It’s all too easy to be seduced into blaming all our woes on the current administration, and to simultaneously believe that a change of leadership will cure all that ails us.

This is not to dismiss electoral politics entirely, but filling in a bubble once a year is to citizenship as dipping one’s toe in the ocean is to swimming.

Instead of waiting for a politician to reveal him or herself as the superhero we’ve all been waiting for, we can start to make changes now.

Here are a few ideas. Pick one.

26. If it’s broken, fix it.

If you can’t fix it — we’re not all electricians or arborists — tell the people who can. You can report menacing trees, dead skunks, and more through 311. Use the app or make the phone call. I like the app because you can upload a picture of the issue to clarify the location of the problem and even just to illustrate that there is one. Figure out who is actually responsible for fixing the problem. Two easy tools that can help are the Assessor website and GIS map. This can help you pinpoint who owns the property in question, without having to make the trip to City Hall. Not everything that is broken is the fault of City government, nor is it theirs to fix; however, if you can’t determine whose job it is to solve the issue, you can always default to 311 to see if they can help track down the right person.

25. Respect those with mobility issues by keeping sidewalks, curb ramps, and crosswalks open. If you’re driving, stay in your lane— literally and figuratively. Parking across a curb ramp — even if it’s “only for a minute” — potentially forces someone in a wheelchair to linger in a dangerous street. Remove snow from sidewalks; sidewalks are not decorative borders, y’all! If you aren’t sure what constitutes an accessibility issue, there are those who will spell it out for you. Once you know better, do better.

24. Bring your own bags. Plastic bags are used for an average of 12 minutes, and then linger, causing negative impacts for far longer than that. Plastic bags are passé, and we now have legislation on the books to phase them out. Backpacks and canvas bags are sturdier anyway, so you don’t have to worry about your jar of spaghetti sauce busting loose and smashing open on the sidewalk.

23. Use public transit. It’s way cheaper than owning a car and it helps remove the visual clutter created when everyone decides to drive. Plus, you sometimes run into friends, coworkers, and former neighbors while on the bus. If you are in a car you are not stuck in traffic, you are traffic!

22. Pick up litter. Take a look at those storm sewer grates. Live next to a brook or river? Discourage illegal dumping by regularly cleaning up what’s there.

21. Support KNOX. They manage numerous community gardens, plant trees, and arrange clean ups, among other things. If you don’t want to support them by getting dirt under your nails, consider throwing some money in their direction. The work they do helps to make our air more breathable. While you’re at it, use those community garden spaces. New ones are located on Hudson Street, in the Bankside Grove section of Pope Park, and at the corner of Hawthorne and Sigourney Street.

20. Pay-it-forward at the crosswalk.  The reality is that most intersections in Hartford absolutely do not give pedestrians a right-of-way signal unless someone has manually pushed the button. Pedestrians are constantly asked to wait through lights when there are no cars, or even when there are,  we do not accelerate from 0-to-30.

19. Visit neighborhoods where you don’t live or work. It’s hard to know a community if you never step foot in it and base your opinions on hearsay. A low stakes way to do this is get on a bus and go for a little joy ride. Another option is to grab a friend and go for a walk.

18. Compost your organic waste. This can be done in the backyard (if you have one) or indoors by using a worm bin. That latter option might not be ideal in a studio apartment, but is definitely doable otherwise. If you can afford a pick up service, those are available. Organic scraps can be of use, but not if they’re tossed in giant plastic trash bags and placed on the curb. Think it might smell? Well, we know that the South Meadows incinerator stinks much worse. . . so stop feeding that beast, or at least, put it on a diet.

17. Support local business, from the coffee shops to living artists. Based on your income, this might not be possible right now, but when cash flow improves, do it. Making better choices does not have to be all or nothing.

16. Go to community meetings. You don’t need to go to all of them. Rather, don’t try to go to all of them. You’ll burn out in no time. You don’t need to officially join up either. But it’s a good idea to get out, at least a couple times a year, to hear what’s happening, whether this is in City Hall, at the neighborhood level, or a panel discussion at the library. If being there in person is not an option, watch the meeting on public access or ask that someone video the meeting for YouTube or do a Facebook Live.

15. Get information. Know who is responsible for what in government. There is nothing as tired as hearing people blame the wrong parties when something is broken. (It’s equally tired to hear government workers pass the buck instead of owning their shit though) In short, the mayor (or the governor) is not responsible for every problem. Work to determine which mistakes were made by previous administrations. Hit ‘pause’ on your fury for a moment to gather facts — that way if and when you do speak up, you can’t be easily dismissed.

14. Then, expect your elected officials to do some repping. Call or write your legislator (sorry, third district — find a work around, like talking to other reps from Hartford) or any member of City Council. Though some cities elect City Council members by neighborhood, Hartford’s are general, citywide. You can also speak at public hearings. Let them know what your priorities are and what you want to see happen. Articulate what you are for, not merely what you are against. Look for solutions.

13. Use water wisely. We’ve all seen sprinklers that water the sidewalks. It’s past time we question the standard of the massively large, lush green lawn that never gets used, yet requires oodles of water. Residents with smaller yards can take advantage of Retain the Rain program to get rain barrels. These collect rain water, so you aren’t having to pay the MDC or use water that’s been treated.

12. When you’re walking down the street, say hello. Not in a leering, creepy way. Nobody needs that. I’m not suggesting everyone have full conversations as if Connecticut magically morphed into another region. Just, you know, it’s nice to acknowledge the presence of other humans. (P.S. if you’ve ever uttered the phrase “It’s so hard to make friends when you’re in your [insert whatever decade]” know that talking to random people is a legit way to form friendships.)

11. “Yes, and….” Adopt possibility thinking. When Lime tried to get the City of Hartford’s blessing to roll out electric scooters, there was a non-stop Festival of No. Eventually, some of the folks with power began throwing their support, but it came too late. What would have been more useful? This: “Yes, we should allow e-scooters in Hartford, on a trial basis. We want residents to be safe. Let’s research how other cities have done this and see how we can welcome innovation while preventing injuries.” See the difference? “Yes, a minor league stadium on long-vacant acreage sounds fun. Let’s see how it can be privately funded.” “Yes, I understand that several schools have exceptionally low enrollment. What options exist that best serve Hartford’s youth and can be funded?” We don’t need to accept everything that is thrown our way, but our first reaction does not need to be a knee-jerk “NO” simply because we’ve been groomed to believe that change is dangerous.

10. Learn the history. This will help you to contextualize what is going on right now. Curious as to why certain neighborhoods are lower income? Go find out what kinds of investments or disinvestments have happened in them over the last century. Wondering what circumstances created Constitution Plaza? Dig into the well-documented and planned practice of “slum clearance” and see what were the demographics of the former East Side. If you have access to ProQuest, you can get a pretty decent picture from old newspaper articles. It’s free to use the Hartford History Center at the Hartford Public Library. The Old State House’s basement exhibit can fill in some of the blanks. It’s also free to use the Connecticut State Library’s resources. Go on a Shoeleather History Tour.

9. Help stock your local Little Free _____. Maybe you don’t want to personally maintain a Little Free Pantry or Little Free Library, but you can keep them up and running by contributing canned goods and used books. There is a pantry on Laurel Street (Hawthorne to Farmington). Street libraries can be found on Love Lane, Vine Street, Albany Avenue (at Williams Street), Charter Oak Avenue (by Charter Oak Cultural Center), Buckingham Street, on Broad Street (by Trinfo Cafe), a bunch of places in the West End, at several schools including Breakthrough II, and probably other places I don’t recall. There is space and reasons for both street libraries and brick-and-mortar public libraries to exist.

8. Hold off a few minutes before hitting “post” on that Twitter or Facebook rant. If nothing else, this will give you a chance to do some fact checking and proofreading. There can be value in complaining in a public forum. Think about what you are trying to achieve. If it’s to vent or make someone look shitty, maybe don’t. But if nobody responds to you when you use all the formal channels, go for it.

7. Welcome the influx of different perspectives. We’ve all witnessed pissing contests over who is more of a Hartford resident than someone else. It’s the saddest little grab for status. Why stay in a city with that attitude? Cities just are not conducive to provincialism. Snide comments disguised as nostalgia are not welcoming and not useful. The same can be said for condescending age-based remarks. You’re old and have been here forever. We get it. But somehow you have not solved all of our problems, so perhaps it’s time to make room for newcomers and new ideas. Lots of ink has been spilled about why certain regions have trouble hanging onto and attracting young people. It’s not the taxes or the tolls, y’all. It comes down to opportunity and feeling like a part of the community.

6. Recycle. But don’t do wishful recycling by placing everything into the blue bins. Cake, for example, does not go into the recycling bin.

5. Plant Trees. If you travel exclusively by car you might not realize how brutal the sun is for pedestrians, so get out on foot at noon on a summer day and see if there is any shade on your stretch of sidewalk. If not, plant a tree. Experts can help you find a tree that is appropriate for the size of your property. . . because nobody wants to end up with a monster tree that will blow over and take out their house twenty years from now.

4. Set the tone. Hosting an event? Remind visitors to respect the city as if this were their own home. Provide recycling bins, trash containers, and compost collection at your event and tell visitors where the sites are located; ask them to stick around after the event is over to help clean up. There’s a line between boisterous celebration and obnoxious behavior. Is enough money is pumped into the local economy to make it worth enduring the puking and brawling bros in Downtown on a weekend in March? Event organizers can’t control what everyone does, but they can reduce and contain the nonsense so that others can enjoy themselves without also being wasted.

3. Value Human Life. Break the habit of treating pedestrians, cyclists, and public transit users as after thoughts. If you have directions to your business or public event, include location of bike racks or bus stops if you are giving car parking instructions. Wondering if you are paying enough attention to equity issues? Go on a walk or bike audit. This will let you experience intersections  — like those around the baseball stadium — without the benefit of police directing traffic — which better reflects the average person’s day-to-day use. It’s harder to ignore system failures when you are immersed in them.

Once on that walk audit, what do you do with this information? Report issues on 311, contact the City of Hartford’s Department of Development Services, or the CT DOT. If you are noticing something not quite right about a construction site, determine whose job this is — MDC? City of Hartford? CT DOT?

2. Put trash in the garbage can. It’s easy to cringe-laugh at how people used to dump their slop buckets out windows in days of yore, but plenty of folks are still doing the equivalent of this by chucking soiled diapers out moving cars or dropping Takis bags wherever. In the last week I watched as folks in two separate houses tossed empty beverage containers from windows in their homes. Every residence either has a city-issued trash barrel or, if in an apartment, a dumpster or two. If where you live is missing a trash receptacle, call 311 for a barrel or go higher up the food chain if a landlord is failing to provide a basic amenity. If out on the street you’re noticing that there is an unreasonable distance between city-issued trash cans, report that to 311. A mile between barrels is like inviting people to litter.

1. Document the positive. If you have a public Instagram account, use it to show the functional aspects of your community — and don’t forget to geotag or use hashtags to get people to see the pics. The narrative created by local news coverage is often a disproportionately negative one. I know there is far more going on in my neighborhood than the overdoses and violence that the news gravitates toward. That’s why I’m going to show people the chalk art made by kids down the block, the soccer games in Pope Park, and the maple syrup buckets attached to trees at the Burns School. There are renovation projects, urban farms, and all kinds of art happening in Hartford. Sadness and despair are not the only stories.