What does it really mean to go green if you're a teenager? We put our two interns, Liza and Amber, to the test, daring them to live their lives exactly as prescribed in the book Generation Green, by Linda and Tosh Siversten. They chatted on Facebook about their experiences with going eco-friendly for a week, and we got to sit in and listen. Check out what they had to say and their tips for leading a greener life:
Amber
hey liza! how are you? have you had a chance to read that book i lent you? generation green?
11:23amLiza
hey amber! that's so funny, i literally just finished reading it last night. what did you think?
11:25amAmber
omg. i'm like obsessed. i learned sooo much about how some of the things i do every day affect the environment..
11:27amLiza
same! even though some of the things were kind of obvious (recycling? i've been doing that forever) it was good to learn some of the lesser-known actions we can take
11:31amAmber
i know! i actually changed up my lunches last week because of what it was saying about eating lower on the food chain. i didn't realize it conserves so much more energy to eat greens, vegetables, etc. rather than meat and proteins. i ate salads every day and i not only felt better about contributing to the environment but it was good for me! what about you? did you try anything linda and tosh suggested?
11:31amLiza
whoa way to go! AND you totally walked to work this morning too, good job. even though it may be a little hard for me to walk the 70 blocks from my apartment to the ELLE offices, i tried to do some other things
11:33amAmber
but you take the subway all the time! even when you go places on the weekends, which is totally better than taking cabs everywhere! what other things? i want to know!
11:34amLiza
well, tosh and linda talked about how wasteful it is to mail out party invitations if you're inviting tons of people. so instead of using print invitations for my birthday, i decided to make a facebook event instead. it gets the same message across and is sooo easy
11:34amAmber
most definitely.
11:35amLiza
also, at work, we both always reuse our water bottles! that's a great idea. think about how much plastic we would waste if we used new water bottles everyday....
11:38amAmber
i know! it just makes so much more sense. oh yeah! i bought a reusable canvas tote for my groceries. all those plastic bags every time i go to the store just pile up in a cabinet at my apartment. so wasteful.
11:39amLiza
even though i don't think i could become a vegetarian, reading generation green definitely made me much more aware of what i eat
11:41amLiza
you don't have to make a drastic lifestyle change in order to live a little greener. i bought soymilk instead of regular the other day, and actually like it way better!
11:43amAmber
i've been buying organic produce as well. it tastes so much better and they don't use all these preservatives that are harmful for the earth. it is a little more expensive, but i think it's worth it.
11:45amAmber
linda and tosh also made a really good point about using just less stuff. people don't realize that all their things including clothes, electronics, it all takes energy and resources to make. simply by cutting out on some of the unnecessary things is a way to help out the environment. yeah, maybe the new iPhone just came out, but your current one works just fine, so do you REALLY need to upgrade? something to consider...
11:50amLiza
so true. i really liked how they had quotes from celebrities like daryl hannah and real kids as well. i'm definitely telling my friends about this book.
11:53amAmber
same. it's something we definitely need to learn about and act on. it is our future that we're talking about, after all. i'm going to recommend it to my friends and keep up my "green" lifestyle!
11:54amLiza
okay, well i have to get back to work, i'll talk to you soon!
11:54amAmber
bye liza! i'll text you later! xoxo
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