I am back. I am trying this again. That entire thing of “One person can change the world;” Well I bought into it. I was pumped. And then, guess what I didn’t save the world. 2023 is going to be the hottest on record. Winter in New York never even happened (and don’t tell me the city never really got snow…I lived it, several times). Despite my best efforts, I didn’t change the world. I didn’t even make a dent.

What? You have not heard of me (a middle aged woman who has fewer than 200 followers on social media, and is not on Twitter because she couldn’t remember her password and got stressed out trying to get back on). You have heard of Greta Thunberg, but not me. That is wild.

I want to believe that one person can make a difference. Yet, I have close friends who still continue to idle their cars even after readying my blog. The science did not win out over their comfort. The plea to help save the polar bears did not work either. I kept calling my city council member, but I couldn’t even get them to ticket the one teacher who idles for over an hour every day at the school by my house. To refresh your memory, it is against NYC law to idle in front of a school for over a minute; anywhere else, you are allotted three minutes. This law has been on record for 51 years, and it is enforced almost never.

I digress. My entire giving upness was because I didn’t feel like I was making a dent of change in the environment, and the world was still crumbling around me. Todaym it occurred to me there are three ways to to say “I am just one person.”

You can say it “(Ugh) I am just one person, I can’t make a difference:” OR “I am only one person, it is no big deal if I pollute the air or throw trash on the ground:” OR “I am one person, and the effort I make, while small, is still moving the needle towards the right direction.” In all cases we have to remember we are NOT just one person.

Imagine, if you will, for each one person saying that sentence there are, let’s say, 6000 other people saying that same sentence. I am sure there are more, but I am not here for the math. So for the 6000 people saying one person can’t make a difference; there are 6000 missed opportunities for a small change. For the next 6000 people , whothinking that their small pollution is not that big a of deal, they need to remember that there are at least 6000 people saying the same thing. We can’t see pollution, but imagine if 6000 people left their garbage in front of your house. You would see it, you would smell it and you would be incensed. You would demand change. Lastly, if 6000 people today said today is the day I do X (stop idling, give up plastic drink containers, gave $10 towards their favorite endangered animal) that would be a ton of positivity and a dent towards saving our earth.

There are so many areas of our earth dying out. Yes, many of it is due to corporate responsibility, but we are still people and our numbers add up. What is ONE thing you can do each day (it can be small, skip the plastic straw, idle for half the time in your car–you won’t freeze to death in five minutes) something that gives up a little comfort for a few minutes that can ultimately add up with 6000 other people (or more) and make a positive dent to saving our earth.

Don’t do it for me, a middle aged lady you have never heard of or met, do it for Greta (or the earth since you live there too).