Alright I know this doesn’t sound like a big global issue but the fact that American’s alone buy on average 167 bottles of water every year and only recycle 38 of them. This coupled with the fact that plastic can take up to a thousand years to decompose makes plastic bottles a real environmental threat. On the bright side it is also an environmental threat that only the everyday consumer (like you) can help solve. So if you want to start helping the environment today just stop buying bottled water from the convenience store down the street, instead carry a multi-use water bottle that can be thrown in the dishwasher and used time and time again.

22)    Become a Conscious Consumer

This was sort of touched on in number one, but is so important I thought that it deserved its own category. As we are part of the western world, consumption of products and services is part of our everyday lives. Now that we are beginning to look at the world in a “greener” way we must also alter our consumption habits to match our change in mindset. This means looking at the products in the store in terms of their entire life cycle. Will you be able to use a product for years or will you get a weeks’ worth of use out of it and toss it in the garbage by the end of the week. Also you must begin to think about what it took to make the product. Was it made in in some factory in Thailand with poor working conditions and then put on three different cargo ships and five trucks to eventually make it to the Walmart in your home town. Now I am not saying that these decisions are easy and or that you should stop shopping at Walmart, just simply becoming conscious of your own personal habits and making a few changes in product choice will be enough to put you well on your way to an overall greener life philosophy!

33)    Recycle!!