哈诺

indy

Today’s environmental musing: personal vs collective action.
I’ve often struggled with the seeming futility of personal action in the face of global problems like climate change. The reality is that the kinds of big changes we need won’t happen without collective action. Things like a price on carbon or reducing fossil fuel subsidies (or big ag subsidies, the topic of yesterday’s rant) each have to be legislated. So for most of us we can only really act on those issues a few times a year, notably in November when we vote.
The beauty of personal action is that, though it might not change the world by itself, it’s a step in the right direction and one that we can constantly improve upon.
The key for me was to start with what was easy and build up from there. Here’s a rough version of my path:
-I read a bunch of books (http://honnoldfoundation.org/books for those interested) which galvanized me to action.
- I changed my bank to a local, nonprofit credit union. Most folks don’t think about it, but while your money sits in a bank account that bank still uses it to invest in all kinds of things that you as an individual might not approve of, like Wells Fargo loaning money to the Dakota Access Pipeline. By keeping money local you opt out of many of the worst offenses.
-I stopped eating meat, the subject of yesterday’s post. It was pretty easy for me because I lived in a van with no fridge and didn’t buy much meat anyway.
-I looked into carbon offsets to cover all of my traveling. At the time I didn’t find much that inspired me, which was a big part of why I started the Honnold Foundation. But now I’m a member of @mossy.earth, which focuses on reforestation and rewilding. I like that reforestation actively removes carbon from the atmosphere as opposed to just lowering emissions.
-I also put solar on several friends and family members’ homes, which is similar to the kinds of projects the @honnoldfoundation supports but obviously more personal.
-And more generally, I’ve done my best to bike commute when possible (like going to the climbing gym), shop responsibly, recycle, compost at home, and all the other small things that most folks try to do.
More tomorrow...

indy