There isn’t any way to go through life without having some impact on the Earth.  Humans need to use earth’s resources for even the most basic lifestyle. We need certain things like water and plants to stay alive.  We use some substances like iron or wood for shelter, tools, and a variety of other necessities. 

Americans are known around the world for living big- big cars, big meals, and big buildings. But all those big items need a lot of upkeep- bigger cars use more gas; big meals often end in more waste and trash; and bigger buildings mean more raw materials to build them and using more gas or oil to heat them. 

Using the Earth’s resources is not a bad thing, but wasting them is. It’s important to be conscious of the ways you, personally, are having an impact. There are so many things we do every day out of habit or because it saves three seconds of time that have a big impact on our environment. 

Many people think that there’s not really anything that they can do to help conservation efforts. Maybe you’re thinking “I can’t stop the loggers from cutting down trees,” or “I can’t help it if my parents don’t buy a hybrid car”. Just because those are the high profile environmentalist issues that you are hearing about on the news, doesn’t mean they are the only issues out there. All it takes from a person is a little thought and a willingness to exchange old, familiar habits for new ones.

If every single individual followed the R’s of resource conservation - Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle - we’d be spending less and living in a more beautiful world.