Why Bother With Small, Individual Eco-actions?

Posted on April 21, 2008 at 10:17 a.m. by Jill.

Why bother? That's the question posed by Michael Pollan in the Sunday New York Times yesterday (April 20, 2008.) Why mess around with all these actions to live greener, when somewhere else in the world there is guaranteed to be at least one person who is cancelling out your efforts. Certainly there is at least one individual in Asia who is purchasing his or her first car, eating more meat than before, moving into a larger house that needs more heat, and so on.

As Pollan puts it (in a particularly bleak paragraph of the essay): "Whatever we can do as individuals to change the way we live at this very late date does seem utterly inadequate to the challenge."

I have found a certain level of peace with this reality by realizing that I can't live with myself if I DON'T make the effort, however inadequate. I know I won't halt climate change and biodiversity destruction with my vegetable garden and my Prius. But the day I stop trying, I hope one of my friends comes to my aid, because it will be a sure sign that I have slipped into a serious depression. For me, not to at least try is to give up hope.

I also put a certain amount of faith in the fact that while climate science is not on our side, behavioral social science is. We know that peoples' behavior is heavily influenced by peers. "If you do bother, you will set an example for other people," Pollan writes. "If enough other people bother, each one influencing yet another in a chain reaction fo behavioral change, markets for all manner of green preocuts and alternative technologies will prosper and expand...Not having things might become cooler than having them."

And as we know, politicians seldom have the power to lead; they have to follow the direction pointed out to them by voters. They are truly our public servants. Our small green actions also point out the direction we want leaders to move.