As adolescents, having a meaningful impact on the world can seem like an impossible and daunting task for the simple fact of being kids. Changing the world does not only mean finding a cure for cancer, eliminating poverty, or finding the origin of humanity, but recycling a piece of paper as well. Going Green is a practical way that adolescents can have a real, meaningful influence in the world. There are numerous options of how individuals can change their lifestyles to be more eco-consciou s. What follows are three simple ways young adolescents can go green and change the world.

1. Recycle

According to a Wire & Twine online article, 63 million newspapers go out to street vendors , local paper boys, or newspaper dispensers every day and of those 44 million are thrown away; recycling the Sunday newspaper alone we could save half a million trees a week.

The age of technology constantly creates new phones, iPods, or new computers coming out. Many will stand in line for hours if not days to get their hands on the new piece of technology, but what happens with the old ones once they are replaced? Nothing, according to Earth911 about 75% of the old devices sit in the back of a drawer collecting dust. By taking them to the local stores that collect them they go to people with disabilities, war veterans, and shelters for battered women which in turn removes them from landfills where the phones explode because of the lead and lithium-ion the phones contain .

2. Go vegetarian one day a week

Instead of breaking down the pros and cons of the vegetarian lifestyle into a long boring paragraph, here are some astonishing facts on going vegetarian for only one day. According to Noam Mohr, a physicist at the New York University Polytechnic Institute, the United States would save 100 billion gallons of water which is enough to supply all homes in New England for about 4 months.

The United States would save 70 million gallons of gas which is enough to fuel all the cars of Canada and Mexico combined and still have some to spare. The United States could prevent 3 million tons of soil erosion, 4.5 million tons of animal excrement, and about 7 tons of ammonia emissions. The Environmental Defense concludes with the most interesting fact: if the entire population omits one meal of chicken, the amount of carbon dioxide accumulated would be the same amount if more than half a million cars were taken off U.S. roads.

When Apache Junction High School senior, Kehli Nowak remarked on what she thought about the facts and if she could try going vegetarian one day a week she responded, “After taking into consideration these baffling facts, I would be willing to try vegetarianism one day a week. Giving up just one day of eating meat is worth the benefits it could bring.”

3. Ditch bottled water

Most drink bottled water because of the common conception that bottled water is healthier than regular tap water; turns out, 25% of bottled water comes from regular tap water and all that is done extra is it going through a filter. Tap water has higher regulations from the FDA than bottled water does. Companies do not need to list where they got the water from, how they purify the water, or what chemicals their plastic water bottles contain. Plastic bottles do not get recycled 90% of the time which results in 1.5 million tons of plastic in landfills which take thousands of years to decompose. Not only are you drinking the same water as the one in your house but also paying extra. The average 24-pack of bottled water cost $3.97 at the local Wal-Mart and a reusable water bottle cost between $4.99-$7.99; just imagine how much money could be saved if reusable water bottles replaced plastic water bottles.

Senior, Nicole Steen said, “I myself have always used bottled water and then recycled it after I was done using it. After considering that bottle water and tap water has little to no differences I will try and “ditch bottled water” and begin using reusable water bottles.”

Changing the world for a positive has to start somewhere and while it may be hard and at times it may seem as if the small changes that are being done are not impacting the world keep in mind what Margaret Mead once said, “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.”