I get a lot of questions
these days about going green. Some of them have merit, others are pretty silly.
One of the most common, though, is a simple question that’s actually really
tough to answer:
Why should I care about
the environment?
I know some of you are
thinking “Now wait a minute, that question is easy to answer, there are a bunch
of reasons to care…” — and you’re right, there are a bunch of easy answers to
that question. I mean, why wouldn’t you want to save the environment?
The problem is that this
question doesn’t come from people who already love organic foods, recycling,
and driving hybrid cars. This question is coming from those of you who don’t
have the extra money to spend buying organic products, or don’t see a big
benefit from recycling, or don’t want to give up driving a sports car in favor
of a Prius.
Believe it or not, there
are still really good reasons to care about the environment — even if you don’t
consider yourself an environmentalist. Here are 12 simple reasons everyone
should care about the environment, no matter who you are:
1. Show the world your
good side
The impact we have on
the environment today is making a big difference on the world of future
generations. Heck, it’s making an impact right now in a lot of places. It’s our
responsibility to care for our planet and ensure our future well-being.
Even if you don’t agree
with a lot of this — enough people do that you should pay attention. Your
attitude towards the environment says something about your personality to other
people. Not caring about our environmental impact makes you look like an
irresponsible kid who doesn’t clean up after himself. You don’t want that, do
you?
2. Think of your wallet
A lot of people think
that going green is time consuming and expensive — and in some cases they are
right — but not most of the time.
Most green technologies
are actually designed to reduce energy consumption and reuse existing
resources. Energy is expensive, and using less of it can save you a lot of
money. Bottom-line: going green can be financially rewarding if you do it
right.
3. Smog is gross
Nobody wants to live in
a world filled with smog. It’s hard to breathe, it smells bad, and it causes
untold numbers of health problems. It’s just plain gross.
Don’t think it’s such a
big deal? Take a look at the Beijing Olympics — they had to shut down their
factories and force 50% of drivers to stay home every day for weeks so they
wouldn’t kill the athletes with the poor air quality. After all of those
measures, there were still thousands of complaints.
4. Landfills are
disgusting
Have you ever been on a
highway or town that is near a big landfill? Have you smelled that smell? I
don’t know about you, but I would do a lot to avoid ever having to experience
that again.
Most things that are
thrown into the trash are headed directly to a landfill. Given the amount of
trash that most people generate, it’s a miracle that we aren’t swimming in it
already. If you don’t like this landfill-everywhere vision of the future, being
environmentally conscious is the only way to go.
5. Think of the
beautiful beaches
Everyone loves a good
beach. The warm white sand, clear blue waters, and pristine palm trees swaying
in the light breeze.
Unfortunately, those
gorgeous beaches are slowly becoming less of a reality and more of a past
memory. Trash is infiltrating even the most remote corners of the world, and if
we don’t stop it many of our current beautiful vacation getaways will
disappear.
6. Polar Bears are cute
It’s not just our
beaches and resorts that are deteriorating, it’s also the beaches and habitats
of many of the world’s animals. Do you really want your children,
grandchildren, and nieces and nephews growing up in a world so different from
ours?
“Mommy, what’s a polar
bear?”
7. Unnatural stuff
causes cancer
Not only are natural
products better for the environment, but they are also better for your health.
If you’ve listened to the news lately, I’m sure you’ve heard of that new study
showing how _________ has been found to cause cancer. Yes, that’s a blank, and
these days it seems like you can fill it in with just about any synthetic
product or food.
Moral of the story:
eating natural foods and using natural products is better for your health and
the health of our environment.
8. Necessity is the
mother of invention
If you’re the type of
person who appreciates (or, is obsessed with) new technology, then supporting
the green industry is an easy choice. The amount of money, resources, and
intelligence being poured into challenging ecological problems is driving
forward a wave of technological advances that we haven’t seen in quite some
time.
9. Riding bikes is fun
Some of the easiest
things to do in support of the environment also happens to be a lot of fun.
Things like riding a bike, taking a walk, and otherwise using your body instead
of a smog-producing device can do a lot to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
A lot of these things
will also improve your health and give you something to talk about (you’re
really riding a bike to work?!).
10. I don’t want to go
extinct
Okay, so the human race
probably isn’t going to die out any time soon — but we are using up our
resources faster than we can replenish them, and that’s bad.
If we continue at the
same pace we’re going at now we’ll eventually run out of fossil fuels, then
trees, then clean water, then just about everything else that isn’t
sustainable. In order to keep up our current way of living, we’re all going to
have to start caring more about the environment.
11. Save the world,
improve your lifestyle
A major concern of many
people is that going green will require a huge (read:negative) change in
lifestyle. Again, this is true in some cases, but it’s not nearly the whole
story. You can do a lot for the environment while improving your lifestyle at
the same time.
For example: Would you
rather change a lightbulb once a year or once every ten years? If you chose
ten, you should switch to environmentally friendly CFL lighting. Oh, and it
will save some money too.
12. World Peace
World peace seems like a
tall order, but considering the fact that most of the world’s wars have been
fought for control of natural resources, it’s not too much of a stretch. If we
can get to the point where we are living sustainably and technology is
providing all of our resource needs, things will be a lot different. There will
be fewer wars, fewer poor and starving, and we’ll be creating a way of life
that can continue indefinitely.
To me that’s a big prize
for making a few environmentally-friendly changes in my life.
Veerapagupathy
Chothavilai Beach,
Thengamputhoor,
Kanyakumari.
Call: 04652-221337,
8220099080.
Email:aveholidayhome@gmail.com
Website: www.aveholidayhome.com
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