I'm not here to debate the existence of global warming. I don't care if you think Al Gore is an absolute raving lunatic or nature's gift to humankind. Whether you think the earth is warming up or not is irrelevant-my problem is with people who are unwilling, no matter the consequences, to change and adapt to new situations.

Humans have done a lot of changing throughout history--from nomads to farmers, from farmers to factory workers, factory workers to CEOs. With each new invention comes both new possibilities and new dangers.

It would be nice to think that we can industrialize and develop whatever we want without any repercussions, but, unfortunately, what we want isn't always what we get.

Take Los Angeles for example. The city is a hub of human activity-skyscrapers, freeways and tons of shopping centers. It's also the smoggiest city in the United States according to a 2007 report by the American Lung Association. According to the Los Angeles Almanac (www.laalmanac.com) Los Angeles produces about 3,400 tons of trash per day-that's the weight of about 425 African elephants.

All of this trash has to go somewhere, and typically it goes into landfills. Because so much of our trash isn't biodegradable, namely plastic and glass, it doesn't really go anywhere. Every plastic bottle we throw away ends up adding to the enormous pile of slowly decomposing trash, when it's just as easy to throw it in the recycling bin instead.

While 'going green' may not be your thing, allowing convenience to rule our lives is doing more harm than good.

Though carpooling might mean that you have to get up earlier in the morning, if every person carpooled with just one other person, the number of cars on the road is cut in half. That's half the greenhouse emissions, and thus half of the smog.

While Washington isn't by any means the dirtiest state in the United States, imagine taking a breath and smelling half of the exhaust fumes you do now. A nice thought, isn't it? And imagine not catching whiffs of garbage on hot summer days-recycling and composting can greatly reduce the amount of trash filling up our landfills. There really is nothing to lose.

Though the pollution and garbage we're surrounded with isn't our generation's fault, that doesn't mean we should just ignore it and pile our own problems on top of it. And even if the world blows up in 2012, that doesn't mean we should just throw caution to the wind and do whatever we want.

Aside from having to exert a little more effort, there's no harm in recycling, carpooling or shopping with reusable bags.

It's silly to continue to live our lives as though nothing we could do could possibly impact the earth-even if our planet can carry on fine without us, humans can't live on a trash-filled, smoggy planet.

Maybe we can't turn back the damage that's already been done, but we can certainly prevent further damage.

Whether you believe in global warming or not, it's time for us to change and adapt.