Picture this – you’re on a relaxing family vacation in Florida. Sitting around the table, while everyone is enjoying their iDevices, tablets, computers, or phones, I try to bring up my newest project, how Twitter users see the plastic bag ban. I was foolish in explaining how plastic bags can harm the environment, because I was not ready for what I heard next. As I’m explaining the environmental causes I support, my 14-year-old sister says “if the dying environment worries you so much, you should just go live in a hole.” Although that statement saddened me deeply, I have finally figured out why it is so hard for environmentalists to get their point across: because people are not willing to change
I will give my sister credit – she’s a little sassy already, and she is only 14 – but I will not give credit to the millions of Americans in the world that write off environmentally minded people because they think we are plain crazy. I can not tell you the number of times I have had to pull recycling out of the trash can, or pick up a newspaper from off the floor and recycle it in the correct receptacle. I know it may be hard for some people to accept and start changing, but really, how hard can it be to start with a few simple tasks? Refraining from using plastic bags and hanging on to your water bottle until you find a recycling bin (or stop buying water bottles all together) are simple tasks that can be adopted by anyone and everyone.
With that being said, my social media resolution for 2012 is going to be “Increase Environmental Knowledge.” I’m sure most of my followers do not know much information about the environment and its current state, and I am going make sure that my tweets, retweets, blog posts, Facebook posts, and likes continue to reflect my views on environmental conservation and easy ways to make the world a better place.
Dear planet, maybe 2012 is your year, and I will surely help people, through social media, realize how important your well-being is to all of us.
Love, Abbey
Abbey Dufoe 
Hang in there Abbey