"Saving the Enviornment"--What can YOU do?

Over the last few years, American society has been gripped by the craze to “go green”. But being environmentally conscious should not be a fad or a recent phenomenon. Individuals should not just now be realizing how responsible they are for taking care of the earth. The average person should be continually aware of what he or she is trashing. Being a responsible citizen of the earth requires that everyone does their best to “reduce, reuse, and recycle.” Everyone is affected by the environment, and so everyone is accountable for taking care of it.
Firstly, every person needs to be careful of what they buy. A responsible consumer actually thinks about each product he or she is purchasing. “Where did this product come from? What is it made of? At what cost did it take for this to end up in my hands? Where will this product go once I am done with it?” Second, there are many ways to reuse items that people already have. Once someone feels the need to throw away something, he or she should remember that things from shoeboxes to scrap paper to glass bottles to stuffed animals can all serve other purposes besides sitting in a landfill or beginning the recycling process. Finally, how an individual throws something away is also significant. By the end of a product’s life, a responsible consumer has already made it possible for that hopefully biodegradable item to be either trashed or recycled.
Becoming a responsible consumer is actually not hard at all, but the key to success is “change”. Habits are hard to break, and being responsible requires extra time to think beyond the here and now. Don’t be obsessed with changing the rest of society’s habits; rather, focus on personal improvement by watching what types of products you buy, how you use them, and how you throw them away. We must each give our utmost effort to be environmentally responsible consumers.