The planet is a big place, we are small individual people. So, when I hear about the problems of the world in the news I think: How much power do I have to save the planet?
This post looks at how much power we all have as individuals in this big system. If we’re trying to save the planet, we need to know where the power in affecting the world lies.
There are a few big mechanisms that can manage or instigate change that comes from individuals. Firstly, there’s politics, the overarching for that humans use to control, govern and decide. Secondly, there’s individual action and the power of the many, all doing the same thing. You can engage with both of these mechanisms to affect change.
What is my influence on the world?
Our influence on the world is mostly political. There are structures in place so that between all the people in the world, we pick who makes the decision on our behalf. That is our power and our chance to choose the direction of the big decision making. We chose this by voting. Voting is the most important way we have an effect on the planet.
The next political way to engage and put pressure is to write, to go to constituency meetings and to get in touch with the people who have influence. Tell them what we need, calmly and rationally, without being personal and in outrage. And another way to say what we think to try to affect change is outrage and protest- by joining an organisation that knows a lot about a specific issue that can run targeted pressure to the right places in government (which is daunting to know how to do as an individual).
What is my influence as one of many?
In terms of how you live your life- you have a lot of control over a lot of things. Firstly you have complete control over your money and you are in control of your consumption. Where is your money going? and should it be going to that place? If there’s somewhere your money is going, is it going there in the most planet-friendly way?
For example, consider contributions to your pension- they need to go to your pension- but can they go into an ethical pension? How about the money you spend on food? can it go to food farmers rather than big multinational farm corporations? Can it go to local restaurants that pay tax to your company rather than big, multinational chains that don’t?
What’s our influence on the environment?
The environment is influenced by all of us in the waste we produce. That’s the rubbish we create, like plastics, that end up in the seas, and the waste we produce that we don’t even think about. For example, the wastewater from our washing machines, full of chemical washing detergents. Or waste that leaves our bathrooms in sewer systems.
These are big structures that we can’t do much. When we hear about our rivers and seas being polluted with sewage, what can we do? the response leads back to politics. Write and protest, and if it’s hard to know where or how, join an organisation that have the experience and know where best to encourage efforts.
What’s our influence on the law?
When there’s an unethical case or situation, we don’t have power. Our power in affecting the law is, again, in politics. But there are issues on the planet that need human rights approaches to fix. Amnesty international provide resources for us to support them with many of these cases.
What about our small lives, people, dreams and hopes?
When I wrote this post, I was thinking about changing the world- there are big systems, big problems and big areas to target. But there is also a whole heap of good you can do locally to you. We talk about the world being damaged these days. We talk about society and human connection and joy being overtaken with technology, people constantly on their phones, social media taking over from real-life interactions and people generally being more miserable as a result of all this.
So what can you resolve to do to improve your very local person-sphere? Can you take positive energy with you into public spaces? What about giving yourself a half-hour alone time today to consider what deserves your energy and what to not waste time on? Can you spend 10 minutes every day feeling gratitude? Or sending a kind text, or tell someone special how much you love them. Or generally spreading good feel and goodwill rather than stress, or tiredness or whatever else might seem like a more natural first thing to express?
