How do I take personal responsibility for the air quality of the Manhattan B train during rush hour if I am a 9-5 worker with no ability to work flexible hours?
You may not DIRECTLY. But maybe you make a priority of improving your situation to allow for other modes of transportation. Or maybe you do a little bit extra to do your part to offset that contribution of the Manhattan B train during rush hour.
"The collective" works both ways. So often the "labor" argument is "well, Jack Welch couldn't have made his billions if I wasn't gluing together two pieces of plastic to make some portion of the 20 million circuit breakers GE sold". If you can take responsibility for that, you can take responsibility for your share of the air quality degradation of the Manhattan B train during rush hour.
"The collective" is why I say that even though there is really no one to blame, we are all at fault for the degradation in the quality of the air, water, and soil.
It's also why I say that if things want to change, it's going to take an entire shift of mindset and lifestyle. And with the comforts of life humans desire, do you think humans will easily give up those comforts for the betterment of the quality of the air, water, soil, and overall for the betterment of the quality of life?
https://youtu.be/jOht6qmuG-kIt's going to take "The collective" to realize and shift their mindsets and lifestyles for these big changes to actually show some sort of effect. Just like how "The collective" effected the quality of the air, soil, and water for centuries and we are facing those consequences today.