Staying Cool in a Warming World: Tips and Tricks for Maintaining Motivation in the Climate Fight
A better food system requires hope and action on climate. Here are 5 things you can do to keep going.
Written by Sarah Wescott
In today’s world, we are continually bombarded with bad news, including updates on the climate crisis. Most days you can probably shake it off, but sometimes the motivation to keep fighting the good fight can seem hard to come by.
We get it, we’ve been there. Even those of us who bleed environmentalism have hopeless days.
Now let's say you are feeling motivated today-- it may still prove difficult to understand the varying factors that are causing the climate crisis. Take our agricultural system, which is largely based in factory farming. Unlike pasture-based agriculture, corporate-controlled factory farms don’t sequester carbon in soil and instead use fossil fuel inputs to mass-produce countless methane-emitting animals.
These systems are so big, and it’s easy to feel disconnected. This leaves us asking: how can I make change when I am facing a seemingly insurmountable global challenge that seems to be largely controlled by soulless corporations and faulty systems? Now, that is overwhelming.
How can I make change when I am facing a seemingly insurmountable global challenge that seems to be largely controlled by soulless corporations and faulty systems?
Despite all of the bad news, there is still hope, and you are a part of that solution. Below we’ve assembled a list of our top tips and tricks for finding your place in the climate fight, staying motivated in the face of bad news, respecting your limits, and sparking motivation in others.
Basically, we’ve created a mini guide for those moments when we all need a little extra push to keep moving towards our collective and individual sustainability goals. Together, through changes in our individual food choices, we can move the needle in the right direction.
1. Think Globally, Act Locally
Yes, the truth of the matter is that there are a handful of big corporations that control what’s happening with our global climate. One report found that 100 companies were responsible for more than 70% of emissions since 1988, but this doesn’t mean that you can’t help. Corporations base their decisions on the wants and demands of consumers. If enough of us speak up about what we want, and use our buying power to change the market, we can.
We are already seeing the impacts of individuals working towards a collective change. After customers petitioned Trader Joe’s online, the company announced that they would be eliminating more than one million pounds of plastic from their shelves in 2019. Cities such as St. Paul, Minnesota are also outlawing certain types of plastic takeout containers in response to public demands for less waste, proof of the impact of the public voice.
2. Find Your Seat
When it comes to the climate crisis, the line between personal responsibility and corporate responsibility proves hard to define. Yes, we all have a role to play when it comes to addressing environmental issues, but how do we reconcile that with the fact that a very small group of corporations is contributing the majority of emissions today? For young people who inherited this earth, this question seems even tougher. How can we be expected to make a change when we weren’t the ones who caused the problem in the first place?
Regardless, we all need to find our seats in the climate discussion and decide where we are going to invest out energy. The reality is that our planet is in trouble and we can’t keep waiting around for someone else to do something about it. Yes, corporations are largely at fault for what’s happening, but we need to set a new precedent. We can’t control everything, but we can control our personal impact, and that means something.
The reality is that our planet is in trouble and we can’t keep waiting around for someone else to do something about it. Yes, corporations are largely at fault for what’s happening, but we need to set a new precedent.
When you choose local, ethical meat instead of the factory farmed option, you support a sustainable agricultural system that is key to mending our climate. However, making sustainable choices through food doesn't stop there. Shift towards zero waste at the grocery store, select products with less packaging, opt for whole foods and veggies, and buy directly from the farmer for package-free goods when possible.
Meanwhile, be sure to only buy the amount of food you will actually eat to reduce food waste. In the end, you can keep more than 1,600 pounds of waste out of the landfill each year. Your actions may not change the whole world, but they do change a small part of the world.
3. Take Action
Exercise your agency by implementing sustainability into your life. Start small and work up from there. Give Meatless Mondays a try, explore the world of plant-based cooking, opt for local products, look into options for joining a Community Supported Agriculture farm (CSA) in 2020, or work towards less food waste in your home. Get in touch with your local government to see what sustainability resources exist in your region as well. Take the time to find what works for you.
4. Be Gentle with Yourself
Regardless of how many personal changes you make, you’re only human. You don’t need to transform the world in a day, and if you never take a break, you’re going to burn out. Take time to recharge, and forgive yourself for the slip-ups. Sometimes you might want a burger WITH bacon, and that is A-OKAY! What matters is that you continue to work towards your sustainability goals. We aren’t perfect; even the environmental leaders of the world have off days. Environmentalism is not about restriction, guilt, or shame. It’s about possibility, opportunity, and the desire to keep going.
Environmentalism is not about restriction, guilt, or shame. It’s about possibility, opportunity, and the desire to keep going.
5. Spread the spark
You don’t have to do this alone. There are lots of people who are concerned about the state of our planet. Seek out community in your climate fight. Find friends who want to try ethical restaurants, join a community organizing group, or follow influencers who inspire you to keep up the good work. Right now we have our eyes on Appetite for Change, Minnesota Grown, and Urban Roots which are all organizations fostering local food community in the Twin Cities. Curate your own resiliency toolbox of resources, mentors, friends, and action ideas to help overcome those moments of hopelessness.
Want to do one better? Be a touch point for your friends who aren’t involved in environmentalism. Welcome questions about climate actions and food systems change from your uncle (consider pointing out positive impacts of change, rather than the downside of changing nothing at all), take your significant other out to a plant-based restaurant to try something new, or buy your mom a set of reusable silverware to keep in her purse. Your loved ones care about you, and believe it or not, they want to hear what you have to say! Spread your sustainability spark to your circle, and see where it takes you from there.
Farm images are of Graise Farm, Nettle Valley Farm, and Harmony Farm, which you can learn more about through the links. Photographed by Sarah Carroll.