Bailey Singletary is a junior majoring in communication. She can be contacted at [email protected]. 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.
Another good thing to do on Earth Day would be using the nice spring weather to turn off the air conditioner and lights in houses and apartments and use the sunlight and the breeze like in the good ol’ days.
Some environmentalists would say that everyday should be Earth Day, but I wish this was feasible in a small town that offers limited destinations that can be reached on foot or on bikes. Even students who live in the Cotton District or somewhere else near campus can find it challenging to do this.
A good thing that I am able to brag on MSU about is that our engineering students designed a “green” biofuel-powered hybrid vehicle and that our school also produces biofuel.
Since college students tend to follow what celebrities wear, why wouldn’t we follow how environmentally-conscious they are? Jennifer Aniston claims she takes a 3-minute shower and brushes her teeth while in there so she can save water. Sheryl Crow even goes so far as to cut down how much toilet paper a person uses in her bathroom. So if you have to take baby steps toward being a better friend to the environment, maybe you could start here.