What is impactful climate action?

From May 2022 Newsletter

Back in 2008, I was living in San Francisco and started diving into the available information about climate change, prompted by one of those rainy seasons in Northern California when it just didn’t rain. The more I read, the more concerned I grew. I knew I wanted to do something - that we all needed to be doing something - and I happened to pick up a book in a local shop called No Impact Man. In it, author Colin Beavan tracks his journey to reduce what would essentially be his carbon footprint. He gets rid of his refrigerator and his car, travels mostly by foot and bicycle, shifts to a plant-based diet, and seeks to eliminate all waste (including, yes, toilet paper). 

I figured this must be the answer. While I kept both toilet paper and my fridge, I began obsessively tracking in the footsteps of No Impact Man, eliminating as much of my carbon and waste footprints as possible.  

Here’s the thing. Not only was all of this a lot of work, but as I walked through the city from grad school to internship to work to home, day after day, I passed many other people living lives with varying degrees of impact. And I realized three very important things. First, the time I was spending trying to reduce my own footprint was a luxury many could not afford. Second, our current economic system was stacked against emissions reduction, even in a city like San Francisco. Finally, while I had reduced my impact slightly, I was still clearly responsible for continuing emissions. 

This individual obsession couldn’t be the answer. There was simply no way enough people would be able to make enough of a shift quickly enough. (That's a lot of "not enough"!) Furthermore, was it really our responsibility? Or should we perhaps look towards the concerted efforts of a powerful few who believe they have a strong interest in keeping emissions going and were not-coincidentally playing a large role in making the necessary changes more difficult? I changed my focus to collective action.

This change coincided with moving to Maine and, shortly thereafter, I helped start a grassroots initiative called A Climate to Thrive, driven by my new belief that collective action was essential in addressing climate change. 

Over the intervening years, I’ve continued to learn a lot about what impactful action looks like when it comes to climate solutions. And I’ve heard more and more people asking similar questions: what are the best actions to take to address climate change? 

I’ve also met some pretty incredible people who are living their way into some very powerful answers to that question. I could not be more excited for ACTT’s educational event this coming Thursday, May 19 at 6:00 p.m. Not only will the event focus on top actions we can all take today to participate in solutions, it will also feature a panel of some of those wise, courageous collaborators. I hope you will join us!