Sometimes the right words, from the right people, at the right time can help us refocus and reignite the environmentalist within. Words can help us think differently about the environment and encourage us to recommit and strive to do a better job. We’re all at a different point on our path toward a more sustainable future. Here are 20 quotes to inspire you:

1. Buy less, choose well, make it last. – Vivienne Westwood
2. The natural environment sustains the life of all beings universally. – Dalai Lama
3. Do your little bit of good where you are; it’s those little bits of good put together that overwhelm the world. – Archbishop Desmond Tutu
4. When the soil disappears, the soul disappears. – Ymber Delecto
5. “Consume less; share better.” – Hervé Kempf
6. Be the change you wish to see in the world. – Mahatma Gandhi
7. “There is no beauty in the finest cloth if it makes hunger and unhappiness.”  —Mahatma Gandhi
8. “We have the choice to use the gift of our life to make the world a better place – or not bother. – Jane Goodall
9. Going back to a simpler life is not a step backward. – Yvon Chouinard
10. Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself. – Leo Tolstoy
11. Plans to protect air and water, wilderness and wildlife are in fact plans to protect man. – Stewart Udall
12. We never know the worth of water till the well is dry. – Thomas Fuller
13. Problems cannot be solved at the same level of awareness that created them. – Albert Einstein
14. Do not wait for extraordinary circumstances to do good action; try to use ordinary situations. – Jean Paul Richter
15. Only when the last tree has died and the last river been poisoned and the last fish been caught will we realise we cannot eat money. – Cree Indian Proverb
16. The greatest danger to our future is apathy. – Jane Goodall
17. Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it is the only thing that ever has. — Margaret Mead
18. You cannot get through a single day without having an impact on the world around you. What you do makes a difference and you have to decide what kind of a difference you want to make.— Jane Goodall
19. If it can’t be reduced, reused, repaired, rebuilt, refurbished, refinished, resold, recycled, or composted, then it should be restricted, designed or removed from production. – Pete Seeger
20. We are living on this planet as if we had another one to go to.– Terry Swearingen

What’s Your Favorite Eco-Friendly Quote?