Lately we hear about everyone and their mom “going green,” but few of us know what that means. April 6-10, Simpson will celebrate Green Week, and the Environmental Awareness Club will host some exciting events to help us think green. But what do we do when Green Week is over? There are some easy ways to keep us thinking green all year long.

Go green. Literally.

If we all painted ourselves green and ran around campus, we would make a real statement about saving the planet. Our green bodies wouldn’t have any positive environmental significance, but we would have a reputation as the college who cared so much about the environment that its students painted themselves green.

Unfortunately, paint is not very environmentally friendly. Instead, make a statement by rolling around in the grass until you are covered in grass stains. This will show your absolute dedication to being green, and you will inspire people everywhere.

Bike.

Indianola is not a very large place, but walking back from Wal-Mart and juggling an arm load of heavy groceries is not anyone’s idea of a good time.

Plus, if you’re like my roommates and me, you get home from a shopping trip and realize you forgot some essential item. If you are driving, these two trips mean that our world will go up in flames even sooner, but if you’re walking, an extra trip means an additional forty-five minutes of your precious time.

By biking, you will keep our earth happy, but you will move faster than you would on your own two feet. Just about everyone has a bike hidden in a garage or shed back home, but if you don’t actually have access to one, there are multiple options for you.

Someone you know on campus has a bike or knows someone who has a bike or saw someone riding a bike once. Bikes are everywhere. But if you are a hermit who only knows your roommate and your roommate is bikeless, never fear. Intramurals has bikes you can rent.

Bikes make you buff. Biking is an additional cardio workout that you don’t have to spend time in the gym to achieve. People will know you care about your environment as they notice your incredible physique and excessive amounts of spandex.

Save green.

By now we have all realized that water is good for us. However, those little plastic water bottles are evil. Eighty percent of them do not get recycled and end up in landfills for all eternity. Plus, they are expensive.

If you don’t have a problem with the local water, reuse your water bottles or buy a reusable bottle that lasts forever.

But if you really hate Indianola’s water supply, bottled water is not your only option. In the long run, it is much cheaper and earth-friendlier to invest in a water filter pitcher. This way you can have purified water all the time!

Collect pop cans and bottles and turn them in for cash because cash is green and recycling is cool. This extra money will enable you to do laundry so you can always have clean spandex for biking.

Plus you can save money and energy while doing your laundry. You can do this by skipping the dryer next time you wash clothes. This will save a whole dollar for every load of laundry. Instead, string a clothesline through your room and pretend the clothes are the walls of your fortress. Try to get your whole floor on the bandwagon, and build a maze in the hallway.

Go trayless at Pfeiffer.

For those of you complaining about the inconvenience, one thousand gallons of water are saved every day Pfeiffer goes trayless. That’s how much an average fire truck can hold, and fire trucks save lives. Trays can’t do that.

Plus, when trays are used to hold food, they are kept from their true calling: bringing joy to college students as sleds. Do you really want to be the reason some tray doesn’t reach personal fulfillment?

So make a stand for trays everywhere. Go green, and help make the world a better place, starting with Simpson.