You Can Save the World

I will do an educational post. This is IMPORTANT. So if you're there, read it. Not enough people know this stuff. And it can help turn Earth around.
So, a couple days ago in my environmental science class, we watched a movie. And I must say, it made me feel ashamed to be human. Humans are destroying the planet. Humans suck.
All the air pollution we're causing-first of all, it's destroying the atmosphere and the climates and ecosystems that are fragile to changes in temperature. And even for the people who don't care that we're making thousands of species go extinct, this is hurting US too. All these little kids are getting asthma because of pollution, and pollutants are getting into pregnant mothers and messing with their babies brains so they can't learn things as well.
And all these people say that it's going to be so expensive to switch all our resources to stuff that isn't as horrible to the planet. But honestly, all the negative impacts that we're having are MUCH MUCH MUCH worse than any difficulties gas companies would face if we found a less destructive source.
And coal is horrible too. It's our main source of power, and it seems to be the worst. One of the worst environmental disasters in america was when a lake of coal sludge broke and spewed all down river. It was much worse than the Exxon Valdez oil spill, and yet no one knows about it. I'd never heard of it either. Almost every time you use electric appliances, you're burning coal. And lots of it. Mainly in freaking waistfull countries like America. and America isn't really doing much to help. Look at Holland. They're trying to stop killing the planet. But America-the "most powerful country in the world"-isn't hardly doing a thing.
And it's not like we can't do anything to help!
Here's I'll list some simple things anyone can do to stop wasting so much. If you do all this-and if everyone makes these simple changes-then it will have a huge positive effect (although major changes still need to be made in our energy sources.)
And for some reason, no one ever talks about over-population. But that's one of the biggest problems of them all. There are TOO MANY PEOPLE. Mainly in poor countries. It's true, no matter what you hear-or lack thereof. And then they make TV shows about people with 8 kids. It's horrible. Don't have that many kids! Have a couple and then adopt or foster or something. Those kids need your help too. But... I digress.
I was going to list simple changes. Here they are.

Plastic is bad for the environment. When you pack a lunch, don't use plastic bags. Use tupperware containers. In the past week I have slowly started putting my food in little containers instead of bags. And don't bring your lunch in a paper bag. Buy yourself a pretty little lunch box. All that money for a new paper bag every day will eventually cost more than just buying a real lunch box.
Turn off appliances when you're not using them. People leave computers and stuff on over night. Don't do it. And turn off lights and TVs when you're not in the room.
Unplugging stuff is important too. Lamps, computers, everything still drains energy even when it's not plugged in. Not as much as when it's on, but what a waste! That TV that's sitting there turned off is STILL using your energy and your money.
Recycle. As much as you can. Seriously, it helps a lot.
Water. There's LOTS of problems with our water now. When you're heating up water to wash your face (Mom did this all the time until I shouted at her enough that she took my advice) put a bucket under the tap while you're waiting for your water to heat up. Do it in the shower too. And then use that water to water your garden or just dump it on the dirt outside if you don't have a garden. At least put it back into the earth instead of letting it go down the drain.
Switch your light bulbs to compact flourescent. Those curly-cue shaped ones. The energy they save for you will cover what you pay for it.
Use reusable grocery bags when going shopping. Don't take their paper/plastic bags.
Buy organic food. Most farmers use TONS of pesticides. And they kill everything-not just the pests. Did you know that almost of our food is genetically modified?
Meat. Don't eat so much of it. Not only is a lot of it bad for you (you should really only eat it a couple times a week-people who eat more are more likely to get cancer, heart attacks, ex, because animal products-dairy too- have a LOT of fat and stuff. Some is okay, and even good for you, but not too much). Mainly it's the most developed countries that eat a lot of meat. The developing places of the world depend on rice, corn, ex. That's because almost all grain in the united states goes to feeding our livestock. Every 12 pounds of grain you feed to a cow will get you only 1 pound of beef. What a waste of resources! When all those people in Africa are starving or suffering from malnutrition...(and us not doing a THING to help them). And the way meat animals are raised is absolutely HORRIBLE. MOST of them are raised in terrible conditions. They are crammed together in cages so tight they can't turn around. They are fed food they're not supposed to eat (and people feed cattle grain instead of grass so the cattle"emit a lot of gas" which is also very bad for the climate). They live in such terrible conditions that I can't even begin to describe it without getting depressed again. You can learn about it in more depth. And they emit a lot of waste too. All I'm saying is eat less meat. That doesn't mean you have to become a vegetarian. Don't eat as much meat. Just a couple times a week. For special occasions or something. Be careful with dairy, eggs, ex, too. They're good in moderation, but don't eat them excessively. (Egg-laying hens are raised horribly too, as can milk cows).
You community can help too by switching traffic lights, exit signs, ex, to LED lights which use less energy.

Here's some bigger changes to make.
Start a compost bin. Don't just throw away all those orange peels. There is so much stuff that ends up in landfills where it sits and petrifies. Stuff in landfills doesn't ever decompose. The conditions aren't kept right. And they drop a lot of sludge into our ground water if we're not careful. Try not to waste anything that will end up in a landfill.
Talk to your energy company. Try to figure out if you can switch SOME of your energy to clean energy.
Energy star appliances. If you need to replace a fridge (they're BIG wasters of electricity) or something, get energy star (toilets too-waste lost of water).
If you need to remodel your house, go with a green plan. It will save you a lot of money in the long run. There's TONS of things you can do to increase the efficiency of your house. Insulation, heating, ex. All can be fixed. And have a south-facing house That gets the most sun.
For water heaters/coolers. There's this cool setup where you get some pipes installed underground. And the natural temperatures of the Earth heat and cool your water for you so you don't need a water heater or anything. You get natural temperature regulation without wasting all that electricity for a heater.