What made you want to "go green?"

[Chris Suyeda]

I'll be quite honest, it wasn't my idea to "go green." My girlfriend is a huge environment buff and was talking to me about going green after watching an Oprah special. She told me that I could make a huge difference in our environment if I just changed the smallest tasks/habits in my everyday life. Seeing as how she is very persuasive and won't take no for an answer; I played it smart and decided to skip this battle.

Here I am, several months in my "going green" phase and I couldn't be any happier.

So, what made you want to "go green?"

[zach]

Hi Chris,

I think I've always been aware of environmental issues. I grew up planting trees with my dad and enjoying nature. In my short time on this planet I've seen some pretty ugly things happen to mother nature and it upsets me.

Here's a little story that may help explain why I decided to launch this site.

I go to sailing in the Caribbean every year and visit some really beautiful islands. I don't like to stay on the beaten path so when I get away from all the tourists you see the real islands, not the pretty face put on for the tourists. Last year I hiked over a small island in the British Virgin Islands and found a beautiful little secluded beach with one problem. The shoreline was covered with garbage from around the world.

This is a perfect example of how people could make small changes to the little choices they make everyday and make a big difference in the world. Just being aware of the fact that a plastic bottle you throw out the window may eventually end up landing on the side of a beautiful island someday can help you make better decisions. Do you really need to drink expensive water out of a plastic bottle? Is storing the water in a plastic bottle good for your health? How much oil did it take to get this plastic bottle of water from Iceland to the store? What will happen to the bottle when I throw it away? What if tomorrow everyone stopped drinking bottled water and switched to filtered tap water? How many plastic bottles would be saved from the landfill or from ending up on a secluded island you might visit someday?

This is just one small example but kind of explains the theme of this site. If each of us makes small changes to the way we live as a group we can have a phenomenal environmental impact. More so than one Fortune 500 company buying carbon credits and switching out their light bulbs as a marketing ploy.

So that's a little long winded and a little off topic, sorry... but basically the idea is to share ideas and raise awareness so we can all make better and more informed decisions in our day to day lives.

[Chris Suyeda]

I don't think that story is it all off-topic. If people aren't aware of what's going on -- they should now.

Great story. To be honest, I've read through news articles about what's going on with the environment, but I've never really heard from people's (outside the media) personal experiences.

Thank you for sharing.

[eapoosmama]

I think have "been green" is a better description of me.

Grew up the Granddaughter of 1900 farmers and 1924 Parents -- simplicity and NON convenience was the way of life -- even in our suburban home.

Rainbarrels, recycling water, composting, canning, reusing is nothing new -- only being tweeked for todays up and coming green society.

I have become "GREENER" though.

[zach]

I grew up around the garden, composting and with my mom canning everything. My wife and I want to get back into canning and gardening but unfortunately have to relocate first.

[eapoosmama]

You can still can your produce from the farmers market until you relocate. Nothing like fresh Jarred Canned goods. They taste so good.

[zach]

That's a really good idea. Can you do anything about getting summer here faster so we can start shopping at the farmer's market again?

[stevenchen18]

I do it for my children and the children of the world.

[EcoInsomniac]

I grew up in boy scouts here in Texas and my mom and grandparents have always been very avid gardeners. Recently though watching the TED Conference videos and doing research is why I've gotten "Greener".

[cranbrook2]

I grew up with a European background , My father was a carpenter and when we were young kids he would make us help him tear down old houses to reuse the lumber to build our house and barns .I was pulling nails at the age of 9 and 10 and i hated it. My father was also big into growing our own vegetables and raising our own animals for meat. I also hated that as i got older i realized that it was the best way to live and certainly the cheapest.
As a teenager i worked for a conservation for 2 years and i planted over 100,000 new trees all through Ontario. Then i built houses for 20 years up until a injury at the age of 37 which forced me to retire.
Then i moved to a 100 acre farm and since i had a lot of time on my hands and almost no money i had to find something to do with my time so i decided to start cleaning up all the old barn wood and branches in my area to build things with .
Since then i have been busier then ever ,Nothing gets wasted at my house.