Little and Big Battles

Throughout a variety of classes, I have encountered the conundrum and conflict surrounding individualized efforts towards environmental and social change. Often I find people completely convinced that small and frequently unnoticed gestures are meaningless against colossal problems, thus they choose not to participate in the smallest of mitigative moments. This problem is most perfectly bundled in the efforts of recycling. Many people are unconvinced by the impact that recycling has in regards to waste management. Sure recycling isn't going to save the world, but haven't we moved passed making that our sole purpose in life anyways? Can we pick our big battle, and also utilize small and frequently unnoticed gestures to contribute to environmental and social change?  

In The Impossible Will Take A Little While, Danusha Veronica Goska seems to critique the mentality of those who dismiss small actions, stating "It's not enough to recycle our soda cans; we must Stop Global Warming Now. Since we can't Stop Global Warming Now, we may as well not recycle our soda cans. It's not enough to be our best selves, we have to be Ghandi. And yet when we study the biographies of our heroes, we learn that they spent years in preparation doing tiny, decent things before one historical moment propelled them to center stage" (pg 64). Sure redeveloping our waste production and disposal system is the solution that is necessary for waste reduction, but that's a big battle for someone else, and I have already found a big battle that is meaningful to me. So while I prepare to graduate and enter my big battle, I'm going to keep utilizing my small individual actions as I see fit to fight the little battles.