The "One Less" Approach to Change

I have been drawn to those “one less car” bumper stickers for years. The idea is so simple. Those who use bikes as transportation are not jumping up and down to fight cars, but they are pointing out that by being one less car, that actually gives more road over to those who want to keep driving cars.

And, THIS, gives rise to the idea that the person driving the car may also want to try it one day, too - because, dang, it looks freeing. Could we trust that process, that story, a bit more?

Hmmm.

I think there’s some *there* there, which also works with regard to eating a plant-based diet or choosing to drive a smaller, utilitarian EV.

All three (bikes, plant-based and small EV) COUNTER what our CULTURE has become. How can we do less car, less animal ag and less size-of-car when “everyone else” just keeps taking more/expanding/using more space etc?

Well, how does the grow/expand thing end? Not well, and we are seeing that.

This intrigues me.

The “One Less” approach is non-confrontational, it is ultimately just a reminder to the folks that see it around them that they, too, *likely* have values deep down insight of them that are more aligned with a simpler life. Many people have just long-since forgotten how useful that very small Toyota truck was in the 1980s, or how great it was to only ride your bike around your neighborhood when you were a kid, or how - truth be told - no one ever asked you if you *wanted* to eat animals, and come to think of it, it actually doesn’t align with your values.

The thought is not to make the folks who continue to drive or eat meat, for example, the evil ones, but to expose our CULTURE for the ridiculousness it has become. It has become ridiculous.

When we remind people of who they actually are, that it is possible to step back, and that “others are already doing it”, we nudge the shift.

This has long been my Climate Influence point, but now I just want to emphasize what I have seen and what I know to be true.

We all have values deep inside us that totally conflict with this overblown, uncaring culture. We CAN step off this spinning wheel or growth, expansion, more pain and suffering, and MORE tech/BIGGER.

And, when folks with any small degree of influence in their sector or city step off the spinning wheel and are SEEN doing it, they influence more of their peers to potentially do the same. They just do.

• When you see city leaders riding a bike around town, it seems more do-able for you.
• When you note that someone you respect went plant-based recently, it seems more do-able for you to try.
• When you see more neighbors buying or sharing smaller, more practical EVs, that social norm cue reaches you.

Bridging that transition to truly human values-based culture is not a societal STEP BACK, to be clear. Rather, it is a remembering of who we are and where we really do find joy and connection.

If you’ve found yourself moving into more values-based living but not yet acknowledged or celebrated it, DO.

This is what I’m about, and this is the tone and thinking I will keep sharing here and in all of my stories, interviews and work.