staying green

what's with the sudden craze of being green all of a sudden? over the past 3 days i have read and come across at least 3 articles about tips to stay green and calculate your carbon footprint. has the world finally realised that we've been harming Mother Earth? it's sad really; that only until now we are trying to make an effort to stay green. i used to remember collecting rough paper as a kid and eagerly wanting to throw them into the green recycling bins under my void deck (or were it yellow? one was for plastics and the other's for paper either way) thinking that i could make a difference until one day i realised i could not. how many apathetic souls can they convince in their bid to stay green right now?