Turning Negatives into Positives

    Today I'm not here to talk about reducing the negative impact we have on the environment-- instead, allow me to explain how to have a net positive impact on the environment during your life! I like to put it this way...

    There are two different forms of helping the environment:

    1) Passive
    2) Active
    Passively helping the environment is the effort of not doing. Like not buying stuff you don't need, reducing your eco-footprint, and saving paper by printing on both sides. Actively helping the environment, on the other hand, is through doing. Like picking up garbage around your neighbourhood, fundraising for an eco-friendly cause, or even just encouraging others to be more environmentally-friendly.

    Passively helping reduces the negative impact, and that is mainly what people tend to focus on. But actively helping is important, too. If we relyed only on passively helping the environment, we would never have a positive imact on Mother Nature-- just a less bad one. Which is why we need to look for ways to actively make a difference. You don't have to go too far out of your way-- just do something. And even if you never achieve that net-positive-eco-friendly-guru status, just remember one thing:

    There are so many ways you can help the world. Yes, the environment, but also other humans, animals, and yourself. You might very well be helping one of these categories, and that is good because they're important too. You can still have a net positive impact on the world, if not the environment.

    But this blog is about the environment, so...
    Make a table of lots of the ways you passively and actively help the environment. I'll make one for me as an example:

Passive

-turning off lights

-using scrap paper in class

-being a vegan

-refraining from computer games and TV

-unplugging things when they aren't in use (I'll tell you about phantom loads next time)

-etc.

Active

-writing in this blog

-encouraging others to use scrap paper and generally be eco-friendly

-writing articles for Teenink.com

-the speech that I'm going to give today at the public speaking contest on veganism

-etc.

    If your lists aren't quite as long, don't sweat it. Just start brainstorming, that's all.

   Well, then, happy brainstorming!