Abstract. The scant response of citizens to reiterated calls for attention to the serious problems affecting all humanity leads to a belief that there are serious obstacles that must be studied in order to understand how to overcome them. In this work we will focus on one of the more important of these problems - the widespread yet incorrect perception that the action of the individual is of little importance - and we will attempt to show from an eminently practical viewpoint the relevance, for the construction of a sustainable future, of what each one of us does or does not do, in general - as a consumer, professional and citizen - and in particular - in the sphere of education