I cringe when I see cutesy "ways to go green" lists consisting of recycling, walking to work, and ways to buy your way to sustainability - whether through hybrids, compact fluorescents, or handbags made from tires. Being a responsible consumer and striving toward a more sustainable lifestyle is certainly important, but it should be the expected bare minimum, not a laudable exception. Even if you live on a self-sustaining farm and scrutinize every purchase you make, can you really call yourself green if you live in a country whose entire social and economic system is built on fossil fuels and oppression?

Time is running out and frankly, all the light bulbs and Priuses in the world can't change that. "It's like polishing the brass on the Titanic," Tyler Durden would say, "It's all going down."

We need to think big. Reevaluate our priorities on a national scale. Start talking about what the world might be like in 50 years. Or 100. Envision a clean energy future. Rethink agriculture. Revitalize public transportation. Overhaul electoral politics. Consider the moral bottom line alongside the economic. Expect more from business. Expect more from ourselves.

Some people certainly get it. On the whole, those of us in the youth climate movement aren't afraid to do our homework about international policy, market forces, and the powers that be. Environmental studies majors are growing up and getting MBAs. We would trade a polar bear suit for a suit and tie. We are going to Bali with policy briefings, not placards. We believe in changing things from the inside.

It took me a while to recognize that we are indeed part of a growing social movement. It looks different than it did decades ago because we have a new challenge. Our parents had to organize protests in order to raise awareness about injustices. Today, most people are aware that our society needs to be more socially just and environmentally sustainable. The task of our generation is figuring out how. We've already made strides in convincing people that things need to change. Now we need to have a plan.

I know I'm not the only one who is trying to figure out how to best aim the trajectory of my own life, given the terrain. I would have never dreamed of saying this five years ago, but I'm going to business school. I love managing an organization with a social mission, but I don't want to be writing grants for the rest of my life. I don't know what how will be, but I have a hunch it will emerge at the edges, at the blurring of boundaries between the public an private sectors. Social entrepreneurs and corporate CEOs will start talking. Target demographics will be recognized as stakeholders. We all might start taking a little more responsibility. I don't know exactly what my role will be in all this, but as with most other things in my life, I'm willing to make it up as I go along. Even if that means taking the GMAT.