I used to think that “going green” meant that you were a tree hugging sissy that didn’t have enough of a life to worry or preach about anything else oth­er than the environment (harsh, I know).

However, I have come to re­alize my error in thinking and have made an effort to change my hazardous ways.

My conversion all started with a geology class.

Believe me, it was not my in­tention to become environmen­tally conscious when I signed up for Lauri Anderson’s Geology 1001 class. I just needed the three-hour science credit.

But Anderson was really pas­sionate about the earth, of which she devoted so much study, and she constantly informed the class of the little things we could do to help our planet.

I guess somewhere during the class, Anderson got to me.

I noticed a shift in my atti­tude when my boyfriend went to throw away his water bottle in the trashcan.

When I spastically cried out “NO,” and then hastily put the bottle into the recycle bin, he looked at me, startled and con­fused.

I was a bit shocked by my behavior as well, and all I could sheepishly say to explain myself was, “We have to recycle those.”

It was a small response, but one that needed no more expla­nation. We simply have to.

You don’t have to wave signs that say “Save the Planet” to be more environmentally friendly.

Anderson told my class that we could do little things like recycling plastic bottles and alu­minum cans, or just being more conscious of our water usage.

“By 2025, 1800 million peo­ple will be living in countries or regions with absolute water scar­city, and two-thirds of the world population could be under stress conditions” (unwater.org).

By not being concerned I’m not just hurting the planet, I’m hurting myself.

What goes into the water sys­tems, I drink. What’s in the air is what I breathe. The world is bigger than just me.

So in my journey of conver­sion, I’ve chosen to start re­cycling plastic bottles. I never knew how many water bottles I drank until I started collecting them; it’s an insane amount.

I also never realized that Mon­roe had a recycling center, which is located at Recycling Services on 1500 Arkansas Avenue.

Going green is simply realiz­ing that there are more people on the planet than ourselves, and if we don’t tidy up, then maybe it’s us who will be on the endangered list and not the whales.

contact Brandy Heckford at [email protected]