TeamEarth

As the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico passes the one-month mark – and as we all hold our breaths to see whether the latest attempt to plug the gushing well has, in fact, worked – we here at Team Earth have been thinking about how to best respond to the disaster.

Thousands of people have responded directly by volunteering to help with cleanup in the Gulf. Most of us, though, can’t drop everything and head down south. But we can do something. Each one of us can do our part to drive down the demand for the oil that’s gushing into our seas – and, in the process, cut back on the greenhouse gases that help lead to climate change.

How? To beat a problem as serious as the worst oil spill in U.S. history, or as big as climate change, we need an inclusive environmentalism. We need everyone to take action, from hardcore environmentalists to people who have only the vaguest idea of being green.

The good news is that it’s possible.

Check out this article, from the director of The Nature Conservancy in Alabama. The takeaway is a set of data on driving: Though the average person in the U.S. drives 190 miles per week, only 20% to 30% of that is for work; nearly half of the driving we do is for recreation, entertainment, or shopping.

We’re not saying “don’t drive anywhere” or “don’t have fun.” We drive places, and we like having fun.

We just mean to illustrate that not all of our driving is as compulsory as we think. If we’re smart and think about the trips we take, we can get behind the wheel a little less. “A little” matters. We’ve said it before, and we’ll say it again: Cut back on your driving by 25%, get half of Americans to go along with you, and it’s like taking almost 1.9 million cars off the road – forever. That’s like the entire state of West Virginia never driving again.

So whether you’re a tree-hugger or just someone who cares about the Gulf, you have an opportunity today to help fight climate change and break the U.S. addiction to oil. We can still create a bright future. Start making it today.