Notes from our meeting
Conversation starter:
There’s a huge gap between what’s in our sphere of influence and what needs to be done. Have you experienced this?
First, we thought about the question individually, writing our answers on sticky notes. Then, together, we looked at all our answers and began arranging them in clusters, to get to some of the underlying issues.
Emotions
- pointless
- judgemental
- overwhelmed
- angry
- worried
- I spend a lot of time worrying about things and trying to solve them in my head.
- Even the things I can have influence over are too much and I don’t know how to have control over them.
- I feel overwhelmed and despairing.
- Not driving – what difference does it make? Poisoning our lungs/kid’s lungs/atmosphere.
Our politics are inadequate
- Labour Party dropping plan for green growth – AAAARGH.
- I am angry about the state of our world and our politics.
Overwhelmed by the scale of the problem
- I don’t have faith that other people (e.g. government) will pick up the big issues that I can’t fix.
- I get caught between feeling my effort is too small and so it’s pointless and thinking it’s unacceptable to do nothing.
- 40 tonnes of CO2 per person left for 1.5 degrees C.
- Planting trees vs rainforest size of Switzerland lost in last year.
Locked into systems so I can’t do the right thing
- Plastics, why should I bother recycling anything? Greenpeace report said recycled plastic is worse anyway.
- Recycling when stuff is being made all the time.
- Diet – so many vegan alternatives are products of the mass food industry – terrible for health and soya/palm oil/ rainforest destruction.
- Trying to reuse stuff but working in a workshop where the safest, easiest and most profitable thing is to make people buy new stuff.
Other people aren’t on board with climate action (but it’s complicated, our culture and society don’t support action)
- I walk, cycle, train, bus. But cars are everywhere.
There are competing priorities, and the climate doesn’t win
- Talking about sustainable IT at work, but they plan 2 new data centres.
Cognitive dissonance
Cognitive dissonance is the discomfort caused by hiding two conflicting ideas or beliefs.
- Recycling bottles. Where my partner lives in Wales, there was no bottle recycling so I used to bring them back to Manchester. On the train. His friend thought it hilarious that I did that and then flew to Greece on holiday.
- Talking about sustainable IT at work, but they plan 2 new data centres.
Growth mindset
We thought pursuing economic growth was a factor in many of the other issues. It linked to inadequate politics, competing priorities, a system that makes it hard to do the right thing and the overwhelming scale of the problem.
What can we do?
What can we do in our everyday lives to help us cope with these issues, or to overcome them?
We took just one topic to think about together. What can we do when we feel overwhelmed by the fact that we lose an area of rainforest the size of Switzerland each year?
Our thoughts
- Inadequate politics- identify what change is possible from the bottom-up or find a form of action but find forgiveness if they’re not enough.
- Find other people who care.
- Find big allies or lots of people.
- Being locked into systems- Be forgiving towards self and others. Name the enemy.
- Or sometimes, don’t be forgiving at all
- You don’t know what the outcome will be – Rebecca Solnit.
- We don’t need hope we need courage. Just do what is right.
- Look at history – change happens.
- The big things that humanity has fixed. For example, the ozone layer and going to the moon.
- Think about how doing something helps me or other people. Small actions could have their own benefits and potentially contribute to solving bigger problems.
- Break into smaller problems.
- Don’t wait for the world we want to happen – create the change in the here and now.
- Follow your conscience. – The Dispossessed by Ursula K. Le Guin.
- Visualise the scale- it’s difficult to face, but useful. Better to face it.