I’ve been thinking of doing this for a looooong time, but have always been putting it back, until I had more time. I’ve just come to the realisation ( I know ya, a bit slow) that I’ll never have “enough time”, so I just decided to go ahead and do it.
Another big issue for me, is that the enormity of the problems we face, make it seem really overwhelming. What difference can one person make? It’s so easy to blame everyone else, while doing nothing to actually improve things. The reasons I believe that individuals should start making changes, no matter how small they think they are, are as follows:
- many of the tasks and changes will end up saving you money, improving your health and help with your mental health. Growing your own vegetables is a prime example of this.
- if enough people start doing things right, it becomes more socially accepted. Others on the fringes who would be embarrassed to stick their neck out, will actually start doing the same. Most people don’t want to be the first to try something, but if they see a friend or neighbour succeeding in the task, they will become more inclined to try it, until it becomes the norm
- using more environmentally friendly products and services, allows producers and suppliers to increase their range of products. Once a market has been established, competition will push down prices and innovation and further improvement is sure to follow.
- the compound effect (think compound interest on savings) – if you make improvements now, any future improvements will be improvements on the improvements!! If you halve your plastic use this year and halve it again next year, you’re now down to 25% of your original use. This is an extreme example (or is it??), but it’s a very powerful principle
- once you start consistently making positive changes in your behaviour, it becomes a habit. It also opens your eyes to other things that you can easily change. More often than not, the first step is the hardest to take.
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