That's a question that can plague even the most committed people. If you're swapping CFL bulbs for incandescents and shrinking your carbon footprint and composting and recycling, but your neighbors aren't doing any of that, you might think your efforts are for naught.
Michael Pollan takes on that question in the front-of-the-book section of this week's Green Issue of The New York Times Magazine. There are a lot of intriguing ideas -- current and historical -- in Pollan's essay, as well as an idea that can help and has helped in the past.





Michael Taylor
This is very trite, but the bulk that edited out these days means that whatever I may say here is worth very little. I'd like to make a point. Like when are we really going to look at the big picture of global warming. But who cares, the fact is that this blog is working very little. The fact is that I better find a better way to write about global warming. No one is listening.
teri
I sometimes feel the same way! It seems hard for the little people to make a difference but I think that if everyone does a little something then it can add up to a big something!
koko
ALBERTA NEEDS YOUR HELP!!
REFRAIN FROM OIL AND GAS
PREMIER ED STELMACH
THE BEST PREMIER OIL AND GAS CAN BUY!!!
joanne
Everything I read contributes to my understanding and motivates me to do more. I say 'keep writing', it is helping.
Sandra Hould
I often feel as though we are only a few solder's in this war and its sometimes really frustrating to see everybody around me not doing anything while i do all i can for the environment. But i know that the goal in the end is to save our only home, and its enough for me to pick up my tools and continue to fight the good fight because nobody else will do it for us, we are the only ones that can change and fix the problem.
lora bruncke
Why bother?
Our children, of course!