Environment = home

I've noticed significant apathy, and in some cases, even antipathy toward environmental issues and those who champion them. I'd like to offer this perspective: Safeguarding the environment is perhaps the most self-interested 'charitable' action we can take. The environment is not an entity that derives benefit from our protection; we benefit. The earth existed long before us, and will exist long after we are nothing but a distant memory. The planet has no stake in our survival or extinction. Who stands to gain if we protect and maintain a hospitable environment that sustains human life? We do. Caring about the biosphere we inhabit and acting as a responsible steward is akin to maintaining a home; if we fail in this instance, however, we cannot simply move from our neglected and ramshackle lodgings and start fresh somewhere else.

The key to positive environmental change is for each individual to take action. Any action, no matter how small. It is easy to give up, to succumb to the belief that the challenges are too great and our contribution will be too small to make a difference. But rather than feeling paralyzed and impotent because we cannot do it all, we can take steps in the right direction. A CF bulb here, a walk to the market there, a thermostat turned down, a donation to an environmental cause, an item recycled - it all adds up.