The environmental world often debates the role of individual action in the process of mitigating climate change. Some argue it's incumbent on everyone to be an active part of the solution, cut back, do research, and change their consumption patterns. Others argue the mere mention of individual action is deflecting from the real problem of corporate emissions and government inaction. I see bits of good points in both of these arguments, but ultimately, neither is all that convincing for me. As usual, I think the true answer lies somewhere between the extremes.
As I see it, individual action is at its best if it is (1) easy or (2) has the potential to spur community-level change. That's certainly not to say difficult personal choices can't be meaningful. If you're fully committed to making difficult sacrifices in the name of climate change and keeping it to yourself, then you have a lot more willpower than 99% of people, myself included. But as I see it, most people have a very finite amount of energy to put toward climate change, so by taking easy steps or steps that have the potential to inspire others, that energy can be optimized to achieve maximum impact.