I’d like to precursor this with the fact that I’m sure other generations are awesome too… no hard feelings. I just decided to write this in regard to Gen Y.

I was talking to one of my coworkers this morning about the deposit I recently put on a new bicycle. The first one I’ve had in over a decade. I spent so much time walking while i was gone that I now really want to start walking and riding more around town for little errands and for enjoyment rather than driving everywhere.  I also mentioned that I made a decision about TV in my bedroom last night too. I used to need background noise to fall asleep and therefore had a crappy old 1990s era tv/vhs combo in my room. However, the vhs part isn’t working. Rather than getting a replacement lcd/dvd I am going to do without TV in my room. It should be a peaceful place, and I have learned to fall asleep without it.

As I was talking about this I started to think to myself that it sounded like I was becoming a hippie. While I don’t think that’s exactly the case, it made me realize how awesome our generation is, for a similar reason.

Look around at a lot of generation y – especially within Phoenix and even in Midwestern town and other areas not typically considered “tree-huggers.” We seem to be along a pretty good path. A lot of my friends and others I know have pretty active lifestyles. They participate in sporting leagues or walk and go to the gym frequently. We are interested in staying active and entertaining ourselves in ways other than TV and electronic media. We read books. We hike. We go to museums. We are in soccer leagues and we take dance lessons.We walk places and ride bicycles.

Additionally, we are for the most part healthy in regard to what we eat, while at the same time supporting local growth and development. We purchase a lot of vegetables and other healthy items. We shop for organic foods. We purchase our items at farmers markets and CSA memberships. We plant our own gardens, even in the city.

Not enough? We also care about the environment and promote alternative forms of transportation. We walk or bike our short errands. We carpool. We use alternative transportation such as buses or the light rail.

We promote the cities, communities and country we live in, and look towards the future. We are involved in politics and local organizations. We support free thinking, new ideas, and promoting local businesses.

Part of this could be because of the economy we’ve grown up in. We’ve graduated with the market sucking, we’ve heard talks of another depression and we’ve been through job layoffs, or not even getting jobs period due to either being overqualified with our newly acquired degrees, or under-qualified because we did not yet have a graduate degree or a million years experience. We have lived through competing for jobs with those generations ahead that had more experienced and also went through a layoff.

Another aspect might be the waking up of the world in regard to environmental and health issues. We actually know where the world and our generation is headed if we do not do something to change it. And we don’t want that to happen.

I think for the most part though, it is because we are a great generation. We grew up with a lot of privileges and new technologies, but also with new ways of thinking. We’ve been able to and confident in our own decisions and are by nature goodhearted, and care about the future.

Many think our generation is comprised of a bunch of slugs that sit around and play video games and text all day. And while, yes, even I enjoy the occasional video game and you rarely catch me *not* texting, it is not an accurate description of generation y.

We are educated, independent, and confident. We are a great generation capable of doing great things.