Growing up, we all remember warnings to reduce, reuse, recycle.  We were even gloablly aware as kids, humming the tune of environmental-motivated cartoons:

"Captain Planet, he's our hero. Gonna to take pollution down to zero!"

However, are we taking necessary steps to protect our environment as we approach the end of the millennium's first decade?

Following former Vice President Al Gore's crusade, everyone is aware of the growing problem of global warming. What can college students do to go green without buying that $40,000 hybrid car or brand new energy efficient appliances?

There are many small things we do every day that make a big difference.

For instance, one simple fix will actually help save money, which is always an interest of all college students. According to bulbs.com, an online light bulb distributor, a standard 60-watt light bulb costs about 85 cents and lasts 1,500 hours. A 60-watt equivalent compact fluorescent bulb costs around $2.49 and lasts for 10,000 hours.

The math demontrates that it takes about six regular bulbs and an additional $3.50 to equal the life of one CFL bulb. Multiply that by 10 light bulbs in your house, and the savings add up. Plus, the best part is that you're only using 10 bulbs instead of 60.  If one out of every 10 people on campus switched to CFL bulbs, there would be about 130,000 less bulbs in a landfill.

Our cars are another source of untapped savings. According to The Frugal Life, a Web site dedicated to going green, cars could consume up to 9 percent less gas by getting a regular tune up. That $50 every 3,000 miles could save a lot of money and make your car last longer.

There are many other ways to help reduce your pollution contribution that are affordable. One such solution lies with TerraPass, a company interested in reducing carbon emissions in the atmosphere.

TerraPass offers a free service that calculates your carbon emissions. Once you have this calculation, you can buy a carbon offset.

According to the Web site, "A carbon offset is a certificate representing the reduction of one metric ton (2,205 lbs) of carbon dioxide emissions, the principal cause of global warming. Although complex in practice, carbon offsets are fairly simple in theory. If you develop a project that reduces carbon dioxide emissions, every ton of emissions reduced results in the creation of one carbon offset."

I drive a 1997 Honda Civic at an average of 10,000 miles per year. My car produces about 6,000 pounds of carbon dioxide gas a year, according to the site. For $34.65, I can offset that.

TerraPass makes all of its offset purchases publicly available and is only one of many ways to reduce our negative impact on the environment.

We all have a duty to the environment. We can buy organic foods, not eat meat or use CFL bulbs. Remember what Captain Planet always told us: "Saving the planet is the thing to do!"