"Why Bother?"

    In Michael Pollan’s article “Why Bother”, Pollan tries to address the people who wish to make a difference for the world’s climate but is overwhelmed by the gravity of the situation. Pollan presents the reader with the question “Why bother?” in reference to how useless one may feel when wanting to cut down on carbon emissions.  He first presents some reasoning and examples to justify this feeling such as the fact that one’s carbon savings will probably offset by another’s carbon usage.  He also addresses some of the complexities of trying to reduce one’s carbon footprint such as whether “eating local or walking to work”(89) really reduces the carbon output.
    After presenting the justifications for this thinking he then presents an answer to the “Why bother?” question. Pollan said “If you do bother, you will set an example for other people.”(92) He hopes that by setting an example, the behavior will spread through other people and basically become what he calls viral social change. After answering this question he then proceeds to close up the article by explaining how to start a vegetable garden and the benefits of doing so as an example of the small acts we can do to start social change.

Works Cited

Pollan, Michael. "Why Bother?" New York Times Magazine 20 Apr. 2008

    19+. Rpt. in The Allyn and Bacon Guide to Writing. John D.

     Ramage, John C. Bean, and June Johnson. 6th ed. New York:

     Pearson, 2012. 88-94. Print.