is 24 acres.
I'm not saying that everyone should resist purchasing gas, but I do think if the weather allows, it would be a good change of pace if people tried to walk or ride their bikes to class or wherever they go. I understand it's pretty much impossible for most people to ride bikes or walk to the grocery store, but little steps such as walking to class count more than some think. Everyone is often in such a hurry to get places. Maybe it would be nice to be able to walk at your own pace and talk to people on the sidewalks.
Earth Day could be used to become an eco-friendly type of New Years resolution day for people to become more "green." Maybe people could use Earth Day to begin the routine of recycling. All those pizza boxes and beer cans could be reused, and guys could get more practice of crunching the cans on their foreheads; it's a win-win situation. Some cities offer recycling pick-up that ties in with regular garbage pick-up, and even though Starkville doesn't participate in this, it does provide numerous locations for people to take recycled items.
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