Sometimes, figuring out how to have a better impact on the world can feel like too huge of a concept.
After all, a single person cannot change everything that's wrong, so sometimes figuring out where to start feels like an impossible task.
But the good news is that making a difference doesn't require giving up everything associated with your day-to-day life and opting for something more extreme.
The right steps in your home and in the grocery store can have just as much positive impact as a drastic leap towards something entirely different.
Whether you're living in a big city or a small town, paying closer attention to your grocery store habits is one of the best ways to help the earth.
Environmentally conscious shopping is far easier today than ever before, too, with more and more farmer's markets opening up across the country and bigger businesses devoted to providing organic products.
A number of regions in the country that were already focused on sustainable consumption are also gaining in popularity.
Alaska Grown products are some of the best in terms of responsible seafood, and for anyone interested in the local food movement, continuing to purchase produce locally while opting for out-of-state fish and meat is still doing a service to the environment.
With Alaska Grown products, you can rest assured that you aren't contributing to overfishing, unlike a number of local fish shares, where you might be supporting your city or state's fishermen, but also inadvertently participating in the overfishing of dwindling cod supplies.
In Alaska's waters, the rules have always been to ensure that fish are given the chance to repopulate, so this makes a big difference when it comes to fishing practices.
Likewise, opting for Alaska Grown products rather than something less expensive from further away means less money is being spent on fossil fuels.
If you're purchasing farmed fish from China, then you are not only supporting an inferior and wasteful method for rearing seafood, you're also costing the planet in terms of the emissions required to cart those items to the States.
It's the same logic that goes behind purchasing fruit and vegetables in season.
While it might be great to enjoy avocados year-round or bite into a juicy bowl of berries in the middle of the winter, the fact is that the fuel it requires to bring these produce items from other countries is hurting the environment.
And at the same time, you're not going to taste a blueberry half as delicious as one that is grown locally and sold during the proper season, without freezing or excessive transportation required.
By making smarter choices in the grocery isle, just about anyone can do their part to ensure that the planet is well cared for.
And learning to shop locally and eco- consciously is also a fun and exciting new way to look at what ends up on your plate.
If you start, chances are you'll not soon look at food the same way again.