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This is a random paper I wrote for school. If you steal it, I will hunt you down and gut you like a fish. scream

Rather than being known as Generation Y, our generation ought to be renamed The Green Generation. Our generation is more aware of what our actions do to the environment compared to past generations, and we are all urged to do what we can to keep the environment as free from human contamination as possible.
In the past, people did a lot of things that were not exactly environmentally safe. Up until the 1970s, people sprayed pesticides and used hairsprays with no regard for what would happen to the atmosphere. A large hole was created in the ozone layer from things like CFCs being released into the atmosphere. Back in the 1940s, 21,000 tons of toxic waste was buried underground of what eventually became the town of Love Canal, which lead to a large list of health problems and environmental issues. Donora, PA, became “famous” in 1948 when heavy smog, a type of air pollution created by factories, plagued the city for four days. The smog killed 20 people and 800 animals, and it also caused 140,000 to become seriously ill. The Cuyahoga River, found in Ohio, was at one time the most polluted river in the United States. It was so polluted that it actually caught on fire in 1969. These are just a few examples of some major past environmental events – there are hundreds more.
Our generation has learned a great deal from the past. Part of this can be attributed to more education and emphasis about the environment, along with what impacts humans can have on the environment. CFCs, DDT, and dozens of other contaminants have since been banned. Numerous environmental policies, such as the Clean Air Act and Kyoto Protocol, have since been instated statewide, countrywide, and worldwide. Our generation is well aware of what we can do to the environment, and we are also more responsible for our actions, both past and present. We are pushed to “go green” more and more every day by friends, family, teachers, our communities, businesses, companies, and even big corporations. Stores now sell reusable shopping bags and energy saving light bulbs. The government is urging people driving older “gas guzzling” cars with high emissions to trade in their cars for newer, environment friendly cars with the Cash For Clunkers program. Countries across the world are working to cut back their emissions. Emphasis on living a good lifestyle for the sake of the environment is being pushed on younger children, as well, and not just in school. Nickelodeon and Disney both sponsor several programs aimed at getting kids involved in and excited about helping the planet.
Simply searching for the term “Going Green” in a search engine will bring up over 63 million results. We are more responsible for caring about the environment than past generations have been, and when compared to the past, it truly shows.