If you are worried about climate change and want to make a difference,
🎙️ start a conversation about why climate change matters and what people can do
🤲 join a climate action group and lend a hand
💰 consider where you keep your money (bank, credit card, retirement + more)
💡spark ideas for change at work & school
🗳️ hold politicians accountable
🏡 reduce your personal footprint AND make your actions contagious by talking about them
Here's a great list of how individuals can spark change, based on solid social science. Keep reading down the thread for more! https://dontlookup.count-us-in.com/
We live in such an individualized society that we often focus more on our personal carbon footprint (the emissions associated with what we eat, how we travel, where we live) than on our climate shadow: how we interact with and influence those around us.
Yet, how does any system change? It changes when people within that system advocate and call for change.
That's why long-time climate activist @billmckibben says, "the most important thing an individual can do right now is not be such an individual."
And that is why I'm convinced our voices are the most powerful tool we have in the fight against climate change!
https://www.mic.com/impact/forget-your-carbon-footprint-lets-talk-about-your-climate-shadow
Some people today are understandably overwhelmed by the avalanche of negative and depressing news on climate change we hear every day.
As a defense mechanism, they've convinced themselves that nothing they or anyone else can do will make a difference. We're doomed, they believe. As psychologist Susan Tanner says, "apocalyptic thinking can be very useful to people who need to feel a sense of control. Living with uncertainty...is the hardest thing to do for all human beings."
I understand and completely sympathise with where they are coming from. But if we decide we are doomed, then we truly will be. That's why, to them, I say:
If you are convinced that we are doomed and there’s nothing anyone can do to avoid the climate crisis and the collapse of the biosphere,
❌ stop doom scrolling and get off social media
😳 don’t attack or hinder others who are doing their best to make a difference
🐾 adopt a pet in need of a home
🌳 spend as much time as you can in nature
🤲 if you are able, find a local climate action group, and ask what you can do to help
❤️ focus on love
I agree the outlook is bleak but if is not unfixable and we can find ways to move forward.
