Even if we don’t recognize it, we all have the power and ability to make a difference.
Sometimes it is difficult to see. Social media floods us with the effects of climate change. From the global megafires in CaliforniaThese floods caused widespread destruction in entire communities and resulted in the devastating flooding of China and EuropeIt seems like it’s going to be another summer. climate despairAll around us.
What if we started to do something? My definition of action was to create HOPE: Humans for the Opposition of Pollution and Emissions. It is an advocacy group that aims at advancing scientific literacy and educating farmers from low-income, historically underserved areas. Climate change has made it more difficult to manage the impacts of flooding, drought, and pollution. HOPE helps communities to manage these burdens in order to ensure food and water security. HOPE fosters community and combats climate change’s often-paralyzing realities.
This essay is also available Spanish
We have been able to share educational material with low-income, underrepresented communities in Western Massachusetts that helps them to understand the importance of taking action to stop climate change. We host webinars, focus groups, and small group meetings to discuss climate change in the community. We have been able develop climate smart agriculture, and strengthen the local biota by planting native gardens.
To make a difference, you don’t have to start a new organisation. You can start with your daily habits. These are steps I have found to be positive and action-oriented about environmental issues.
Step 1: Take a digital detox
Psychologists have given our collective senses of doom a name: eco-anxiety. This title suggests that collective emotional responses to all of the despair surrounding climate changes are reasonable responses to devastation.
What happens when eco-anxiety overwhelms us? We see an Instagram video showing a patch of Ocean on fire, or a ReportRecord-setting temperatures in the Pacific Northwest, and an increase in deaths. We turn to Twitter to see a video of Jeff BezosGoing to space, while we move deeper into a climate-fueled hunger crisis. These were just a few examples that we had from July!
We don’t often see the hidden benefits. It is important to pay attention to the friendly faces around us TikTok teaches us how to upcycle clothesScientists or, YouTubeSharing lessons learned about cleaning rivers and lakes. We can follow scientists on Twitter Who can reduce the global demand for water?. YouTube teaches us how to reduce our plastic usage.
We can clear our minds and make room for positive news and interventions by removing negative messages from our digital feeds. My social media feeds are curated around creators who share hope, positivity and action. This includes Instagram users like soulful_seeds, climateoptimistspodcast, blackinenviron, goodenergy_project, grounded.hope. I also follow people I do not usually see in the climate discussion: women from color, Indigenous groups, and LGBTQIA+ content makers.
I also spend my offline time building relationships with people in my community. This helps me get out of the digital bubble. I am able to see and understand the lives of my community, as well as learn about the ways that people are dealing with the climate crisis.
Step 2 – Step out of your comfort zones
Common Good City Farm Credit: DCErica/flickr)
Change can be started with one person, one idea or one action. Positive change can be achieved by everyone by pushing ourselves beyond our comfort zone and challenging ourselves.
I looked at data from the summer 2020 and found that communities with higher numbers of low-income and minority communities were more likely to live in or near contaminated soil or water. This was especially true for post-industrialized communities such as Lawrence, Massachusetts and Holyoke (Massachusetts). I spoke to community members and they expressed frustration that their concerns were not being taken seriously. They shared stories about cancer, asthma, and illness and wanted to find a solution. Although the news was devastating, I knew that I had the power, both as a community member and as a scientist and advocate for environmental justice, to do something.
HOPE was born. With very limited resources, funding, or support, I was able to recruit people with the same vision. To have everyone live in a community that has clean air, soil, water, and is free from any environmental-related illness. Although we are still in the early stages of our work, we are working on plans to advocate for soil and water pollution remediation. We are also currently working closely with Nuestras Raices, a grassroots organization for urban agriculture. They are developing an urban native gardening project that will increase biodiversity and improve climate resilience. We are currently developing computer simulations that show how pollutants move through groundwater and how it affects consumer safety. All of this work leads to collaborations between policymakers, district representatives and companies to assist with the removal of these pollutants.
This essay is part of Agents of Change. See the complete series.
It was a big leap out of my comfort zone to start HOPE. Before I began my PhD in 2019, there was no formal education in climate justice or environmental science. Nearly one year later, when I started HOPE, it was clear to me that anyone can be an agent for change if they have the right knowledge, optimism, as well as a mission. I recruited people from all walks of life to join the board of directors of HOPE. They included retired schoolteachers, librarians and students at high schools, as well as local activists and graduate students. Although they all felt this was unfamiliar territory at first, once they became familiar with the science, they felt they could take action.
Fear is eliminated when you know what you must do. This is a quote that I thought a lot about in the early days when I started HOPE. There will always exist people who act as beacons of hope in our daily lives and communities. Be a beacon for hope by taking the steps.
Step 3: Take collective action: One idea per team, one community
In 2018, I was involved in a project that addressed water quality problems in a small Massachusetts community. Residents were concerned about oil and trash leaking into the water supply from parking lots after heavy rainstorms. The river continued to fail Environmental Protection Agency water standards despite having a budget.
I was assigned to this project along with three white men. They were all engineers, but all very different. One was from the football team, while one was a self-proclaimed Cowboy who drove a tractor to school. The other was an opera singer from Long Island. It was difficult for me to be a leader and speak up as a woman of color. We didn’t know each other well enough to be ourselves before others. We became friends through our mutual love for food and laughter. Each day someone brought a delicious treat and someone else would bring lighthearted jokes or news. It took an extra hour per day, but the community building and friendship were priceless. My team starts with me, so be kind and lighthearted.
Because of our mutual trust, we were able to share ideas that seemed silly. Because of our mutual trust, we could be wrong in front each other.
We worked 40 hours per week trying to find solutions for the town. We needed more people to help so we considered asking residents to volunteer their time. Our final idea was to recruit elementary school students to act as messengers, telling their parents and anyone else they knew about the water crisis.
It was sort of like the reduce reuse, recycle campaign except that our mascot was a cowboy named Runoff Rand and the children got the title Rain Wrangler if enough people agreed to clean up the river. We didn’t dwell on negative things like the river being polluted or the town running out of money. Instead, we focused on the importance and value of hope. We were able inspire children of all ages, their families and other volunteers to come together to solve a problem that was causing so much suffering.
The community was in dire need of a long-term solution to their water quality problems. This project resulted in a long-term solution. We were also able pass the methodology on to other project teams in Massachusetts. I was convinced by the end of this project that everyone can work together if they have enough faith and hope.
Saving hope
It can be difficult to believe in the possibility of change. However, hope can bring about change and it is easier than you might think. Let’s look at the organization I started. We have raised more than $10,000 since we started in 2020 for climate and water quality research. We have brought together dozens of people who are interested in clean air and soil. We even have plans for a spring upcycling drive where people who are in need of fashionable clothes will be able to receive them free of charge, thanks to the generosity of those who wish to upcycle. HOPE stands for hope, which is an important reminder of how important it is to take one action and have one idea.
Start small by sharing a good idea to reduce litter in the community. It could be you and your roommate. The initiative could grow in popularity as people spread the word. One idea can spread like wildfire, making something small into something large. The idea will spread via social media and eventually to the rest of the world.
You can plant seeds of hope through education, research and writing. Good thoughts can become good deeds. This can help reduce pollution locally, and perhaps even nationally. One idea can spark many others.
At the very least, you should have faith in your ability to change the world.
Cielo sharkus is a climate justice expert, NSF scholar and doctoral student at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Her research focuses on the interplay between environmental engineering, climate justice and public policy. She develops computational models that analyze socioeconomic and environmental conditions that can harm human resilience in a disaster situation (e.g., flood or waterquality crisis). She focuses on communities that are socially vulnerable and those who are committed to environmental justice. You can reach her via LinkedIn or her website.
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