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Why Individual Action Matters
Personal choices are a driving force for systemic change
In the climate debate, systems-level change and individual action are often pitched as opposite approaches. While systemic change focuses on achieving broad societal shifts, such as alternative economic models to capitalism, individual action advocates for driving change through personal decisions.
A common argument against the individual action framework is that no matter how radically people alter their lifestyles, more is needed to achieve the scale of emission reduction and carbon capture we need to prevent 1.5 degrees of global warming. What's more, the very idea of a personal carbon footprint was invented by big oil companies to shirk responsibility for global warming and blame individual consumers instead.
And while I agree that riding my bike to the shops instead of driving and taking my reusable coffee cup to get my caffeine fix won't move the needle on climate in a measurable way, it's wrong to dismiss the impact of individual action. Personal choices can be a driving force to achieve systemic change.
Lifestyle changes are climate conversation starters
I gave up meat a little over four years ago and adopted a predominantly plant-based diet. I had a few…
