A fascinating item in the Evening Post yesterday suggests that Bristol people are more concerned about climate change than the residents of any other UK city. Three quarters of those polled in an online yougov survey said that they were ready to change their lifestyles in response to this urgent environmental challenge. Asked what they would do if they had power as ‘Lord Mayor for the day’ over a third said they would improve public transport so people could use their cars less.

We live in days when the people must lead the way. Our various authorities are not yet serious or radical enough. Their existing plans will not solve the problem and take far too long to implement. We need to do something now, and by doing so we will give our leaders the confidence to act decisively. Tell your friends and let’s build action on Chooseday.

Yesterday was quite a test. It poured with rain all day and was cold. I know one gallant Choosedayer who waited an hour and a half on Colston Avenue for a bus. Two failed to show and the one that finally came had taken half an hour to get down Park Street. In a way that shows the problem well. The buses could not move because the whole city centre had ground to halt. When it rains everyone dives into their cars and the roads stop. One friend of mine, aged 87, who has never had a car and walks all around the city said to me one day, ‘It’s not the buses that are the problem, Chris, its the cars’. Yesterday was a vivid illustration.

What we need is a step change in behaviour - and that is just what Chooseday aims to promote.

I woke up this Chooseday morning, the first Chooseday after our launch, half expecting the streets to be clear of cars, filled with cyclists, pedestrians, and well-patronized buses. But of course, despite the hundreds or perhaps thousands likely taking part, the streets looked much as they usually do in Bristol- congested and polluted, with the invisible carbon rising up into the atmosphere and heating the planet.

It’s easy to become disillusioned and depressed by the scale of the problem that we face. It’s easy to remain in denial and blame other people and other countries for the problem. Yet individual actions can and do make a difference. And ultimately as individuals we have power over only ourselves. Yet one stone dropped in a pond has ripples- our actions can help establish new social norms that can lead to a future zero carbon society. We should never lose sight of that future.

Despite Chris’s modesty, he deserves a great deal of credit for hatching the Chooseday idea, and bringing it to fruition. In the space of only a few months, an idea that sounded rather quirky and abstract has become a major campaign in Bristol, with public backing from the council and some of the biggest employers in the City. So thanks to Chris, for sticking with his idea, and having the perseverance to spread the idea around Bristol. Go Chooseday!