I'm not about to believe that without Nirvana the prevalence of mall bangs would have done us in.

Those of us who lived through the 80s remember when everyone in the world was up in arms about the hole in the ozone layer and how we needed to stop using so much damn Aqua Net before we destroyed the planet.

Guess what? It's 2009, and it seems the problem was slightly overstated. Granted, the grunge era pretty much put an end to the stifling clouds of cheap aerosol hair spray, but I'm not about to believe that without Nirvana the prevalence of mall bangs would have done us in.

I wouldn't say that's the only reason I'm not just totally terrified by the panicked response to global warming, but that's part of it. Do I think we should be trying to do better as far as our negative impact on the world around us? Sure. Do I think using less fossil fuels is a good idea? Absolutely. Do I think the earth is going to be totally unlivable if we don't all change our light bulbs and buy hybrid cars? Eh.

In some ways, I'm a big recycler. I'm not so great about sorting my garbage and such, but I use a lot of materials in my art and craft projects that would otherwise be thrown out, like old magazines and aluminum cans. I support things like Freecycle(TM), because if we're concerned about filling up our landfills we should pay attention to how many large items we throw away that could be used by somebody else. I like to buy used stuff. It's got more character, first of all, and it's a lot more environmentally responsible to get all the use we can out of things we've already produced.

I try not to drive a lot. Even at the price gas is at now, it's kind of expensive to use my car all the time. Plus, it's not like I can't use some exercise. My two jobs are a half-hour walk apart, so when the weather is nice enough I take the opportunity to get in an hour of good exercise and quiet time, just me and my headphones. Honestly, I'm less concerned about how our dependence on oil effects the environment as I am about how it effects international politics and economics, and what we're going to do when we inevitably run out of feasible places to drill. I'd get a hybrid if I could afford to buy one, just for the fact that it would save money on gas. In fact, I wouldn't even own a car if I didn't have to. I liked not having one in Chicago. Buses and trains FTW!

I've switched to compact fluorescent bulbs, but only because I'm sick of changing light bulbs all the time. I figure if it's ultimately cheaper to buy a more expensive bulb that lasts longer and doesn't use as much power than to buy cheaper bulbs that have to be replaced all the time, there's no reason not to switch.

And honestly, I think that's pretty much how most people are. Don't scream about how we're all going to destroy the planet if we don't make changes. Just make it logical and economical to switch. I don't think there's anyone out there sitting in their huge houses with the sprinklers running 24/7, lights on in every room, air conditioning cranked down to 65, sixteen SUVs in the garage with their engines running, cackling with evil laughter at how they're going to bring on the end of humanity. It's just that humans are lazy and you have to make it easy and economically beneficial to do "the right thing."