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Perhaps, like me, you’ve seen wildfires raging and glaciers melting on the news and felt helpless. In the face Reports that the impacts of climate change are worse than expected, what on Earth can you do?
You may not be capable of solving the big problems on your own, but there are ways you can take action.
Walking mindfully – taking time to observe your surroundings and the thoughts and feelings they evoke – can help you see familiar spaces like your own street anew. This can make you more conscious and appreciate their beauty, and perhaps even inspire a desire to protect them.
When I was writing my novel, I first discovered the power of walking to engage with climate change. The Half-life of Snails. Take some time to see the landscapes around Wylfa in North Wales and Chernobyl in Ukraine – both marked by the presence of nuclear power stations – I discovered how these places can awaken extreme emotional responses to this way of generating energy.
Walking with the intention of paying attention to how different areas and features make us feel and behave, is the heart of psychogeography: The academic intersection between geography and psychology. Practising this involves setting aside the usual reasons for going out, such as commuting, and pursuing a “dérive” instead – a drift through varied areas to defamiliarise.
A recent episode of Your Brain on ClimateDavid Powell, podcast host, and me discussed how being emotionally connected with our planet motivates us to protect it. Research has shown that it is possible to protect the environment from emotional attachments. Slowing down and looking closely at the spaces you use most often is integral to this process.
These are five short walks that can be taken to reengage your local area.
• When walking to school or work, find a new route that avoids the usual places you pass. What new textures, sounds, smells, and feelings are you able to encounter? How is it different to your familiar route?
• Walk your usual route towards the shops or work, but instead of focusing on getting there quickly, slow your pace and stop every three minutes or so to observe what surrounds you. What are some things you notice that you don’t see on your daily commute? Are there flowers to smell, or the sound of the breeze through the leaves? These things can stir up emotions.
• Walk in ever wider circles from your front door. Observe areas where people have left a negative impression, such as litter and chewing gum marks on pavement. Look for wildlife that thrives in unusual places. For example, flowers growing between bricks or guttering, or trees or shrubs that grow out of bricks. It is important to take the time to reflect on how these observations affect you and why. What could you do for wildlife and the environment?
• On a warm day, do what I call a “temperature walk”: seek out different surfaces along the route such as walls, grassy areas, and kerbstones, and rest your hands on them. What colours and materials attract heat? The hottest material could be contributing to global warming, a process called the Urban heat island effect. Consider painting walls white. Local change advocacyThis could be reduced with the help of
• Walk your street and, if possible, look at the different front gardens (a quick look as you are passing is fine). Are the gardens stocked with grass and shrubs Are they paved or covered with gravel? Are there any patterns between the garden design and the types of birds and insects found in the gardens? These observations can be used to encourage nature in your garden or local green space. Keep these ideas in mind.
These five walks don’t even begin to describe psychogeography. It encourages us to be flexible and adaptive and to be imaginative.
Studies have shown this. Even small actionsSowing wildflowers and slowing climate change can help to protect biodiversity. Influence others to take responsibility too.
Talking with others and discussing the steps your community could take can lead to more organized action. For example, you might start a gardening rewilding program in your neighborhood that attracts people. swap fences for hedgesYou can also inspire local councils and other bodies to whitewash public buildings to reflect heat.
It is hard to imagine how far this could spread. But the first step is to take that walk…
This sexagenarian is walking through Mizoram with a message for peace
