“What can I do?”
It’s a question many of us have asked. I know I have. Often.
Say you, like me, want a liveable and good future: clean air; clean water; a promising and safe outlook for your loved ones; plentiful and cheap energy for the necessities of life; a society in which people can live free and have enough, where they are valued, not disposable because of where they live, what they look like, or where they fit into historic hierarchies; a relationship with animals and the living world that is not about domination but reciprocity; geopolitical peace, near and far. This is a vision I know I want. And I expect many of you do, too.
Say you understand this vision is threatened by the climate crisis and its root causes. Say you also understand the extraordinary place we are in history: living through the defining decade, “a brief and rapidly closing window to secure a liveable future for all” (according to a consensus report by the world’s climate scientists). And though we have a spate of amazing solutions and there are some positive trends, needed changes are not happening quickly or widely enough.
When facing difficult ecological and social realities, it’s natural to go looking for what one can actually control. What can I do?
While there are plenty of good answers to that question (including “anything”), often it takes a lot of work to sort through them, sift through the tensions and differences of opinion, and figure out what is particularly applicable and accessible to you. It’s one thing to see the forest sprawling before and around you; it’s another to find a pathway that can lead you through it.
Moreover, many of us rightly sense how small we are in the grand scheme of things. We understand how inadequate individual action is against planet-scale damage; we know reusing plastic bags or using paper straws won’t cut it. Maybe we even know that the concept of a personal ‘carbon footprint’ was popularized and exploited by Big Oil to keep regular people like us up in our guilt, thinking of ourselves only as consumers, and deflecting attention from their lies and greed. What then?
Because large corporations and political entities have caused the vast majority of climate pollution, it can easily leave us feeling like nothing we do matters; we simply have to wait for systems-level change. Absent signs of rapid systems change, we can then be left resigned, disempowered, or paralyzed. We are not moved to act. Lacking meaningful ways to make change, it is easy to slide into fatalism—as unwarranted as that may be in terms of science and available solutions.
Now, I’m not going to pretend there aren’t reasons to be discouraged. But there are also plenty of reasons to be encouraged about what is possible. There actually are things we can do, ways we can contribute to this vision of the world we want to live into. There are meaningful ways of moving that counteract the apathy, alienation, and overwhelm, that feel good to do, and that benefit us in numerous other ways.
Over the next few weeks, I’m going to share some of these ways via Instagram. I’m going to attempt to explore pathways to meaningful climate action.
Why this project? Why now?
Some quick background:
I’ve been sorting through questions of ‘where can I make a difference?’ for years. It’s been slow going and I still have a lot to learn, but I’ve learned a few lessons along the way—which I should not keep to myself but share.
When I polled readers of this platform leading up to COP26 last year, this is the kind of content folks wanted most. So I’ve been fiddling with this series off and on for a year, wanting to make it complete, to fit everything in. That hasn’t worked. I’ve realized it’s always going to be incomplete and in process; I needed to take my own advice, put aside my perfectionism, and just begin.
Finally, I also realized how many people I talk with about climate and environment issues really do want to help but in many cases simply don’t know where to start or which actions can make a difference.
So here’s to plunging in and sharing what I can!
Where I’m Coming From
I won’t caveat this to death, but let me frame my approach to these tricky topics so you know where I’m coming from:
This series is intended for anyone who understands the ecological situation is not good and positive change is needed. Other than that, I hope everyone will find at least one or two actions that really speak to you. I think you’ll find the first action(s) generate momentum and start a positive feedback loop for further actions. I’ve found that forward steps stoke the fire for more.
We don’t need any one person doing sustainability or climate action perfectly; instead, we need millions and millions doing what they can imperfectly. The most hopeful people I know all agree on this. We need everyone possible doing their bit. What matters is progress, not perfection. Direction over perfection.
I myself am still working on all of these. None of these are areas in which I’ve “arrived.” I’m an imperfect advocate and haven’t yet done all that’s in my ability or means to do. But we need to leave behind all-or-nothing thinking. This is a process, and to find one’s way, the first step is to just begin somewhere.
Individual action vs. systems change? It’s a tired old debate and a false choice. The answer is clearly both. Individualism is a toxic trait of U.S. society, a consistent way we try to solve systemic problems. Our individual actions make a minuscule difference, in terms of carbon footprint (check out this excellent episode from, yeah you guessed it, How to Save a Planet).
And yet: all of us can only access agency through our one given life and choices, limited as they may be. We are all part of systems, and both political change and culture change takes a lot of people making choices and exerting agency within that system. There’s no guarantee of effectiveness, but who knows what kind of impact we can make in a system until we try?
This is why, when it comes to framing this topic, I find Emma Pattee’s short article helpful: Forget your carbon footprint. Let's talk about your climate shadow. Its prescriptions can certainly be wrestled with, but it shifts the paradigm of what counts as “individual action” from consumption alone to wider cultural and political influence. In the end, however one makes sense of individual vs. systemic action, we know that—to verge on tautology—not doing anything…won’t do anything.
Even if no tangible changes result quickly from the actions outlined, I’ve selected ones which will benefit you and those around you anyways. I’ll try to underline these benefits as we go.
These are actions that most of us can take that benefit us and the world.
The selected actions are based partly on research, from the insights of people who understand this field, and from my own experience of what actually engages people and builds momentum.
These are not necessarily small actions; they require some effort. But I will try to break them down into small enough steps to be accessible.
The overall goal is to offer some resources to help you move beyond being a helpless bystander in this decisive decade, to being a person with agency. The goal is empowerment.
I intend this series to provoke curiosity and new beginnings, majoring on emphasizing possibility and purpose, not shoulds or shame. No one wants to be judged or told what to do. I’m going to try to avoid that and just offer suggestions; suggestions which you will, no doubt, take or leave. Just remember #s 1-2.
As we go, I would love your feedback in particular as newsletter readers. What speaks to you? What doesn’t? What is surprising or new? What is helpful? What is unhelpful? Reply, comment, or direct message me anytime. Then, at the end, I will refine the learnings based on feedback and post a more comprehensive, accessible resource that anyone can customize and use.
Outline
So without further ado, here are some categories and actions I’m aiming to cover over the coming weeks:
You: mindset, feel, joys and skills, learn, ask ‘what’s next?’
Community: collective civic action, volunteer, vote, engage officials, talk
Work: engage your workplace, apply your skills
Finance: divest/invest/engage institutions, donate
Home: weatherize, electrify, land use
Transportation: active mobility, low-carbon transit
Food: plant-rich, minimize waste, compost
Stuff: clothes, circularity over waste, engage companies
These are not necessarily in order, not equally weighted, and subject to tweaks. But this is a sort of outline.
Thanks for following along. Open lines as you’d like to discuss. As I said, I am very much still learning—and I welcome your feedback at any point.
P.S. While this series is more general, I’m beginning to consult with individuals and organizations on meaningful actions that advance their goals. If you or your org are interested in developing customized pathways, I would be glad to have an exploratory conversation with you.