So far, so good: Blog Action Day 2009 - Climate Change: The power of one

I am only one, but still I am one. I cannot do everything, but still I can do something; and because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do something that I can do. - Helen Keller

The scale of the problems plaguing the world as regards climate change is terribly immense. It can be a daunting and insurmountable challenge, especially when one thinks that s/he is but a small, powerless, voiceless speck in the swirl of humanity. And yet when all our individual efforts to do good are taken together, we can possibly be the change we want to see in the world, as Mahatma Gandhi prescribes.

Here are some practical ways of NOT contributing to climate change:

1. BYOB: Bring your own bags. These mainstays of landfills, plastic bags, can last for at least a millennium. Let's bring our own reusable bags when we go to the grocery so we don't contribute to the garbage problem haunting cities big and small.

2. Don't be tied up. Dress comfortably sans neckties and/or formal long-sleeved clothing. This may lead to lower energy costs since you don't have to cool artificially warmer rooms no thanks to our buttoned up suits.

3. Pay bills online and on time. Enrollment of and prompt bills payment online helps lessen the gas consumed when you have to go to the bank or payment establishment, or the trees felled in order to make the paper reminding you to pay overdue bills.

4. Good tire pressure, less pressure on the environment. Having correct vehicle tire pressure lessens gas consumption.

5. Be enlightened: Change your light bulbs. Using the more-expensive compact fluorescent light bulb is ultimately the brighter idea. Case in point- a 7-watt CFL bulb gives off light equal to a 40-watt one, for a longer period of time.

For more ideas on how you can harness the power of one, visit TIME Magazine's The Global Warming Survival Guide.