We all want to leave our mark on the world, and at the rate we’re going, our “mark” could turn the planet into one vast wasteland.

VIDEO: Students discuss going green.

Our lavish, consumption-driven lifestyle is taking its toll on the Earth. And it seems like several businesses in Sacramento are taking the steps it needs to make this world a better place.

“Because of budget issues, we haven’t been able to invest in some of the latest technologies,” said Linda Hafar, director of utilities and Facilities Services, “but we manage our energy usage and take certain conservation measures.”

Some of these measures include the campus-wide recycling program and central metering of heating and air to weed out “energy hogs.” Sac State also has a little-known Sustainability Committee, responsible for implementing eco-friendly operations and practices throughout the campus grounds.

These efforts are easy to make when there are groups like the Sustainability Committee looking over the changes.

What’s difficult is getting people to make the personal commitment.

We are bombarded from every direction by advertisements for products and services asking us to “go green.”

With more and more green alternatives, we are often faced with indecision.

Grocery and department stores market reusable totes for carrying merchandise. Banks and credit companies offer incentives for switching to paperless billing. We are encouraged to purchase locally grown, organic produce. Car companies compete to produce more fuel-efficient vehicles.

With fuel efficiency in mind, hybrid cars have seemed to be a promising investment toward cleaner air and fewer emissions, but some facts and figures make it seem a little too good to be true.

“You could end up coughing up anywhere from 25 percent to 30 percent more at the dealership and not save much at the pump,” Stacey Bradford said in a column for Smart Money on Nov. 23, 2003.

Bradford’s revelation points out that there is always the one little matter of money. Cost is the primary reason why making environmentally conscious life changes seems such a huge step.

“Green has a perception of being a luxury. So people are instead choosing cheap stuff and having to replace it down the line,” said Josh Daniels, owner of Green Sacramento, an environmental building and design company.

Soon, Daniels, along with four other green businesses, will open Sacramento’s first Green Living Center downtown.

The team, consisting of an architect, an interior designer, a landscape architect and an energy efficiency specialist, along with Green Sacramento, hopes to provide customers more holistic access to the green lifestyle.

It may be a long time before we can change the world, but why not start at home?

“In the first two years (of doing this business), people thought I was crazy and radical. But Sacramento is just now getting to the point of finding the value in going green,” Daniels said. “Green is good science. It’s doing things right the first time.”

It’s as simple as doling out the extra dollar to buy a reusable tote instead of contributing to the masses of non-biodegradable plastic bags that flood landfills.

It’s all about being mindful of the way our choices impact the Earth.

Let’s make our mark a big green footprint.

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