The Green Evolution: Are Boomers on Board?

environment and making the earth we live on a cleaner and safer place. They spoke out, paraded, chanted, ranted, raved and demonstrated and a lot of their efforts did bring about some change.

Then suddenly it seemed that chanting and singing was too hard a way to bring about universal happiness and for many drugs got in the way. With songs glamorizing getting high, smoking pot, taking a trip, zoning out, drinking, retreating from reality in hopes of finding a euphoria that was easier to obtain.

After a few years of free love and acid trips, the reality of life finally prompted most to get their lives together, finish their education, find a job, raise a family and contribute to a society once so soundly denounced.

In the process, they succumbed to the trappings of big industry; cheap fuel, plastics, fast foods, larger, faster cars, labor-saving gadgets, technology on the fast track, make everything easier and more attractive. Bigger was better, keeping up with the Joneses, Smiths and whoever else had the new shiny toy while keeping their heads above water seemed to be the joie de vivre for most.

So have they changed? Have baby boomers seen the error of their environment unfriendly ways? A survey published in December 2007 by AARP shouts a resounding yes. There are now 40 million so-called "green boomers" in the United States, according to that survey. That's more than half of all boomers, which, at 78 million, make up the largest generation in U.S. history.

While many may not have been early adopters of environmental behaviors, now that boomers are signing on in large numbers, the effects will be great, AARP says.

Focalyst, a New York research firm that surveyed 30,000 boomers and older people for AARP, identified the green boomers by their environmental practices. These ecologically minded boomers are doing everything from buying organic products and goods produced locally (to save on gasoline and air pollution) to supporting companies that give back to the community.

So how can Baby Boomers go green?

1. Shop locally. By shopping locally, you are not only helping with your area's economy, you are reducing the amount of emissions put in the air by not having to drive to a different town.

2. Say bye-bye to bottled water. Bottled water is expensive, and emissions from the plants that bottle the water is harmful to the environment. So skip the bottled water and go for a home purification unit.

3. Opt for rechargeable batteries. Between remote controls for various electronics in the home, not to mention hand-held video games, Americans go through millions of batteries a year. Most of these batteries end up in our landfills.

4. Skip the drive-thru. Even though time saving and convenient, the extra fuel exhaust that is released into the atmosphere while waiting for your order is harmful to the environment. So instead of sitting inline and burning up extra fuel, simply park your vehicle and walk inside.

With a better-late-than-never attitude many boomers have realized that there is only one Earth and it is our duty to protect it, no matter what generation you were born in.

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