I would like to take this opportunity to commend Leilani Munter. The budding race car driver made a commitment to purchase an acre of endangered tropical rainforest for every Indy Pro Series race she runs.

In 2007 she purchased two acres from the World Land Trust, one each for her Indy Pro Series starts at Kentucky and Chicagoland Speedway.

"We need to start taking better care of our planet," Munter said. "I felt a responsibility to do something about the impact I have on the environment because of my racing career. I am speaking out about my actions in hopes of bringing awareness to race fans and the racing community. If I can get one person to think twice about their impact on the Earth and start recycling and conserving energy, then it's working."

This isn't just a publicity stunt for Munter. She's the real deal who practices what she preaches.

Munter, who holds a degree in biology from the University of California San Diego, is well known for her support of wildlife and environmental causes. She hosts a section on her official site called Leilani's Earth Watch which is dedicated to environmental issues and clean energy. She also has a blog where she is known to speak about green issues. Munter has been a PADI certified scuba diver since 1994 and during her college years was a volunteer at the Stephen Birch Aquarium, part of the Scripps Institute of Oceanography. Munter also volunteered for three years at Project Wildlife - a wildlife rescue, rehabilitation, and release center based in San Diego, Calif.

She also sports sponsorship from an eco-conscious company on her Indy Pro Series ride. Her current sponsor is SMART Papers, who are a leader in recycled papers and who make an effort in several of their business practices to do the best thing environmentally.

Munter's mechanism is spot on in the fight to curtail global climate change.

She's first AWARE of her footstep and then, secondly, harnesses the POWER of ONE to make a change.

Awareness is definitely a start, because we can't begin to deal with a problem unless we acknowledge that one exists. ACTION is key and she's showing one way that action can co-exist within our lives.

Munter hasn't changed her dreams in order to affect climate change. She didn't give up driving a race car to eliminate her carbon footprint with it. She instead is taking the action to counter that footprint by creating something sustainable that will forever address her race-car's impact.

I know that everyone is not afforded the privilege that Munter is, we can't all afford to buy an acre of rain forest to counter our daily drive to and from work. But here's the ticket, we can each help in our own way, as she's helping in her way. And we can do it, just like her, by not abandoning the way we live our lives, but rather by adjusting the way we live our lives to create a more sustainable future.

We all have the power; the POWER OF ONE. To harness that power, first become aware. Then, discover the little ways you can change the way you do things and make the commitment to act.

I'm including some links for a few tips and ideas.