Living under a raincloud

How to combat climate anxiety

The first thing I do after I wake up is check Twitter. This is partly because of my inability to stay away from social media for too long (we all just love experiencing FOMO, right?) and partly because I want to read Lin-Manuel Miranda’s morning pick-me-up messages to start my day on a positive note. But since Twitter is also my main source of news, that positivity is almost immediately negated when I see the multitude of environmental crises occurring all over the world. This usually prompts me to stay in bed for a couple hours and dwell in the hopelessness of how our planet is dying and I feel like there isn’t anything I can do about it. 

Sadly, this feeling of dread that’s taken root because of climate change is a pretty universal experience for people from all walks of life. With natural disasters, such as Hurricane Dorian wreaking havoc in the Bahamas, and political decisions, such as the Canadian government buying the Trans Mountain Pipeline, it makes sense that people are feeling anxious about the state of the environment, and in turn, the state of our future. 

The more I learn about the effects of climate change, the more I find myself being paralyzed by “climate anxiety”. In 2017, The American Psychological Association released a report on the effects that climate change has on mental health, in which “eco-anxiety” was described simply as “a chronic fear of environmental doom”. I think that this broad definition is fitting because it manifests itself differently in different people (Americans who see Donald Trump tweeting about how climate change is a hoax will experience it differently from members of Indigenous groups in the Amazon who see their territories being deliberately burned), but their feelings stem from the same place. 

I personally experience climate anxiety as a large grey cloud hanging above my head and following me wherever I go—it hasn’t begun to rain, but I know it’s coming. In particular, this excessive stress has been significantly affecting my life as a student. I often find myself not being able to concentrate in a lecture because I’ll start thinking about how awful I am since I drank coffee from a single-use plastic cup that day. Or, I’ll wonder if there’s really any point in working so hard to study if the planet’s going to be inhabitable soon. It’s hard to find the motivation to build a strong future for myself by doing well in school when there’s an imminent threat of not even having a future.  

What’s worse is that climate anxiety has been causing me to be apathetic. I’ll be reading an article and I’ll come across the reminder that we only have until the end of next year before the effects of climate change become irreversible. I’ll find myself thinking, “Well, this is it. There’s nothing I can do that will make a big enough difference, so there’s no point in trying.” 

I’ve kept these thoughts to myself until now because I was worried about what other people would say if they knew I felt this way. Would they think that I’m just looking for attention or being melodramatic because I haven’t experienced firsthand any desolation as a result of climate change? And it’s true that, thankfully, my home hasn’t been destroyed due to flooding or my family hasn’t been displaced because of wildfires, but I’ve come to terms with the fact that it’s understandable for me, as a young person, to be concerned about my future and experience climate anxiety as a result of that. 

Recently, my Twitter timeline has been filled with young people documenting what they’re doing to combat climate change—from Greta Thunberg sailing across the Atlantic Ocean for two weeks to attend the UN Climate Summit to the millions of people all over the world who participated in climate strikes last Friday. Not only has this helped me regain hope for the future of our planet, but it’s also inspired me to take action and fight for the future as well. I think that the best way to combat climate anxiety is to combat climate change itself, so I’ve compiled a short list of actions we can all take to help the environment, even if it’s just on a micro-level. 

1. Invest in reusable cups, containers and shopping bags to reduce your consumption of single-use plastics. 
2. Thrift your clothes or buy from sustainable brands to avoid participating in fast fashion, which not only pollutes bodies of water with dyes and microfibres, but also wastes water. 
3. Use public transportation, or walk, bike, skateboard, and carpool to places to reduce your CO₂ emissions. 
4. Read up on the platforms of political parties to see their stance on climate change, and vote in the upcoming federal election. 
5. Participate in the Toronto Climate Strike on September 27! 

I know that fundamental change, unfortunately, lies in the hands of policy makers and large corporations, but these practices have helped me silence the voice in the back of my mind that told me I couldn’t do anything to help. Even just doing one of these things is a contribution to the vast movement of saving the environment and has the potential to alleviate the stress that can develop as a result of the climate crisis. I think that at the core of climate anxiety is the feeling of caring very deeply about our home planet, which leads me to believe that we’re all capable of channeling our powerful emotions to make a difference. 

“Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It’s not.” 

— The Onceler (The Lorax by Dr. Seuss)