Personal lifestyle change in the global North may be necessary for creating a sustainable society for various reasons. Some argue that simply changing your light bulbs and reducing the length of your showers will actually have a greater effect on sustainability.
Many also believe that the "global North" is using a lot of the natural resources available. So if the north were to change "their awful ways" then the world would essentially be a better place!....right? Wrong...
Apparently it has been proven that even changing your personal lifestyle is not enough; That if everyone in the States were to do everything off of this "sustainability" list it would still only amount to a 22% reduction of pollution (being carbon or CO2). So the large corporations, power plants, metal smelting and government agencies are the ones who would have to change a lot of their "every-day going ons" to actually make a change in this downward spiral that the earth seems to be in.
However, there are some personal rewards to being personally sustainable:
-cash from the government for buying energy saving appliances
-general savings in money if you were to buy a solar panel for your house or use energy saving light bulbs
-you get that "feel good, can do" attitude that everyone knows and loves so much.
-you can live a healthier lifestyle by buying organic, which also helps reduce soil contamination.
I think these are all compelling reasons to make personal changes in your life. People think it will not make a difference....but how could it not? At least 22% is better than nothing.
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