YES - Our Climate Allies Are Everywhere!
(You Just Have to Look)
Very recently my husband and I did the bold thing to leave our bustling NYC life for a more peaceful existence in the Massachusetts countryside. It’s the best thing we could’ve done and now we’re going through the fun but challenging process of furnishing a house — which means complimenting our one-bedroom apartment belongings with as much second hand items that we can find.
Again — challenging, but FUN!
We’re also (once more) settling into a new neighborhood. Luckily for us, the people on our little dead-end side street are the loveliest you can come by. Yesterday when my daughter and I were just leaving for our daily stroll to town, we got stuck talking to one of them.
“Not sure if you’re into the vegetarianism at all?” My neighbor asked me.
Yes, indeed, I responded, and I told her I was fully vegan for many years and still follow a predominantly plant-based diet.
“Well, then you might be happy to learn that the woman who lived in the house before you was vegetarian since she was 15 years old!”
I smiled to learned this, but couldn’t help but wonder why of all things, she had brought that up. But then I shared about my work in climate communications and the things I burn for, and the compliment she gave me explained it all:
”I thought I sensed some enlightenment in you!”
Hand on heart, I don’t think a person could say something that would lift me up more, but that’s not why I’m sharing this story. Because what dawned on me next next was that our entire street is driving electric cars! Not just one neighbor, but every house surrounding us has an EV or plug-in hybrid parked in the driveway, and I’m already getting used to the robotic sound as they’re backing out.
When I pushed Eloise down the tree-lined sidewalk minutes later, a few things hit me:
The transition is taking place and a sustainable world is already taking shape all around us - we just have to look and rejoice in the progress.
People care more than you think and if you only start conversations, you’ll soon learn just how much.
If we can cultivate this growing momentum, we could turn the world on its head — very, very fast.
Yes, your neighbors are probably thinking about climate change
I thought that moving to the countryside - especially an older neighborhood - would mean being the odd ball out and living after my beliefs in silo. I thought that finding a community of likeminded people would be much harder than in the city, and that my work to spread climate optimism would present itself more challenging.
Now I have no idea why I thought that way. All I had to do was connect and in that realize that, yes, people who care about climate change and achieving a livable future are everywhere to be found. (Just look to this article in The New York Times)
I would still argue that climate change is a tricky subject,
filled with way too many shame-induced projections and limited beliefs. But I also believe that perspective is changing and that the more we can normalize talking about climate change - and especially climate solutions - the sooner we can get in the same lane.
One of the biggest mental barriers to climate action (according to psychologist Per Espen Stoknes) is our sense of identity and especially how it relates to the world around us. We tend to do (and keep doing things) that others are doing because we want to fit in with the norm. If everyone else drives a car, why shouldn’t I?
In other words, we get stuck in old loops that are reinforced by society and people around us.
However, if we are to flip this barrier on its head, it also means we have a lot of power to influence and make a difference. Because if we find trust in what others are doing, we can use that to our advantage and also build trust in change.
The more people change their behaviors and lifestyle habits, the easier it is for others to explore doing the same. And the more we talk about the things we care about and the changes we’re curious about, the more we can find connection and commonalities with the people around us.
5 Tips for Successful Climate Conversations:
Ask questions and invite to conversation by showing genuine interest in the other person’s thoughts and beliefs. That way it’s much easier to find common ground and discuss something you both care about.
Speak to people’s emotional sides, not rationality. Numbers and facts are powerful when you want to hone in a case but you must invite them to care about the matter first. You do that with storytelling and topics they can relate to, like how climate change is or will be affecting your local area, economy, and health.
Speak about solutions and invite them to participate on that journey in a way that’s fun and exciting. Let’s share a story of climate action that is inspiring and uplifting, rather than the too-often-used guilt narrative.
Talk local and skip the polar bear story. No matter how sad it is that polar bears are starving, it won’t spark much action in places where people have real power to make a change (distance is another climate action barrier.)
Remember the human inside all of us. If we connect, we make impact, and if we make impact, we have the ability to change the world
Which leads me to…
My partnership with The Week and that we’re inviting YOU to host your own circle of climate communications this summer! I must admit I was a bit intimidated when I first committed, especially as I just moved someplace new, but as I began looking for options of where to screen the documentaries and who to invite, I found myself immersed in a community I didn’t know existed.
I’m still in the planning faces of my Week but I’m very excited to see what this organizing will unfold in the months (and maybe years) to come!
It’s not too late to commit!
Head over to my website to learn more or you can click this link to register your own circle right now.
I think it is sadly far too easy for folks in cities to assume we don't exist out here in rural areas, or rather that everyone out here is a Trumper. That kind of thinking closes more doors than it opens, unfortunately.
Two and three are our favourite tips from this :)