When you hear the words “resort town,” what comes to mind? Expensive steaks and furry ski jackets? Good, we’re on the same page. It was because of this that when I got invited to attend Mountainfilm in Telluride, Colorado, I wasn’t really sure what to expect. Sure, Telluride isn’t Vail or Aspen, but I’d heard the name enough to know that there’s good skiing, fancy condos and beautiful people, all telltale signs of a place that would normally make me a little uncomfortable. But I was there for Mountainfilm, a four-day, six-senses experience of art, adventure, culture and the environment, and with the town filled with like-minded, passionate adventurers and environmentalists, Telluride felt less like a foreign fancy place and more like somewhere that I belonged.

It sounds cliche to say a festival was inspiring, but it truly was. Put a variety of passionate people in one place and it’s very difficult to feel that positive change isn’t possible. But what was most inspiring was that I came away from Mountainfilm with a feeling that individually, I was an important part of making change happen. There were a lot of well-known people doing big things that attended the festival, but at the end of the day, the four days were a reminder that if we pursue what we love and do what we can on whatever level is feasible, that is enough. All we have to do is take action of some kind.

Sure, it would be great to have a PhD and be able to contribute to IPCC assessments on climate change, or a lawyer that works on ensuring the Endangered Species Act is adhered to, but those aren’t the things that I’m qualified for (or good at). Taking action and being effective is about assessing what you can do, and ensuring that you take the steps to do so. Maybe it’s as simple as committing to cutting out plastic bags from your everyday consumption. Or maybe you choose to volunteer on a local political campaign. Or maybe you donate money to a cause that you truly believe in. Whatever level we can participate on, we’re still helping to make a difference.

Which brings me to Waste Land. Filmed over the last few years, this documentary follows New York-based artist Vik Muniz as he travels to his native Brazil to develop his latest project at the world’s largest garbage dump Jardim Gramacho. He works onsite with a group of recycled material pickers, creating large scale portraits of them “painted” with garbage. Right from the beginning you’re overwhelmed by the shots of garbage being dumped into this landfill that seems to stretch on for endless miles. Tears well as you see destitute workers sort through all kinds of waste, pulling out everything that can be recycled. But then the human story hits.

You hear of the young mother of two, leaving them with their grandmother so she can go and work in this landfill to raise money to support her family. You watch a young man with a constant smile talk about how he crazily founded an association to promote these workers and their rights. You listen to an old woman who sits in the middle of the landfill cooking with food scraps to supply lunch for the workers.

By the end of the movie the human story has replaced the waste story, and although emotionally overwhelming, the end result is a film that proves the power of art, humanity and perseverance. And it certainly highlights the fact that when you pursue something that you love, and share it with others, positive change does happen.

What can you do to make a difference?