As far as being self-righteous, I don't believe any of them contacted the paper for the article. It was just one way to help promote awareness of supporting an eco-friendly environment. Many people do some of these things and more, but there are others who do nothing to conserve energy. For our small household of three people we try to compost and recycle whenever possible, and reduce the amount of garbage we contribute to landfills. We use re-usable containers for our water and coffee whenever possible. The article showed that even young people are concerned about their future environment.