Quote Originally Posted by OakLeaf View Post
NOOOOOOOO I get enough defeatism at home, I will not listen to "incremental change doesn't work" here!!!

None of us acting alone can "fix it," obviously, but each of us collectively can add our personal flakes to the snowball of change.

You grow your own or buy from a local sustainable farmer whenever you can. Every new customer puts a little fillip into the economy of scale. You be very careful about reading the labels on stuff that you don't get directly from the person who grew it. You recommend The Omnivore's Dilemma and Animal, Vegetable, Miracle to everyone you know (and probably In Defense of Food, also, though I haven't read that one yet). You support your local bike co-op with money, time, advocacy, or cast-off parts. You do whatever advocacy you have the energy for. You set a good example for the people around you. Your "random acts of kindness" are centered around health and accessibility issues - cleaning just one pile of gravel off a local bike lane, f'r instance. You start a child care/workout co-op with your neighbors.

Myself, I'm like whatever my comfort level, I try to take it up just one more notch. Not so it hurts - just enough that I know I'm working on it. That's how change happens. We've got to believe.

- Oak, always in the minority school of thought that despair (Tristitia) is one of the Seven Deadly Sins...
You're right that we should each do what we can and set a good example, and that will help to a point...it's just that a LOT of people need a kick in the pants and there are a lot of factors (like the way towns are designed and the fact that some areas are just unsafe) that it's hard to do much about on that grassroots level (unless I'm missing something)--seems like those are the kinds of things where the damage is already done. The culture needs to change, and that will only happen if a larger number of people make an effort.