As a concerned citizen of the world it can be daunting to face the reality of our individual impact on the planet and sometimes hard to believe that we can make a difference personally, whilst the largest polluters are companies who either don't care or chose to ignore the effects of their illegitimate business practices (Dieselgate, anyone?).

What's worse comes in the form of 'green washing' where bold, long-term claims are announced to appease current concerns; promising to be net-zero by 2050, implementing carbon-offset practices and recycling targets that sound great on paper, but are nothing more than empty words that carry no accountability and aren't being followed. Of course not all companies promising to be green are misleading, but the worst offenders know just how cheer along with the crowd whilst crossing their fingers behind their backs, as was highlighted at a recent Shell shareholder meeting disrupted by protestors.

Government legislation plays a large part in keeping things on track and steering the future, but self-reported statistics are easily churned out to paint a green picture that hides the ugly truth. The fact is that much stricter rules need to be properly enforced to turn the tide that's been created, with so many souls still pushing in the other direction.

Here we have the great opportunity to directly influence the outcome by voting for policy makers who believe in the science and are willing to face down the corporate behemoths and contacting our local representatives to make our voices heard. Compelling them to work, as they rightly should, in humanity's best interests and not tiptoe around controversy in fear of losing popularity, or fall victim to the corruption eating away at true democracy and growth.

You may even consider running for office yourself if you've a strong personality with convictions to match and may be pleasantly surprised by the following you receive, as now thanks to observable climate change, massive economic expense and anti-consumer monopolist tactics, the argument for fossil fuels is being invalidated - the idea is dying, but dragging it's feet every step of the way.

The best weapon available to us? Information. For symmetry, the birth of a sustainable future is slow and arduous, but the progress is compounding and accelerating and a tipping point is finally in sight where soon the majority of people will not only advocate, but demand the changes required. Simply talking about the subject will improve the situation even if you're unable to convince others to change their habits, the sooner they have the knowledge, the sooner they can come to an informed decision themselves as the pressure mounts and the reasoning becomes unquestionable.

For some interesting reference and lively conversation starters, consider visiting the following;

Capitalism offers us the way to vote with something arguably more powerful than words, or at least speak the same language - money. Our purchasing choices forge the market presented to us as no profit-driven entity will knowingly produce a product that nobody will buy, it feels almost too easy to direct multi-billion dollar industries, but it's exactly the case that with each purchase we're able to reject unsustainable living and promote those fighting against it.

Their success depends on us and there are some powerful tools to make it easier and quicker than ever to make informed decisions; the Impact Score shopping app allows UK residents to scan the barcode of over 280,000 products and receive a detailed sustainability score, United By Zero offer a chrome extension to integrate with your online shopping by providing sustainable alternatives to fast fashion and for longer-term commitments, Giki Zero helps you understand your living habits and provides small, simple steps and recommendations to reduce your carbon footprint.

Truly then we are better armed than ever before to fight the war on fossil fuels and it's trivial to get involved. If any of this is alarming or interesting, consider starting the conversation with someone who may not have thought about it or be aware of the facts, as knowledge sparks change.

The future is bright and will one day be powered by that sunlight!