A thirsty crow noticed a huge jar and saw that at the very bottom there was a little bit of water. For a long time the crow tried to spill the water out so that it would run over the ground and allow her to satisfy her tremendous thirst. After exerting herself for some time in vain, the crow grew frustrated and applied all her cunning with unexpected ingenuity: as she tossed little stones into the jar, the water rose of its own accord until she was able to take a drink.

The Crow and the Pitcher, Perry 390

The moral of this fable is relevant beyond just large jars of water, small stones and a determined bird. It's important because tackling a problem one small issue at a time can apply to broadly different, and important matters.

If you don't know by now (from the fifteen thousand blogs that have committed to the cause), today is blog action day. A day where twelve million readers will be given an opportunity to talk about the steps we need to take to work together toward a better future.

Of course, conversations alone don't change things. We all need to do something as well (even little things). This is where the crow can help us learn that by making small adjustments in our own lives, our impact to the environment on a greater scale will bring us the veritable fresh water to drink from.

The small change that I have chosen to focus on here is the switch from using regular incandescent lights to CFL type bulbs. They might appear to be more expensive when compared side-by-side, but when you consider both the energy savings from them, and that the lifetime of the bulb can go on for many years, makes these a no-brainer to purchase. The cost is easily compensated by the benefits. It's one of the easiest things you can do in your own home, and when done on a large scale, will have a profound long-term impact on the environment.

Although my footprint isn't as green as it could be, even some effort is better than none. In our home we recycle (paper and aluminum), I traded my large sedan for very gas-friendly Honda Civic, and also use the light bulbs I mentioned above. What sort of small changes do you think you can make?