Just the other day, I overheard a group of people talking about a some issue in their workplace. The gist of the conversation went "I am just a cog in the big machine, I can't improve anything." In planning circles, we often hear this type of reasoning. Societal or environmental problems seem so complex that
individuals seem to give up on their ability to help out or improve things. In the case of Air Quality concerning Ozone this is definitely untrue. With the new federal Ozone standards, we are so close to the threshold, that actions from a small group of individuals could get us to the good side of the standard. That is how things work when you are close to a threshold.
As an example, imagine for a moment that we are all in the Washington DC area during rush hour. All of the sudden, 2% more cars instantaneously enter the highway. Does congestion only get 2% worse? It is likely that delay gets much worse than 2%. Near a threshold one to one relationships of inputs and outcomes don't usually work. The same effect can happen the other way. Imagine that 2% of the cars suddenly disappear, don't you have much more than 2% increase in your comfort level and ability to maneuver? This phenomena holds true in our quest for regional air quality improvement. You as an individual can make a difference. You can sign up for
RIDE Solutions even if you only rideshare one day a week. You can change some conventional light bulbs for the high efficiency
Compact Fluorescent Bulbs, and you could make a habit of only getting gas early in the morning or later in the evening. All of these seeming simple things help much more than you think, due to the fact that we are right at the threshold.