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Do you get annoyed when your neighbors waste water? Do you find it

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unfathomable that your city can't figure out how to construct a bike lane? Are you

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ready to start the movement that finally gets the Kardashians off the air and

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into outer space? Well, then let's talk grassroots. When we look at the world

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around us, we see change. Most of that change appears to start at the top with

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governments, corporations, and NGOs, like the United Nations, and then stuff trickles down.

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But not all change is driven by the big guys with the most money

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and the loudest voices. Individuals can also make a difference, and big groups of

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individuals can make a big difference. This is what a grassroots movement is.

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It's change that starts small and slow and evolves into something awesome. Kind

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of like, you know, Pokémon. Well, grassroots movements aren't a new thing. However,

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they've been getting a lot of press lately thanks to the Arab Spring.

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In 2011, citizens of several countries in North Africa and the Middle East rose up

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in favor of sweeping political change. While Tunisia has successfully

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transitioned into a democracy, many other countries that had arab spring protests

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have not been so fortunate. But what was so interesting about the Arab Spring is

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that it was the first time a grassroots movement used social media platforms

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like Twitter and Facebook to spread information and advocate for change.

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However, while social media is a blessing in our modern age, providing us with

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humorous memes out the wazoo, grassroots movements of the past by just fine

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without tweeting. That's because they were led by people like John Muir. If

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you've ever been to California, then chances are you've seen conservationist

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John Muir's name splashed all over the place. He's got a bunch of trees named

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after him, and a long-distance hiking trail, and even a hospital... like a people

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hospital, not a tree hospital. Do they even have those? But what Muir is arguably

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most famous for doing is his 1903 meeting with President Theodore

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Roosevelt at what would become Yosemite National Park. Muir's love of the

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natural beauty of the western United States help drive Roosevelt, who was already

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a big fan of the great outdoors, to double the number of national parks in

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existence during Roosevelt's administration. And Muir wasn't the only

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person who thought the wonders of the natural world needed to be preserved. There were

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many other ordinary people who felt as passionately as he did. So, in 1892, Muir

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founded the Sierra Club. This grassroots organization fought and

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continues to fight tooth and nail to conserve the wilderness, advocate for

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laws that keep our air and water clean, and protect the environment. Other grassroots

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movements, like the Civil Rights Movement the Women's Rights Movement, got their

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start decades ago, and they continue to inspire individuals to seek change today.

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For example, rape is one of the most common crimes committed against women in

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India. The violence and tragedy of several extremely brutal rapes have

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sparked the India anti-rape movement. Well then there's the Lock the Gate

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Alliance of Australia. The tens of thousands of people who are part of this

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grassroots organization strive to protect their country's natural

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resources from unsafe coal and gas mining, and probably like, you know, shrimp

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on the barbie mining... and Aussie stereotype mining. While there are a

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number of grassroots movements that do amazing work, not all qualify as grade A

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organic. See, there are corporations and governments out there that are keen to

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get their grubby hands on the extraordinary powers of the grassroot.

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Fortunately, the AstroTurf is fairly easy to identify. If ordinary people aren't

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involved at the leadership level, or if the movement relies on money or

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connections to make things happen, then you can dismiss a particular lawn as

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unworthy of the grassroots mojo. There are billions of people on our

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planet, and yeah, we're all different, but we also all tend to care about the same

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things, like having access to drinking water that can't be lit on fire.

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Grassroots movements bring individuals together to fight problems like this one.

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A movement may be small and slow at first, but with time and judicious

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applications of fertilizer, the movement can eventually grow into a

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beautiful lawn.

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