When we're faced with an enormous environmental challenge like climate change, we may be tempted to think of our own personal actions as relatively insignificant in comparison with the magnitude of the issue.

But a new collaborative study conducted by NRDC and the Garrison Institute's Mind, Climate, and Behavior Project suggests that small changes in behavior can have a meaningful impact.

On March 12, NRDC's executive director, Peter Lehner, presented the One Billion Tons report at a symposium at the Garrison Institute, a nonprofit organization that explores the intersection of contemplation and engaged action in the world. The study cites 14 small, affordable steps that, if adopted by all Americans, would reduce U.S. greenhouse gas emissions by 15 percent, or one billion tons -- an amount equivalent to all emissions released annually by Germany -- by 2020.

"Although our individual choices may just feel like a small drop in the bucket, if we all act together we can actually fill the bucket," Lehner told the group.

The simple lifestyle changes recommended in the study include replacing red meat with poultry twice a week, taking one less flight a year, washing clothes in cold water, carpooling twice a week and replacing seven lightbulbs in the home with CFLs.

Of course, such changes don't eliminate the urgent need for strong national climate legislation. But Lehner hopes that "by committing to take personal action to reduce our own carbon footprint, all of us will also become much more engaged politically."