We’re running out of time to save the planet; we are the last generation who can stop the Earth from dying and we have to do it fast.

The temperature of the atmosphere has gone up 1.62 degrees fahrenheit since 1880 according to a 2017 study done by nasa.gov. Although this may not seem like much, the carbon dioxide (CO2) concentrations beg to differ. NASA also says the levels of CO2 all throughout our atmosphere have increased dramatically over the past 50 years and in 2013, CO2 reached over 400 parts per million (ppm), and it continues to rise as the years go on.

Every day there are more and more developments being built and the U.S. vegetation management can only plant so many new trees to keep up. Students and adults everywhere are constantly and mindlessly throwing away plastic and garbage. This trash ends up in our rivers and then travels to the oceans.

Luckily, there is a simple solution to this growing problem: recycling! Almost every plastic item we buy has the arrowed triangle on it; look for it and put your items in the green bins located in every classroom and in your own home. Another proposal is to bring your own reusable water bottle; it’ll save you money and possibly help save the world.

An additional cost-efficient way to a cleaner atmosphere is carpooling. Going to a party with some friends and have your full license? Pick a car and have everyone ride there together. It’ll save time and money on gas for your own car and not to mention you can totally jam out with your friends.

Numerous species of animals are put on the endangered species list every day, like the white rhino or the African giraffe, due to human interaction in their habitats, and each year 10 to 100,000 species of animals go extinct according to wwf.panda.org. We’ve all seen the heart-wrenching videos on Instagram. What we can do to help with this global issue is to try and refrain from buying products from brands proven guilty of participating in animal cruelty. Lots of makeup and toiletry brands are trying to become cruelty-free so their sales will go up, like Urban Decay, Lush and Tarte. Not all companies are truthful though, so do your research before purchasing. This applies to clothing companies as well. While you’re Googling cruelty, look up the human side too, and see if the factories are engaging in child labor.

Addressing schools, although having extra papers for students is nice, 35 percent of the world’s trees are cut down each year for paper, with not nearly enough being planted to replace them. That’s 1.04 trillion pounds of oxygen lost every year. Teachers could use more technological tools and rely less on paper. Perhaps make a PowerPoint on Haiku and have the students show their work on the paper they have in their binders, or recycle unused paper for worksheets. We have the capability to use this technology for presentations; please let us use it and save our trees!

Nowadays students who even remotely dare to stop and care about the environment are pegged as “hippies” and as for the rest of the teenage population, they couldn’t care less. The world is slowly dying. We have the power to save our home. It just takes a few simple changes of habit and lifestyle to help our planet get back to the way it should be.