After listening this week to President Bush plead with mother earth for 17 more years to pollute, author Michael Pollan takes up an issue that has been gnawing at me for a few weeks: When it comes to changing your lifestyle to combat global warming, Why bother?

In one essay, Pollan not only effectively shows why each of us must take action to change how we live, he also illustrates why he’s one of my favorite writers.

In a word, Pollan says we must “garden.”

I’m a horrible gardener, mostly because I’m lazy. I’m also allergic to most of the outside world. In high school, I managed to kill most of the grass at my parish working a summer job.

Our current backyard vegetable patch is covered with leaves from 2007.

But, I know that Pollan is right: Without a personal connection to the food we eat, to the planet that gives us life, why bother?

So, the leaves will go next weekend, and time permitting, tomatoes will go in.

Read more: Why Bother?