Five Things You Can Do on Earth Day to Fight Global Warming

No. 5: Stop using plastic

OK, we're in countdown to Earth Day 2006, and the only way you wouldn't associate this year's event with concerns over global warming is if you were Exxon Mobil or Dick Cheney. Still, as aware as we've all been made by recent writings and events of the urgency over global warming, the No. 1 question always comes down to: What can I do?

I was explaining my personal strategies recently at a dinner party among some rather well to do Seattle folks, and the reaction surprised me. Most said: You can't do anything. You're not even a drop in the bucket. The bucket is so big and you're so small, you don't even register.

The problem with this thinking is, just reverse it. Say for some reason you wanted to cause global warming. And someone said, you know, you can't create global warming. You're just one person, not even a drop in the bucket.

Yes. So how'd we get in this mess if one person cannot make a difference?

The point is, we're all in this together. We'd better start thinking collectively or we do not have a future.

So, counting down to Earth Day on Saturday, here's the first thing you can do to fight global warming.

Stop using plastic.

Yeah I know. It sounds impossible. But I don't mean for us to stop using ALL plastic right now. I just want us to think about eliminating plastic.

You can start with grocery bags. This is, or at least should be, an easy one. It's tricky because even if you carry a canvas bag in your car, the trick is bringing it with you into the store while you shop. It took me literally years to get to the point where I (almost) always remember to bring in canvas bags.

A small thing. But plastic being a petrochemical by-product, it's one small step against global warming, one giant step for mankind.

— Paul Andrews, GreenforGood

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