Blog Action Day: The Power of Simple Actions

The most depressing thing I can hear someone say is “why bother?” Why bother changing lightbulbs, turning down the thermostat, using “green” cleaning products, and buying local when our government has failed to take the vast, far-reaching actions needed to spur global environmental change? The ice caps are melting, and we are losing species at an alarming rate. What does it matter how one person lives their life in the face of all of the work ahead of us?

My response to this is that it matters more than you can imagine. One person’s simple actions, when compounded and repeated by millions of people across the country and the world beyond, have the power to change the world. One person recycling and refusing to dump chemicals on their lawn and garden becomes an example, and even an inspiration, for others to do the same. And, in our own lives, one simple change leads to another, and that leads to another, and small changes can lead to bigger changes along the line.

That’s the whole point of green:easy—we have to start somewhere, and the only person we have control over is the one wearing our clothes, living our life. There is no such thing as a “small action.” Change a lightbulb, reuse a jar, wash your clothes in cold water instead of warm. Simple actions, surely, but these simple actions can change the world.

This was my contribution to Blog Action Day—I am one of over 15,000 bloggers uniting today under one cause, the environment. To participate, visit the Blog Action Day website to get started, or to find out which other blogs are involved.