Welcome to 10 Weeks of Climate Optimism!
Based on the article 10 Ways To Be A Climate Optimist in 2022
Every Sunday for the first ten weeks of 2022, I’ll be sharing a thought + challenge to deepen, widen, and strengthen your climate optimist heart. I hope these ten weeks will be a time for growing your emotional resilience and helping you become that grounded, empowered, and optimistic climate leader you are meant to be — for yourself and for the world!
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Challenge #3 — Conversations
Climate scientist Katherine Hayhoe says,
“The most powerful thing we can do for climate is talk about it.”
Considering only one in four Americans hear someone they know talk about climate change on a monthly basis, I believe she’s right! A big reason we’re not acting more on climate change is that to most of us, it feels too distant in time and space. Climate change is perceived as something that will happen in the future or in other parts of the world, not here and now. It also feels socially distant and an issue the individual can’t do anything about.
*If you want to learn more on this, tune into my interview with Per-Espen Stoknes on Hey Change Podcast!
By normalizing conversations about our changing climate and talking about how it’s already affecting your local area and community, you invite people to participate in the conversation. Here are five tips for having climate successful conversations with family and friends!
Lead with questions and find common grounds
Talk local
Don’t shame!
Use story-telling over numbers
Talk about solutions
This Week’s Challenge
Let’s start some climate conversations this week! Scary? I know, but you’ve got this! Remember that you can be a climate hero simply by having a little chat about the weather. You never know what awareness that will spark and how much that simple act will ripple effect without your knowledge!
Right now, write down three people or groups of people (family, colleagues, that oblivious friend, your doorman) that you’d like to challenge yourself into having a conversation with about climate change. You don’t have to tick off all three in one week, but having some options in mind can be helpful. Once you have a “target”, follow the suggested outline below:
Think about something you know this person is interested in that you can use as a conversation starter. Maybe your friend is an absolute baseball nerd or does your mother love cooking? Identify a “common ground” and then do a quick Google search and find out how climate change might be affecting his/her area of passion. How will climate change affect the baseball season? Will change in crop yield make it expensive and difficult to cook?
From your short research, formulate a question. Ex: “Mom, did you know that food prices are expected to go up since the changing weather is affecting crop yields around the world?” Hopefully, the question will help spark a deeper conversation where you can talk about what you both care about — food — and tie in how that relates to climate change. Remember that you don’t want to shame, so come at it from a place of love and compassion.
You want to end the conversation by giving examples of how the person you’re talking to can participate in climate solutions. Triggering fear about climate change is not hard, making the person hopeful about the future and what we can do to change its course takes a bit more work. So before diving into any climate talk, make sure you have a few solutions in your pocket to sprinkle as you exit the conversation. You want the person to feel empowered and inspired, not spiraled into anxiety and despair!
Having successful climate conversations will take some practice but as with everything in life, it will get easier the more you do it! If someone starts attacking you, don’t take it personally! Climate change is a very loaded topic and can trigger all sorts of things; fear, denial, shame, despair. Yet, we need to have these conversations so don’t let that scare you — be the hero! By using the steps above you should hopefully be able to gear the chat in a more empowering direction.
TIPS FROM THE PRO!
I highly recommend listening to this podcast interview with Katharine Hayhoe where we dive deep into how to facilitate climate conversations without sparking denial and fear.
A Few Extra Tips:
It can be smart to avoid using the term “climate change”, especially with people who tend to deny its science. Instead — what can you agree on? Maybe the fact that the weather is changing (getting weirder)? Start there!
Don’t overwhelm with too much at once. When you get a conversation going, it’s easy to get excited and want to tell him/her all that you know. Remember that it took a long time for you to get to where you are today, so tread lightly. Focus on one climate topic right now and build from there.
If you fail to spark a conversation, don’t beat yourself up. You probably planted a seed even if you don’t know it!
You don’t have to have all the answers to spark a conversation on climate! In fact, coming at it with humility and transparency invites others to feel like they can partake too, even if they’re not climate experts. Remember — simply starting conversations is the goal!
Have fun with it and treat it as a climate empowerment journey. What can you learn from starting these talks?
Ready for solar?
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*As a Palmetto Ambassador, I may be entitled to compensation for successful referrals.