A GENERAL UNDERSTANDING OF CLIMATE CHANGE …
AND YOUR INDIVIDUAL ROLE IN IT
May 14, 2025
Is it true? Or is it a politically‑motivated hype?
Certainly, the questions deserve a fair consideration—because our lives are on the line.
The collective mindset in various societies generally faults large companies for our plight of consequences that are due to climate change. But, let’s think about the this point of view.
Would those large corporations continue to produce their goods, and emit harmful greenhouse gases, if we—individual consumers—would not have a demand for those very goods? Aren’t those companies the suppliers for fulfilling our individual human needs and wants?
Even as we might view corporations as powerful entities completely independent of our personal lives, they are actually part of the system that sustains our lives.
Existence of life is possible only within systems.
This is true for the life of humans, the life of the Earth, and the life of any living, moving, or reproducing creature. All elements in a system correlate, depend on each other, and collectively create the whole, enabling proper functioning. Such is the whole of the human body, or the whole of the Earth, or the whole of the continued existence of the human race.
SUSTENANCE OF HUMAN LIFE
Sustaining human life is possible only through a system. Even during the primitive stages of human life on Earth, thousands or millions of years ago, there were systems that enabled our forebears to survive and reproduce, resulting in our own lives today. These systems included: the system of their bodies to function properly; the systems they developed to find and grow and prepare food; the system of the Earth that provided the means for finding and growing food; the system that generated breathable air; the system that propelled them to live and produce new life.
And so, all facets of human life correlate. Today, big corporations produce various goods to fill our needs (even if our consumption of those produced and manufactured goods are several stages removed from our personal, everyday lives), as well as to satisfy our desire for additional (unneeded, but wanted) pleasures. So, whose fault is it that we have to deal with climate change?
Of course, many the corporations could—and should—find better ways to produce the goods we want them to create. Of course, the responsibility rests with those companies to improve their manufacturing processes
to be less harmful and more beneficial. Of course (and, unfortunately for the everyday people), the financial interests of corporate stakeholders often drive corporate decisions more than the intended benefit for consumers.
Yet, the actions of individual consumers are the overlooked culprit in the matter of climate change. While this statement is not an acquittal of corporations in their role of contributing to climate change, this is—in fact—an intimation of individual persons’ responsibility for doing their part to reduce and stop climate change.
Don’t just expect … but do, in fact!
THE POWER IN THE HANDS OF INDIVIDUALS
There are three major ways an individual (or family) can help prevent climate change:
  1. To press companies to use climate‑friendly methods to produce their goods, and eliminate unnecessary practices
  2. For individuals and families to reconsider their demand for the goods they purchase—which in turn will affect large corporations’ outputs and polluting activities
  3. For individuals and families to pay attention to, and be mindful of, their everyday habits and waste:
    • Such as throwing food away (which then generates harmful methane)
    • Or, the ease of wasting paper products, such as asking for unneeded pastry box at a cafe (which results in ever greater deforestation, diminishing the ability of our forests to protect our air)
    • Or, the thoughtless ease with which we pile up plastic waste (much of which ends up in our oceans, unable to degenerate for about 600 years)
In short, a fair part of climate change is caused by personal activities and waste—driven by a mindset that results in negligent ways of conduct in our everyday life. This also means, that we—individuals—have the power to reduce climate change through changing our mindset about many of our simple everyday activities, instead of just being helpless endurers of the consequences of corporate practices … or, at best, being a voice against corporate practices.
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We don’t advocate zero household waste.
We advocate being mindful about waste.
What actions will YOU take?
For your present & future
For the children’s future
For the grandchildren’s future, and so on
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