The sad thing is that there's nothing much a regular person can do to save the environment.
We can do our best, that's true. And we should! But really, we can't do much.
Where I live there is no recycling program at all (there was when I was very little). I cannot recycle anything but metal here, so I save metal to bring to those places. No place accepts glass, paper, cardboard, plastic, etc. All of it goes in the trash, and, unfortunately, a landfill.
There is no public transportation here. There is one taxi (60 bucks just to go over the bridge, more depending on how far away past that), and a small bus system 45 minutes away (only servicing part of the town 45 minutes away). There are no sidewalks here, and combining that with the fact that all businesses are spaced out it is very difficult to walk anywhere instead of drive (spaced out from several blocks, to several miles away). Riding a bicycle or motorcycle can get you killed because people are awful drivers here.
My family has outfitted the house with energy efficient lightbulbs, which are clearly working because our electricity bill went down a bit after we did it. We've replaced appliances with more energy efficient ones, and I've replaced most all of my cleaning supplies with environmentally friendly alternatives (vinegar will clean just about anything and is very safe).
Now, someone with lots of money and power, they could definitely do a lot more to help the environment. I think this is why things like legal regulations are so important. It's unfortunate that a regular person has such little power over these things, but we still need to do our best too.