Why Bother?

Pollan writes an essay that criticizes the average person (mainly US citizens) for believing that remedies for climate change and other world problems cannot be created through small improvements in everyday life. Pollan also criticizes the industry mostly aiming towards large capitalistic America for encouraging the problem by influencing the public. The average person believes that small lifestyle changes here and there will not affect the world positively enough to be worth the "burden" that may be placed on them. Changes must be made by the government or by the industry, they believe, which costs endless time and of course money. But why cant change be initiated by the average person? Why cant everyone just make slight positive changes in their lives to better themselves and the environment? Pollan aims his focus to these sorts of questions and encourages people to make any small change that may be able to influence their neighbor to do the same and so forth. I agree with Pollan, social change throughout the world could definitely help to curb climate change. This is a message that has been repeated by many great minds like MLK or Gandhi. But how can this be achieved on a world scale? Of course in the western world of suburbia its easy for us to say "oh, just take shorter showers or drive a more environmental friendly vehicle" but what about the rest of the world who cannot find clean water to drink or are constantly in fear for their lives living in a war zone. Of course small changes in our daily lives is a step in the right direction but climate change isn't the only problem in our diminishing world but it is a problem that affects everyone on this earth. So, for the Earth to improve as a whole, an entire "earthly movement" must occur, the only question is how can we make it work?