A neighbor's simple question about my rain barrel really got me thinking

I was setting up a rain barrel in my yard here in Portland last spring, just connecting it to a downspout. My neighbor, an older guy named Frank, came over and asked, 'Does that thing really make a difference for the big picture?' I mean, I just said it was for my garden. But he kept going, saying his grandkids talk about the climate all the time and he feels like he can't do anything. It was just a five minute chat on my driveway, but it stuck with me. How do you explain that small personal actions are part of the bigger solution without sounding preachy?

2 comments

2 Comments

adams.taylor20d ago

What did I tell my dad when he felt the same way? I said his one compost bin was like a vote, and a million votes change things. It's not about my one barrel fixing everything, it's about joining a crowd that's too big to ignore.

vera_sanchez20d ago

I told my neighbor it's like what @adams.taylor said, a vote that adds up when enough people join in.