Reduce, reuse, recycle ... but mostly reduce

Today is Blog Action Day, and despite my ambivalence toward the organizers, I'm participating because the issue is important. I like to think of myself as a generally aware person, someone who thinks about my impact on the world in general and who strives not to suck. But sometimes the issues seem insurmountable. For example, feel good about recycling your computer? Not so fast. Discarded electronics are routinely shipped overseas and dumped in the poorest parts of the world to create horrifically toxic conditions for the people, water, air, and land.

We're all doomed. Doomed, I tell you. Doomed.

The single most important thing we can do for our environment is to reduce our consumption, of resources like water and energy and of material things. We can try to make choices now that will help our kids be less materialistic than we are, to not want the disposable product and lots of it. The changes we make today, even if they seem insignificant, matter in the culture we shape for our kids and grandkids.