So basically any effort a single individual has done and can do in the future to reduce their footprint has been undone by 100x. Why are we even bothering?

I feel that.

But just to say it: Because it’s still the right thing to do, and if we didn’t, it would just be that much worse.

There’s no denying the best thing people can do for the planet isn’t recycling, etc - it’s voting.

We don’t have the time to vote every 2-4 years and pray we get a decent candidate that will at least not set us back further. We need to learn and organize.