Improvement is about making change to both supplement your life by adding new positive behaviors and also eliminating negative behaviors from your life. While it may seem daunting to live an environmentally-friendly life, it doesn’t take large changes to have an impact. Each small change is cumulative, adding to the changes that came before and the changes before that. One small change can have a very large impact over time. As I’ve said before, small steps add up. While this is most visible in your personal life, it applies to the environment, too.
There has been a very large to-do about the impact of 200 million cars on the road every day (and that’s just in the United States). You’ll hear continual reports of the impact of all the fossil-fuel-burning power plants around the world. The disposal of plastics, hazardous waste, heavy metals, and a million other pollutants makes the news regularly. And it seems overwhelming.
With the environment crisis, the answer is not to make sweeping changes immediately; that’s not realistic or even possible. Even if all the major industrial countries were to suddenly institute a plethora of well-thought-out green policies, it would take years to implement and enforce those changes. Don’t expect large changes worldwide right away, no matter how beneficial those changes would be to all involved.
Instead, make small changes everywhere within your own life, like choosing to recycle, or walking instead of driving to go to the corner store. Make the changes right away that you can make without any external cooperation.
Then collaborate within your social and business circles to create bigger changes. Does your company offer passes for public transportation? Help them create such a program. Are you cleaning out your garage this spring? Organize a hazmat disposal trip with your neighbors and encourage them to properly dispose of their old paints, lubricants, and other waste by making it easy for them to piggy-back on what you are already doing.
Finally, share with those within your circle of influence about both the importance and the practice of living an environmentally friendly lifestyle. Make it a point of conversation sometimes. Talk about what concerns you, what you do, and what ideas you have. Brainstorm and encourage. Plant the seeds for them to take an interest in the long-term view. Don’t preach, just share.
If one person lives green and the rest of the world remains at the status-quo, the change is so minuscule as to be irrelevant. If one billion people make the switch then the impact can be beyond comprehension. And getting to a billion is easier than it sounds: all it takes is for you to make the changes you want to see and do your part to help others see the importance and then make the changes themselves. As more and more people make small changes, the global impact becomes exponentially larger.
It all starts with you.
In the news
- More evidence that we’re meant to consume mostly fruits, vegetables, breads, and grains: Death link to too much red meat
- More evidence that we’re meant to get sunlight regularly: Many Americans Fall Short on Their Vitamin D
- More evidence that political bodies are (finally) realizing you can’t effectively regulate responsible sexual behavior in teenagers: Judge orders FDA to let 17-year-olds use Plan B
Quote for the week
It isn’t pollution that’s harming the environment. It’s the impurities in our air and water that are doing it. – Dan Quayle
Healthy thoughts,
Jeff
