How To...Make A Difference

Can one person make any difference in addressing a problem as huge as global warming and worldwide environmental degradation?

Yes, indeed!  The problem may be vast, but there are over 6 billion of us on this planet to work on the solution.   Nations will take actions, but this web site is dedicated to what can be done by any of Earth’s inhabitants.  Cumulatively, that could be more powerful than any national or international policy.

There are examples throughout history of individuals who become pivot points for good (or ill) in society.  And there are even more examples of how groups of people have solved problems through teamwork and cooperation.  If you look at your own city or town, you likely will see these dynamics playing out on all sorts of local issues.  The same methods by which people grow a thriving community that is healthy, safe and prosperous are the methods that can help that community preserve its own habitats, air quality, water sources, and so on.   

You may ask how local environments can affect the entire globe?  It is really straightforward. All forms of pollution, all emissions of greenhouse gases, come from individual homes, businesses, factories, power plants, aircraft, vehicles...and have caused the cumulative mess we now have worldwide.  What is new about all this is our realization that every local form of pollution sooner or later affects every part of the globe, and that those effects are not merely predictions but are already here, changing the world where we live. 

The thin layer of atmosphere coating the planet is highly vulnerable to change. We know that since certain chemicals we invented destroyed so much of the protective ozone layer that huge holes appeared, exposing life to harmful solar radiation.   If I accidentally punch a hole in an old refrigerator and release Freon gas, all six billion of us plus future generations will suffer for it.  If I see that an old refrigerator has the Freon captured and is properly disposed of, I have helped all six billion, plus future generations.   

Likewise, if I skip an auto trip to town or buy an energy efficient light bulb or plant one tree (or stop one from being cut down), I help reduce greenhouse gas emissions and protect a proportion of the entire Earth. I will have helped all six billion people with my small action.  This is incredible power!  What power to do good do I have if I buy an energy efficient automobile? What if I help my community conserve electricity and use more renewable energy sources?  What if I tell three other people what I am doing about global warming and why?

Each of us can make a difference, more than we ever realized was possible.

Comments

[kit]

Very exciting organia=sation. I feel helpless stuck inFrance and unwell. Wish I were back inUK where I was better at recycling etc

[kit]

`keep up the good work. I'm sick and stuck in a foreign cuntry. Helped mush mor in UK

[ian underwood]

hello all
iam worried that we all as nations of the world,are in for a real big con act,it still cost money and the enviroment when we recycle,the uk as a programme of plant more trees,and our paper comes from sustainable forests,our household waste is still being tipped into landfill sites,and i might add not all in this country,in the next few years we will have no where in the uk to dump our waste,so all of it will be going abroad,will the attitude of out of sight out of mind,be adopted?stopping burning fossil fuels,in the uk, help the enviroment? when the usa and china which,burn fossil fuels,and south america chopping down the rain forests,and how many others are doing the same.food containers in the uk some you can recyle and some go to land fill,yet the companies that produce these containers,get great tax benefits for the production,of waste to go in to land fill,5 years ago when our council started recycle we used to have a lorry that was open backed with a cage spilt in too and paper went in the front end and tins went in the back?good idea,now 5 years on 37 percent of our communty recycle,and the recycle waste is just crushed in to a normal refuge lorry.and im a gardener and do like onch a year to burn my waste cuttings and put back into the earth,now i have to send to land fill,and a nice new brown bin to put it in.and my central heating i notice is still run by gas,so whats all that about then,if it is such a problem why hasnt it stopped,oh might be something to do with poltics,and about being voted in again.
iam not saying that gobal warming isnt happening,what im saying is how much is down to the human beings and how much is down to the earth doing what it is always been doing,there is no one i now and i will stick my neck out here, that anyone knows who is one billion years old and still alive today,there is proof that the poles have changed over many millions of years.
iam seening floods now in the uk more now than ever,im seeing hurricanes,im seeing more of everything that used to be in other countries,the sun in the uk is now like a desert sun and that started around 15 years ago,and mr brown sticking 1/1/2 pence a litre on petrol to combat golbal warming, it is paramount to a joke,a country the size of the uk is going to make a difference to the rest of the world,um call me mr pickie,but i dont think so.

[Sissy Danninger Vienna Austria]

Ladies and Gentlemen,
As I just came across your new website I remembered my inefficient attempt to work for the abolition of European Summertime as one measure to mitigate climate change. Maybe you could consider supporting my petition to the EU:

http://www.petitiononline.com/sd197306/petition.html

Best wishes in any case,
Sissy Danninger

[James Jackson]

Never mind the energy efficient light bulbs,Just think how green you could be by turning off and leaving off your computers.

[Keith Farnish]

Hello James

My computer runs on wind energy, but I wish I could say the same for the entire Internet - now there's an idea for a campaign.

We can all choose what to do to make a difference. Reducing the amount of something we do is usually the best option, and I completely agree that we should turn things off when we do not need them on. There is an interesting article at http://earth-blog.bravejournal.com/entry/14753 that you might find to your taste.

Keith

[Keith Farnish]

Hello Ian

You make some very good points, and seem very frustrated that you are not getting clear enough information - that is what we are here for.

A couple of articles from our partner site The Earth Blog may be useful:

For Those Who Still Deny It Is Happening - Read This Please

Something, Something and Recycle

Only you can convince yourself that there is a great need to take radical action, but maybe these will help you make that decision.

Regards

Keith

[Tapsearcher]

Gobalization and Free Trade are the major core problems relating to Global warming.
Reportedly, the average meal travels well over 1,200 miles by truck, ship, train or plain, producing thousands of pounds of carbon emmissions.
In our super markets and big box stores the packaging is greater than many of the items inside. It takes 12 million barrels of oil for just 100 billion plastic bags we use each year.
The energy saving light bulb may have traveled over oceans and land with protective packaging that negates its real ecology value.
Only local value added economies can fix these problems. The working phrase should be local production for local consumption.

[Keith Farnish]

I agree with you, Tapsearcher. A world where people once again value what their community can do for them and what they can do for their community, as local as possible, but always with a view to the wider world, is something to strive for. Seniors remember that kind of world, and I believe it needs to come back.

Keith

[Borges, C.]

Make a difference: I have the world's only extant practical solar charging utility vehicles. They're in daily use for work and play around my park and gardens, and are transport around the local area and nearby village. After nearly 10 Years of continual, trouble-free use, we're convinced that zero imput transportation is a useful device, one of the many tools needed to lessen the impact on the world of human transportation. My husband and I can design and build them, but have no talent for fundraising to manufacture. And so, alas, it is possible I may ever remain in a privileged group of one.

[bertie]

there is a wonderful organization called Carbon Fund that helps to replenish the earth and offset our use of carbon. check it out on carbonfund.org.