People hear about the green stuff all day long, but no one ever takes the time to really explain what it means. Sure, its about the environment and all, but its really much more than that. Green is more than saving trees or energy, its about a commitment to our future. To save energy, so that the generations proceeding us have plenty as we do now. To consume responsibly today, so that our children can consume responsibly tomorrow. To not forsake our future for the present. Its all revolves around one concept — sustainability. Sustainability all revolves around one question… Can we keep this up forever?

And the answer to that question, at least for now, is a big fatNO. The truth is that we are consuming more than we need to. Both in terms of energy and raw materials, we arent making the best choices we could be. Were using energy and raw materials that are not renewable, so once theyre gone, theyre gone for good. Sure, it works for now, but now wont last for long if we keep up the pace. As our worlds population grows, the strains on its resources becomes greater, thus necessitating a new way of doing things.

So whats stopping us? As simple as it is, you might be surprised to know — its you. But its not just you, its also me. Its not even people per se, but one person who either adopts or does not adopt a new way of doing things. One person votes in an election. One person pays their fair share of taxes. One person decides that something is worth believing in. When that aggregates, you get something meaningful.

Without the one, there is none. There is no collective without the individual. You are the key. And so am I. And so are the people that we know, each and individually.

So what can you do?Share what you know but others dont. And thats exactly what Im about to do. Im going to share with you a few things that you didnt know about going green in hopes to show you that it can be easier and more beneficial than you thought to go green…

11. It feels good to go green. – This one might seem obvious, but it feels good to do good. When you go green, you really do feel better about yourself. Youre doing your part to be part of the solution, not part of the problem.

10. Going green doesnt have to equate to huge personal sacrifices. – You can go green without having to compromise your lifestyle. You dont have to generate your own power or sell your car to go green … instead, something simple like turning the faucet off while brushing your teeth or recycling and reusing containers that would otherwise go into a landfill are both great ways to make a difference.

9. Its not about changing the world all at once. – Start small. While by themselves, little things like only running a dishwasher when its full or saving the excess oil from a can of tuna (Dwight Schrute from The Office on being shunned for such cause )may seem insignificant, but when combined with other little things and when echoed by many people, it can make a huge difference.

8. Buying local is green. – There are a million reasons why to buy local – tighter quality control, state / county retained tax revenues, less transportation overhead, fresh goods or just plain old nostalgia. But when it gets down to it, its green, too. It equates to less trucks on the road (or planes in the air in some cases) and less preservative chemicals in our food. I think we can all agree those are both good things!

7. Using less is green. – This one is almost so obvious its not worth stating by itself, but I want to cast it in a different light than usual. Im sure youve heard that less of a bad thing is a good thing. Well, the same thing applies to going green! This means that it doesnt have to necessarily be related to something green to begin with, it just has to involve something non-green being minimized, such as using two pulls of paper towels after washing your hands instead of three. There are thousands of ways to minimize your negative impact by simply doing less!

6. You do have a vested interest in your future welfare. – A lot of people find it easy to dismiss the woes of tomorrow today. But the fact remains that tomorrow will indeed come, and you will have to bear the consequences tomorrow, whether you intended to or not. And the effects are not 1,000s of years off, theyre much closer than we think. So it is truthfully in our own best interest to maintain a sustainable environment, not only for future generations, but also for later down the road in our own lives.

5. Our current ways are not sustainable. – The truth is that our reliance on non-renewable energy sources and landfills must eventually reach an end. Our resources are limited in those respects (and many others) and we will reach our capacity quickly if we dont adopt new ways of getting energy and disposing of waste. For some reason, some people simply deny this fact, but you dont need a degree in economics to understand that if a limited resource is used continually, eventually there will be nothing left.

4. People love the whole going green thing. – Its true. People love it. Its hip, its new. Its almost a fad. But its more important than a fad — its a shift in both the individualist and collectivist schema of America. And the verdict is in, people think its cool. Whether youre trying to increase your brand image or just impress your friends with your new eco-conscious sneakers, people are starting to hop on the bandwagon for the better.

3. Just because it says its green, doesnt mean it is. – This is a big one. A lot of products out there make claims of green initiative, but the truth is that many fall short. Its so prevalent it even has a name: Greenwashing and theres even a website to track it: Greenwashing Index (http://www.greenwashingindex.com/)

2. The Technology is there. – Many people hesitate to go green because they feel that the technology doesnt exist or isnt ready to for mass market. Try telling that to the solar start-ups all over the world or the innovators of hotels that heat their water using the sun. The technology is there and waiting for you to take advantage of it. So what are you waiting for? And remember, the more people who buy in, the more competitive the marketplace, which means lower prices for all. Win-win!

1. Going green is not expensive. – Contrary to popular belief, going green does not have to cost more. Sure, there are more proactive options for which some people elect that are pricier than their conventional counterparts, but most of the time, green products are competitively priced, if not less overall. Through decreased reliance on limited resources that inevitably increase in cost over time, companies can offer a more competitive product at a great price as a result. Do you think that the price of the sun or wind will go up like gas has in the last 10 years?

To the contrary, as technologies continue to develop to better harness these renewable power sources, the cost of energy will go down, and the abundance of energy will go up. The economic basis of increasing prices rests largely on limited resources — as a limited resources depletes in supply, demand being constant or rising, the price of a particular good will rise. If you cleave the limited from that sentence, it vastly changes the economic pretext. Applied to a rapidly and exponentially growing population, this means that going green could be just the thing to save the world from quickly rising prices of goods and also result in an increase in overall production to make necessary goods more available to those who would otherwise be unable to afford them.

The bottom line is that going green is good for you, good for others, and good for the environment. It leads to a lesser dependence on quickly vanishing limited resources, and will help to control energy costs in the long-term. So whether youre doing it for the PR, for your fellow human, or for yourself, go ahead and do it. 20 years from now, youll be glad you did.