Get Stained. Grass Stained!

"Sadly, not buying organic food is a mistake that you—as a man—can no longer afford to make."

As a kid, I used to love playing outdoors, romping around, digging in the mud, rolling in the grass, and building log cabins out of sticks. You name it and I played it: capture the flag, kickball, soccer, baseball, and basketball. My clothes inevitably became stained with the color of green. They were grass stains, evidence of my playful experiences.

The environment has stained our childhoods with fond memories of play, but we have rudely reciprocated by soaking it with pollutants, chemicals, and toxins. These contaminants have proven to be nasty and difficult to remove. They can be found in the air we breathe, the water we drink, and amongst the landscape we live, work, and play. It is time to get back to our roots and give back to our environment.

Norwegian Philosopher and Deep Ecologist Arne Naess once claimed that, “like humanity, the environment as a whole has the right to live and flourish.” In the Road Trip Nation Manifesto, they state, “As a generation, we need to get back to focusing on individuality…Listen to yourself…Your road is the Open Road.” In Kevin Caroll’s book “Rules of the Red Rubber Ball,” he writes about several life rules. His rule number four is “Prepare to Shine.”

Now more than ever we understand that we live in a global economy and that environmentally we must take care of our Global Commons. What we do with our lives can not only influence our own community but can also have a profound impact on our world. These philosophies, these understandings, are the kinds of insights that help you inspire to imagine that you can be something bigger than you are.

Sustainability, ecological comprehension, becoming aware of Environmental Justice, and green tactics are just some of the ways we can reciprocate. Prepare to flourish, prepare your individuality, and prepare to shine because just as the grass stained my clothes green as a young boy, cities can also be stained ”Green.”

Welcome to GRASS STAIN. Feel free to romp and dig around!

More than 60 percent of college students today, participate in study abroad programs. We are a generation that has traveled the world. We stay interconnected through a variety of social and technological means. A collection of experiences and impressions of how the international community is dealing with issues of the environment can be seen through the eyes of “My Generation.” Feel free to go global in this featured section above!