My home sweet home, and yours too

Do you buy recycled printer paper? Do you pay the extra $2 for eco-friendly pencils? Do you pay attention to what you throw in your trashcan? Yes? Yeah, me too. “So what? Do you ‘go green’ then,” my cousin sneered at me this weekend after I nicely explained to him that we could reuse something he was throwing away. He threw the question in my face as if I should be embarrassed about caring for our planet. I replied with a patient “yes. I do,” and awaited his jeering comments to come.

He isn’t the first person I know to react that way to the idea of preserving resources, saving energy and reusing what we don’t need to throw away. I just don’t understand how treating our planet with respect could be something you look down on. Do you not live here, too?
It is not hard to throw your plastic bottle in the blue bin instead of the brown one. It is not hard to recycle paper instead of crumpling it up into the trashcan. So why do people act like making an effort to save the planet is an impossible feat?
It’s so upsetting to me that people can have the attitude “well, me recycling this one can isn’t going to make a difference, so why even try?” You’re right-- you recycling this one tin can won’t solve all the environmental problems the world has. But what gets me is the “why even try.” People should try because they can-- because it’s easy. Although it may not solve all our problems, it’s important to realize that this earth is the only one we have. If you recycle one thing a day, that will eventually make a difference. 
If you were only given one house for your whole life, would you not keep it in the best shape you could? You’d make sure no one spilled on the carpets or slammed the doors too hard. Now imagine that house had to support your children for their whole lives and your grandchildren all of their lives; and all of your family from then on. Would you not be extra careful then?
Earth is that home. So why would anyone who lives here sneer at someone else for doing their share of tidying? If anything, we could all learn from their example and pick up our own messes. That being said, if you’re done reading this and no one else around you wants to read a page or too, please recycle it.

Shannon is a freshman majoring in journalism.