I’m not one of those gung-ho tree-hugging environmentalists. I’ve managed to switch out a few light bulbs and I’ve bought one recycled-material grocery bad that I keep forgetting at home. And I try to organize my driving and errands to not waste as much gas rather than thinking about the emissions from my car. I try to recycle my trash, but they just took out our recycle containers to put in another trash bin and I don’t care enough to cart my recycle somewhere else.

Butt. (Because it’s a big butt)

It bothers me to hear stuff like “I’m so sick and tired of all this green green green crap” and the off-hand comment this morning by the TV reporter, “Oh yes, green certainly has become the thing now hasn’t it?” I mentioned to Dad that I planned to watch An Inconvenient Truth and his response was “Oh that bullshit? 60% of that is made up to scare people.”

Please don’t discount the necessity of humans to make changes in how they treat the earth. The fact is there is only so much air, wood, food, water, oil, etc. to go around. If we continue to spew filth into the air and water at the rate we currently are, we’ll die. Stop throwing your trash out the window. Stop crapping in the lakes and rivers and oceans.

Look around. Look at the sky in the horizon. Look at the scum in the water. Do you honestly think the earth can take care of itself? That the air will just clean itself or the water will just magically clear up? It seems to me the frakking litter on the sides of the highway is almost as bad as it was in the ’70s. C’mon people! There are no genies out there poofing the garbage away. There ain’t nobody cleaning up after you. You can argue the statistics, but you can’t argue what you see and breathe.

I really hope people aren’t thinking Green is a fad. Each of us really need to look around and take notice of how filthy our area has become and take steps to improve it. Whether or not you believe the whole Global Warming story doesn’t matter. Just look around the next time you’re out and about. Is the air clean where you are? Are your nearby lakes fit to swim in or fish from? Is there garbage everywhere you look? Why?

Even tiny changes matter. Every litter bit helps. How can you NOT take even minor steps to clean up after yourselves, to recycle when and where you can, and to encourage the people around you to make better choices. And these choices should be a lifestyle, not a trend.