Doing Nothing Isn't An Option
Whenever I go for a walk I come across a piece of plastic.
It doesn't matter whether it's walking to the supermarket, into the city centre or in a forest, I never fail to spot a piece of stray plastic.
Each time I see some plastic I have a decision to make. Do I walk past and leave it there, or do I pick it up and put it in the bin?
I can't pick up every piece of plastic I see, but if I pick up as much as I can while I'm out and about, that's a small difference worth making.
The Roman Emperor, Marcus Aurelius, wrote in his journal the following sentence which guides my thinking on this issue.
"You can commit an injustice by nothing."
If I chose to walk past the plastic without picking it up, I've committed an injustice. A small one, but an injustice nonetheless.
If I'm willing to commit a small injustice, would I commit a bigger one down the line? What if I walked by while I saw someone being assaulted, or a house being broken into?
In these moments, you know something should be done but you're hesitant to do anything for fear of repercussions.
Even the simple act of picking up a piece of plastic can make you think twice, for fear of being judged by others.
The problem is, if these thought processes are reproduced at scale, injustices will continue to happen across the planet. All it takes is for one person to break the chain for others to follow.
A simple act such as picking up plastic can put right a wrong. With small steps come great strides.