This week's New York Times Magazine features an article entitled "Why Bother?" by Michael Pollan (the author of must-reads The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals and In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto). In "Why Bother," Pollan states that the bleakest part of watching An Inconvenient Truth for him was "during the closing credits, when we are asked to . . . change our light bulbs. That’s when it got really depressing. The immense disproportion between the magnitude of the problem Gore had described and the puniness of what he was asking us to do about it was enough to sink your heart." Many of us can relate to that. We think, wow, there are just so many environmental problems out there, how can what little I do make a difference? And with that defeatist attitude, many of us choose the path of not doing anything. Pollan argues that "Climate change is upon us, and it has arrived well ahead of schedule," but now is not the time to think that whatever you may do as an individual is "too little too late." He says, "For us to wait for legislation or technology to solve the problem of how we’re living our lives suggests we’re not really serious about changing—something our politicians cannot fail to notice. They will not move until we do."

So what does this have to do with Earth Day? Earth Day is meant to be a day of observance in furtherance of educating ourselves about the needs of the Earth's environment. Just as religious holidays are an affirmation of faith, we should contemplate Earth Day as a concentrated reminder that we should all be taking steps to reduce our negative impact on the Earth.

While some people might just use today as another excuse to let their freak flag fly, let's take today to reflect on the choices we make and how we can improve our daily lives to the benefit of the environment. While it's not feasible for most of us to change what we are doing overnight, there are certainly many accessible changes that we can make in our lives. Whether it's ditching the plastic bags, eating locally, biking instead of driving, unplugging unused appliances—there are countless ideas for you to come up with to adapt your personal lifestyle into a more eco-friendly one. Making even one small change today can start a snowball effect, inspiring real change in not only your life, but in the lives of others around you. As Pollan says: "If you do bother, you will set an example for other people. If enough other people bother, each one influencing yet another in a chain reaction of behavioral change, markets for all manner of green products and alternative technologies will prosper and expand."

So spend today thinking about how you can, in fact, bother.

Image Credit: Flickr user LollyKnit