Start a trend

In a recent post, I linked to a video of a TED talk that includes discussion about how climate action can be “contagious”.   In the video, the speaker says that once a few people in a neighborhood install rooftop solar on their homes, many other homeowners quickly follow.  This illustrates the power of providing a GENTLE example of sustainability actions you’d like to promote.  When dealing with individuals in your life, strident demands may cause these individuals to dig in harder against the action you want to promote.  Quietly but visibly performing these actions is more likely to interest people in trying the sustainability activity.  If you do this often, in many different settings, you may start a trend that spreads beyond your individual influence.  I have been trying to start the trend of taking a reusable container to restaurants for my leftovers instead of using the disposable container provided by the restaurant.  So far, most people who see my container like the idea, but then don’t remember to bring a container.  I remain hopeful, though, that eventually I will start a trend.  Maybe some of you will decide to help start this trend.  Pick an action you want to encourage and see if you can start a trend.