07/09/2023 What difference can one person make?

At our last meeting, we talked about eco-guilt and shame, and a related emotion, inadequacy. We feel inadequate when the actions we’re taking, or are able to take, seem so small and insignificant compared to the scale and urgency of the climate crisis. This feeling was something we could all relate to easily. Feeling inadequate can lead to feelings of helplessness, powerlessness and eco-paralysis. As such, it can be an obstacle to taking action for the environment. This led to the topic for this week: What can one person do about climate change that is meaningful and effective? This is a huge question and not something we expected to resolve in just two hours.

Conversation

Our starting point was the vicious circle described by one of the participants in our last meeting. We were talking about the feeling of inadequacy that happens when we think about what we feel we’re capable of doing in comparison with the size and urgency of the climate crisis.

We took a minute to look at the cycle as they had described it and think about our own response, before sharing them with the group and adding them to the diagram.

• “There’s nothing I feel I can do”
  • Sometimes I think it’s too late. This comes a lot.
  • The ever more draconian legislation.
  • I don’t even know who can do something.
  • I feel this all the time.
  • It’s so global
    • It’s happening all over the world
    • It’s everywhere
  • It’s like a big train that’s moving.
  • I’ve learnt to deal with it my way:
    • At a global level, yes it’s too much
      • Concentrate on what I can do in my neighbourhood
      • Anything I can do is better than nothing
      • The national news is really difficult
  • Not doing things like giving up flying is a signal to other people
  • The climate crisis is a taboo
    • For example, talking about not flying
    • But, then again, doing something insignificant makes other people notice.
    • It’s really difficult to talk to other people
  • All the stuff in the supermarket, the volume of things to buy, and knowing about the environmental damage caused by their production.
• “This makes me feel inadequate”
  • I feel anger too, especially towards people who could do more.
  • I feel inadequate and insignificant, small and worthless. This can lead to depression.
  • Sometimes I feel ridiculous doing something like recycling because it’s so small.
• “It’s so overwhelming it freezes me”
• What if we do it together instead?

Breaking the vicious circle

Intervening in the cycle can change the outcome. One possible way to break the cycle is to find ways to address the emotions of inadequacy or overwhelm. A second possibility is to challenge the belief that there is nothing that can be done.

We split into two smaller groups. The first group thought about the emotions produced by feeling too small to make a difference. The aim was to think about how we might be able to break the vicious cycle by coping or soothing the emotional impact.

The second group thought about what actions someone could take, even if they seemed small. We tried to think about what we could do about a systemic problem like all the environmentally unfriendly products in the supermarket.

1. Emotions around inadequacy and the climate crisis

1. Thinking about something else. We agreed that this was a form of self-preservation.
2. Accepting that it’s ok to be sad sometimes. If you’re not used to it, it can be frightening.
3. It’s also good to accept feeling low as this can take the pressure off you.
4. We don’t want to be the constant harbinger of bad news. When people are talking and the subject of flying comes up, if you don’t fly, saying this can cause people to be defensive.
5. One person felt that social media is designed to make conversations difficult to negotiate. If a social media group built up around an important subject, such as women’s rights, has a member struggling with something that has happened to their second home because of the climate crisis, the instinct is to bring to light the fact that this will get worse with human activity and there are many people who have lost their only home. However, it’s really difficult as it comes across as over-zealous and uncaring.
6. We have to accept that we probably can’t stop climate change but focus on how to deal with it.
7. Finally, we talked about whether or not evangelising about climate chaos is part of a personality trait. I think that all of us did. I remarked on when I used to be a religious person and a big part of that was “spreading the word”. At the time, it was very important, serious and real to me.

2. Taking action

1. Eating seasonal
2. Avoiding specific things e.g. plastic.
3. Boycott specific items, e.g. palm oil.
4. Boycott the supermarket altogether.
5. Organise an in-store protest, e.g. leaving plastic packaging behind.
6. Talking to other people.
7. Contacting the supermarket.
8. Talk to the manager of the store about setting up a scheme e.g. free fruit.
9. Use the supermarket’s sensitivity around their brand image.

As we were talking we thought of lots of obstacles to taking these kinds of individual actions:

1. Not everyone has the resources, for example, to buy environmentally friendly products if they cost more.
2. It’s complicated and it’s often difficult if not impossible to figure out what the right thing to do is. It’s not intuitive.
3. Educating yourself is hard and takes a lot of time. You need a lot of information and the ability to understand and apply it.
4. We’re living in a culture where certain things are expected. It’s not easy going against the flow.