Kermit the Frog lamented that it's not easy being green. Do you agree?

Dear Kermit,

I can sympathize with you, Kermit. Being green is not as easy as public service announcements would have you think.

Reasons why:
1.Seventh Generation toilet paper is to fine grain sandpaper as Charmin is to fluffy clouds.
2.Constructing a compost bin from wooden slats and nails is no easy feat. The task took me five hours, though I suppose you would have a rougher time. I can't imagine handling a hammer without opposable thumbs..

3.Organic eggs are $1.62 more per dozen.
4.A high standard of living has spoiled us. In the 1950s, families collected mailings of Sears Roebucks catalogs and used them in place of toilet paper. In modern terms, each page is probably equivalent to six squares of toilet paper. But we don't use sheets from a catalog now; instead, we complain about toilet paper being single-ply or too rough.

5.Greenwashing. It's hard to know what you're buying is actually green as the claims say without deferring to Google. According to the Guardian, at least 98% of 'environmentally-friendly' claims are false or exaggerated. How will being environmentally aware help in the store when you can't rely on more than 2% of product claims to be 100% truthful?

Yet, despite the hindrances, one needs only two compelling reasons why we should strive to minimize our carbon footprints. The first is that we all have a moral responsibility to leave things as we found them. Since you hang out on PBS all the time, I'm probably preaching to the choir here.

But the second reason is this: Optimism is the only option. Being pessimistic, or worse, turning the other cheek, will accomplish nothing. If we consider that every single thing we do has an impact on the planet- good or bad, it makes sense to choose well. Choose to walk instead of drive, eat meat less often, learn about the thousands upon thousands little actions you can take to green each aspect of your life. The options are endless, which means that more often than not, it won't be difficult to find a green option that won't leave you feeling miffed because the toilet paper you recently tried left you sore. I recommend Green Forest toilet paper, because it is whitened without chlorine, 100% recycled, and just as soft as Charmin.

Regards,
Anita

Thanks for reading! I don't like how I ended it; it's rather abrupt. Any ideas? Also, does anyone know if I need to cite the Guardian article?

What is this for?

If this is an essay I would remove the list and put those points in paragraph form. This would beef it up, and allow for a better ending.

Thanks, Southern Bella! This is Tuft's supplement essay, but although it's technically an essay, I sense that it is okay to have the list because of the nature of the prompt. How does it read, in general? Does the list make it harder to read?

Very clever! Hey, I think you ought to leave the ending alone, because it fits perfectly with the rest of the essay. And it shows your familiarity with the practice of being green. The details of this essay combine with your clever writing style to make it a winner -- because when you give the AO something she will actually enjoy, it puts you worlds ahead of the competition. Nice job.