Earth Day has come to symbolize many things to many people and I’m not in the position to say who is right and who is wrong. Regardless, I consider it as one day that pushes the environment, and our impact on it, to the forefront of our collective consciousness. Ultimately, it’s up to each of us to make what we will of it.

As a technologist with a keen interest in all things online it’s easy to get drawn into the virtual world that surrounds me every single day. Fortunately, I also make an effort as much time as possible in the great outdoors. The differences in the two worlds provide me with balance, clarity and perspective and for me the outdoors – and ultimately our environment – is a pretty important topic in my own life. I dug around and tried to find a video that embodied some of my own thinking and the one I found is below:

My fundamental take-away from the video, and ultimately my personal philosophy on our responsibility to the environment, is pretty simple: we can all make a difference if we make an effort.

A wise friend once told me that with one person you can have an idea. With two, you can have a conversation. But with more than two you can create an association – and a movement – and create a lasting impact. Associations embody what is truly possible when you assemble a group of individuals that are passionate about something bigger than they are and make an effort to do something about it. Yet at the same time an association cannot be an association without the individuals who call themselves members and volunteers. The power of the association lies in harnessing the power of the individual and channeling that raw energy into directed effort.

In that same spirit, I want to encourage everyone to make a conscious effort to use less, waste less and be a little more cognizant of what you are doing and how you are doing it. The incremental changes that you make, when combined with those made by others, could have a pretty dramatic impact.