I would take issue with that statement. It is very difficult to make the sort of personal changes which would eliminate your own footprint. It might be impossible without leaving civilization entirely, largely because of how our societies and markets are structured.
Here is the story of a journalist who tried to go a full day without using plastics (disable JS if you get a paywall):
But plastics are just one small part of the problem. Production of energy, metals, wood, food, etc. Disposal of the toxic byproducts. Nothing we do at a large scale is clean or sustainable, and there's almost no accountability for any of it. Individuals don't have the ability to meaningfully influence all of that, outside of large-scale political action.
The better is not the enemy of the best.
If you look at the meat industry, and we all agree it's environmentally impactful to absurd degrees, one might apply that same all or nothing mentality here - which is incorrect. You don't need to become a vegan to have dramatic impact, but what if it became a norm to go a day without meat? We already have some religious expectations about that, we even have cultural norms that have altered what we eat and when (breakfast = sugary carbs in the West), why can we not do the same here? But this cannot happen magically, it involves individuals making the choice to encourage themselves and then their families. Everyone can do this.
I bring up a day without meat (per week) because it's a great example of how little change is actually required to have tremendous results. But we cannot get to those results if we expect some gigantic overnight change.
So going back to your article, you don't have to leave civilization entirely, and going plastic free overnight is silly. But, you can buy shampoo that comes in recyclable cardboard instead of those tacky bottles. You can eat delicious veggie meals for an entire day once a week. You can buy reusable utensils that you carry with you instead of demanding they be offered. You can use refillable containers to buy your groceries with and store them. List is truly endless.
You, yes you, can have a great impact. We as humans just struggle understanding long term impact. In the exact same way that we see someone like Michael Jordan and think he's naturally gifted, and ignore him spending 8+ hours a day practicing for years and how those choices have compounded for him.
However, behaviour is learned by sharing. In that mind set, the best course of action is, in addition to one's own virtue, to encourage others to also recognize the situation and to change their own ways. In this way, one multiplies their own impact. People need to be the first movers of any social change, regardless of their own insignificant impact, because behaviour spreads and eventually industry will have no choice but to change.
Simply sitting at the sidelines complaining of industrial pollution is about as helpful as watching your own house burn.
Acting responsibly makes us feel better, but little else. The fact of the matter is the problem is not individuals, it's government and industry. What can any individual do to stop the burning of fossil fuels? To stop deforestation? To curb industrial agriculture? To stop the concrete and glass industries? To clean up shipping?
I'm not being cynical, you're just focusing on the wrong people. Every individual on earth could begin to reduce their carbon contribution to nothing, and it wouldn't make a dent on Climate Change, It isn't us, it really isn't. We can only elect so many liberals and environmentalist conscious politicians, because the stupid is very strong in our country. To fix the problem, we need to focus on the problem, of which more than 99.9% are the list of major carbon and greenhouse gas contributors. I think we need to start with energy production, and silence the entitled energy hogs insisting on more and more energy no matter the consequences. Then work down from there, agriculture, construction, glass, shipping, etc. And that will make a difference if we could just target the top 10 greenhouse gas producers.
Companies will only do the bare minimum they need to and there main goal is to make lots of cash for shareholders. If everyone starts to do there bit, things will start to change much faster
At the moment, most people are sitting back and waiting for someone else to make the decisions and to.
What more power beyond, say, recycling and using public transportation can an individual person have? Note how this narrative is literally shifting the blame from corporations, industries, and governments to individual people. "It's your fault you're not doing enough".
Meanwhile, Germany alone, thanks to the actions of its government, is responsible for more carbon emissions on a single night than I can even theoretically reduce over a milion lifetimes.
They shut down their nuclear reactors, and right now even on a windy night they burn coal and gas to make up for the difference: https://imgur.com/a/3bYudyd
What can I, and individual, do to fix the issue that it takes three trains with a high chance of failures and delays, to get to a destination within my country on what is a direct route from city to city?
etc.
Stop shifting blame to individuals
Not really. Many are struggling to put a roof over their head and food on the table. If they commute by car they do it out of necessity, as living within walking/cycling distance of ones place of work is quite a luxury, and even moreso to live in an expensive city with good public transport.
EVs, heat pumps, and solar panels are essentially 'toys for the rich', only relevant to a tiny percentage of the world population, those who already have large homes and large incomes. Same goes for giving up/cutting down on air travel - the majority don't fly at all, or very infrequently.
And no, before you suggest it, society at large is not prepared to stop eating meat, and even less prepared to also give up dairy products.
What's left, other than the choice to not reproduce (and iif that's the expected action, who or what are we 'saving the planet' for?). Or the choice to commit suicide right now to make an infinitessimally small contribution to saving the beachfront mansions of the ultra-rich from the rising seas?
Most people are waiting for big corporate entities or the government to do something. Yell that they need to do something, but in the meantime go about the lives as if nothing needs changing. People only care as long as it doesn't affect them and someone else acts or makes the decisions. It's despicable
Every person on this planet has the power and responsibility to change and act now, we do not need to wait for government and corporations to change. Waiting is just an excuse, and really is just slowing the desired outcome.