A short story with a "green" theme...

I'm sorry, but I don't have any outlines for you. One of the better ways to find something to write about is to simply sit down, with pen and paper in front of you, and just start writing down as many topics as you can think of. Write down anything you can think of. even if it sounds like you could never do anything with it, still write it down. Keep coming up with as many topics as possible for five or ten minutes. Since you need to write a story about an environmental concern, this shouldn' be very hard, because there are so many issues that you could write about. When you're time is up (the five or ten minutes you set aside to do this), go over what you've written, choose the one that appeals to you the most, and write about that. If you have a difficult time 'timing' yourself for things like this, you can ask someone to tell you, or call you, when the time is up. Or, just use an egg/kitchen timer.

It depends a lot on what type of story you like to write in the first place. For example, if you like science fiction you could write something in the future where the earth has been damaged by polution. If you are into historical fiction you could create a story about a farmer or a person who decides to do something that in the long run will help the environment (like planting trees - think along the lines of Johnny Appleseed). For a mystery you could write about someone seeking information on an environmentally harmful group. For horror you can have an environmental issue go all wrong and destroy the world ;) Also, just because environmental concern is the main theme does not mean that the characters have to be acting in an environmentally friendly way. They could be very destructive. Equally you could write about someone inspiring finding ways to improve things. Or, the main characters don't have to have anything to do with the environment at all - instead you can build the setting to make an environmental statement. Hopefully that gives you some ideas to jumpstart on. I think that brainstorming a bunch of ideas is a great idea too. Good luck!