This column appears in the March 12th edition of the Monitor-Herald. Give your opinion with comments below.

"Going green" happens to be one the most cited phrases around America and Mississippi, but not Calhoun County. The phrase has a tendency to be a bit corny, but it has a very profound meaning that contributes a great deal to society as a whole in the future.

Arriving in Oxford to attend school was an exciting journey to me, but to my surprise, I embarked on a movement that caught my attention. This movement started with the phrase "going green," and later proved itself to be one of the greatest advocacies for recycling and preserving our natural resources. This was later coined into what is now called The Green Initiative.

Going green is more than just recycling cans or paper; it's about using less electricity, recycling plastics, and changing to more efficient light bulbs. "Going Green" is about preserving the current living standard and resources resources for future generations.

For example:

- For every ton of paper that is recycled, the following is saved: 7,000 gallons of water; 380 gallons of oil; and enough electricity to power an average house for six months.

- You can run a TV for six hours on the amount of electricity that is saved by recycling one aluminum can.

- By recycling just one glass bottle, you save enough electricity to power a 100-watt bulb for four hours. Often times we find ourselves throwing these items away, which will soon diminish energy, natural resources and water which could be recycled.

So you hear all this talk about "Going Green" and recycling; you think, what's my next step? How do I join the movement? Those were the same questions I asked myself when I heard about this.

Turn off the lights sometimes and use sunlight; start recycling paper; turn the

T.V. off sometimes; do laundry once a week; don't write notes on whole sheets of paper; and finally start a movement in your home get everyone to start recycling.

So, you start recycling all this stuff, and you're wondering where it is going to go? Well, that's our next movement in this county. We should be working to get recycling around town, and also working to make all our buildings "green". In order to become a green county, we're going to need support through recycling and conserving energy.

Cortez Moss is a former student intern of The Monitor-Herald and a student at the University of Mississippi. Stories about going green in Calhoun County will appear in coming editions of The Monitor-Herald.