Take Action

This was originally posted on My Green City Life Blog.

Today is October 15, which means it is Blog Action Day, the day I am supposed to remind you to live green and take care of our planet as best you can. Isn't that what I've been saying all along? I certainly hope that's the message you've been getting.

So today, I would like to impress upon you the importance of living a truly green life. Why go green? There are so many answers to that question it's overwhelming to know where to start. Let's see... Because landfills are not only filling up the land but also the oceans. Because gas-guzzling vehicles — commercial and personal — are polluting the atmosphere as well as sucking down oil, a resource that many other aspects of our lives depend on, and a resource that is finite and quickly being depleted. Because there is only so much fresh water on our planet, so we need to use it wisely. Because pesticides sprayed on crops gets washed downstream, effecting wildlife and humans alike. Because the weather has been acting kind of freaky across the board in the past few years, and I'm not a fan of violent storms.

I could go on. Protecting our environment means protecting ourselves. We need to step it up and take action now. As in right now. Today. Here's a way to start: I've typed up 60 ways to start making your life a green life. Pick three items off the list that aren't currently part of your life and that actually pertain to you. Start them today. No cheating, no dilly-dallying. Push yourself, and do it!

Three small changes to your life is a good start, but it's not going to save the world, unfortunately. However, that doesn't make it futile. Talk to people and get them going on the green path too. Take on more green changes. Be the green example. I believe that the action of the individual does make a difference, a very tiny difference though it may be. The real change comes when that individual influences those around her, and the individual becomes part of a larger group. Please join me. Let's be the group that affects real change.