It's really hard to recycle.
Why?
Because it's never enough. No matter what you do, there always seems to be someone there to tell you how you could've done more and how, I guess in comparison, they're doing everything... and doing everything effortlessly, I might add.
People love to give out unsolicited criticism. Because they usually do it from a place or in a moment that protects them from retaliation or consequences. It's annoying.
Why are you wearing that ugly thing? Why are you dating him? Why aren't you using solar panels? Why don't you just make a compost pile in your living room?
And that's why some things like recycling are hard to do. Because it's easier to do nothing, than to do a little something and hear criticism of how you've fallen short.
Growing up, I had a stepfather who told me I was never good enough, smart enough, pretty enough or anything enough to pursue any dream. For some people, it beats you down or makes you overachieve to prove the naysayers wrong. For me, it made me realize the negativity was coming from someone who was just mean-spirited and could only find happiness in my failure. So, I learned early on that if I work hard and try my best, I'll be proud for at least doing that.
I feel the same way about living a Green life. It's not always possible to do everything we want to do. Money, resources, lifestyle are all factors in how much or little you can do.
So when Do Something asked me to be a part of their campaign to motivate teens to use innovation and technology to implement green projects at school, I didn't hesitate.
We are a generation of really smart, ingenious, cutting edge people who have given us Twitter, Facebook, Angry Bird, Hoverboards... Actually no one has made a Hoverboard yet, and for that, I am deeply upset... I digress, sorry. This campaign is reaching out to students asking them to use all that brain power and creativity to help save our planet.
The Green Your School Challenge is the largest national effort by high school students to reduce the carbon footprint of their schools.
Over 1,000 schools have already signed up to be part of the campaign this year. Five outstanding students have already won HP minis for submitting plans that use technology like hosting an e-waste collection drive, creating informational videos on how to go green, and sending daily text messages with green tips.
A panel of expert judges, including myself, will select top schools to receive up to $5000 in grants, HP DM1 laptops to power future green projects and a web chat with me where we will play Rock, Paper, Scissors and give E-hugs and share recipes!!! It's gonna be the best webchat in the history of Ever.
The campaign closes on April 1, so it's not too late to sign up!
And the deadline on Hoverboard invention is NEVER... so don't quit now.