✅ CTA: Environmental
Calls to action for our home called Earth.
Table of Contents
Cramming for the Climate Apocalypse
Nothing natural about it: surviving climate change’s impact on weather
If you have any suggestions for resources on this matter, or would like to propose a correction, please leave a comment.
Cover photo by OCG Saving The Ocean on Unsplash
Cramming for the Climate Apocalypse
Recommendations by Elizabeth Doerr
Create: Channel Dr. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson from the recommended episode by creating a Climate Action Venn Diagram, an incredibly useful tool to think about how each individual can take climate action. It doesn't require doing something that isn't in your wheelhouse, it requires thinking about where your superpowers lie!
Once you've identified that area of climate action, you can do the following things:
What organizations are already doing the work in your area or nationally?
Find out how you can get involved in their work (no need to reinvent the wheel).Talk to other people about what you're doing. As Katharine Hayhoe says in her book "Saving Us," one of the most important things we can do is talk about climate change. It normalizes the conversation and it helps motivate people to take it seriously and to take action.
Prepare: While I’m no expert, here are some ways to be ready for disasters:
Think about what is the most likely disaster to befall you and your community. (E.g., hurricanes, wildfire, earthquake, flooding, ice storms etc.). While climate change is increasing the chances that disasters you never expected might come your way, it's helpful to think about a specific disaster as it helps channel your thoughts about it.
Start focusing on the basic needs which involve food and water. You want to stock up on at least three days of food and water for your home (and if you have space up to a week). Water storage should be one gallon of water per person per day. You don't need to do a big stock-up on MREs or water bottles for this. I recommend just getting a bunch of canned goods from Costco that you normally would use for your day-to-day cooking. As you use those, you can stock up later. For water, you can stock up gradually (e.g., every grocery store visit, pick up a couple gallons).
Create a family emergency plan. At the basic level think about where your families are at any given point a day and think through scenarios should a disaster happen while you're in those places (i.e. daytime, nighttime, etc.). Write it down along with emergency contact information and put it somewhere visible in your home. Make sure to communicate these plans with those emergency contacts.
Get to know your neighbors. Researchers say that one of the most important factors to survival in a disaster is knowing the people in your neighborhood. Know who to check on (e.g., the elderly) and make a plan with at least one of your neighbors on a disaster plan.
Check out Brekke Wagoner's "Sustainable Prepping" YouTube channelwhere she provides a whole host of resources and recommendations in bite-sized videos.
Brekke Wagoner and I will be launching a 10-week Disaster Preparedness Toolkit series for paid subscribers of "Cramming for the Apocalypse" later this spring. It'll be a series that makes disaster preparedness more accessible to help push through the overwhelm of it all.
Talk about your disaster preparedness. Like with climate change, talking about it normalizes it among other people and encourages them to think about their preparedness as well.
Countering Climate Denial & Delay
Campaign: Help hold your company accountable on its involvement with climate policy. ClimateVoice has an Employee Climate Action Guide to help you with your advocacy.
I found out about ClimateVoice though
, which interviewed Deboah McNamara, the co-Executive Director of the organization, about how the U.S. Chamber of Commerce has obstructed climate policy. Read the interview for info on a campaign to stop them.
Read: Climate disinformation is showing up in our schools: “Videos denying climate science approved by Florida as state curriculum.” And
just so happened to do more investigative reporting about the organization behind these climate denial videos.
Subscribe:
The Crucial Years, the newsletter from Bill McKibben, founder of 350.org and Third Act. His latest piece mentions that Exxon just acquired one of the largest fracking operators IN THE WORLD, but he also talks about the right type energy we need. Hint - it comes from above.
Communicate: The PR industry backing the fossil fuel industry may be powerful, but climate communicators can be just as and even more powerful. Check out this solutions-oriented white paper on climate communications. You can also review these talking points from Fossil Free Media.
Create: Are you more of a creative type? Consider getting involved with the Creatives for Climate community. They have compiled lots of resources, as has the Hollywood Climate Summit.
Dissecting climate activism and its coverage
Act: If direct action work interests you, here are some organizations that might be a fit (and this is not to say that’s all these orgs do, but they are involved):
Youth
Third Act (geared toward senior citizens)
Mothers Out Front (h/t friend of #SoundsLikeImpact Rekha Murthy).
Climate Defenders (multigenerational)
Listen: Want more insight into what was happening on the ground with the Cop City protests in Atlanta, Georgia? It Could Happen Here did a 3-part series on the Cop City protests (1, 2 and 3).
P.S. Scientist, author and podcaster Dr. Katharine K. Wilkinson wrote this op-ed about Cop City for CNN.
Donate: Organizations such as the Center for Constitutional Rights are fighting charges levied against protestors. Learn about their work and support if it moves you.
You can also donate to the Climate Emergency Fund, which supports climate activists through grant-making (CTA added 9/21).
Also, often after protests, bail funds are set up by people in community. You can always seek those out if you want to channel your funds that way.
Look: Protests can be full of joy and community. Here are some activists I follow sharing moments from the March to End Fossil Fuels: Arielle King, Dr. Katharine Wilkinson, and Bill McKibben ofThe Crucial Yearsand founder of Third Act.
*If you were there, please share photos via email or Instagram so I can share with others in our community!
Support: I’ve said it multiple times before, and I will say it again: support independent journalists doing climate reporting.
HEATED, Drilled Media, Yessenia Funes of Possibilities are some recs on my end. If you know of others, feel free to leave a comment and I’ll share.
Heated has written more than a few times about activists. I recommend: Why did this climate scientist chain herself to a pipeline? and What you won’t hear at India’s G20.
Revisit: This previous newsletter about environmental crimes (& the CTAs too!).
The Changing Impact of Climate on Our Food
Compost: Learn some tips from the EPA or the NRDC on composting. I personally keep my scraps in the freezer if you are concerned about smell.
Plan: Meal prep is a good way to make sure you are consuming only what you need so you aren’t prone to waste. Here’s some advice from NPR’s Life Kit.
Learn: We have Indigenous people to thank for what we know about regenerative agriculture and other land conservation practices. Check out this PBS video “How This Indigenous Farmer is Solving Food Insecurity.”
Follow: The Rainforest Alliance is an organization that works on conservation, human rights, food business / agriculture and climate solutions.
Nothing natural about it: surviving climate change’s impact on weather
*There were some applications included in the original post, please click here to see whether they are still valid.*
Read: Continuing the theme of intersectionality,
This post on the Climate Psychology Alliance of North America site “Just Breathe: wildfire smoke and climate justice”
“What People With Disabilities Know About Surviving Climate Disasters” ($ paywall, though click to see if it’s available to you)
The “Rest in Power” section of Possibilities. This section memorializes those who lost their lives to natural disasters, likely due to climate change —but as writer Yessenia Funes points out, we’d need attribution modeling to really say.
“US Forest Service and historically Black colleges unite to boost diversity in wildland firefighting”
Subscribe:
Record High from Grist, a short-run newsletter on extreme heat.
Your Local Epidemiologist An accessibly written public health newsletter that occasionally touches on the nexus between our changing climate and health. Examples of recent posts include this about the rise of malaria in the US and this about heat-related illness.
All the feels: sorting through climate emotions
Seek
Care: For your mental health and that of others, check out these resource guides from the Climate Mental Health Network and if therapy is accessible to you, you can search for a Climate-Aware Therapist (North America or UK).
It’s worth searching even if therapy has historically been out-of-reach, as each practitioner may have different options available.
Community: Find or start a group for those going through climate emotions, such as through Good Grief Network (there are programs for adults & teens). [🎧 interview with founder on Degrees: Real-talk about planet saving careers]
A therapy or support group setting not for you? Try finding a group of those passionate about the environment. For example, I went to a meetup with Black Girl Environmentalist the other week.
Read:
Online: Are you a fan of science fiction? Do you want to imagine a better future to inspire you to take action? Check out free climate fiction on Grist.
Newsletter: The Climate Optimist, a free monthly from Harvard C-CHANGE.
Books: (I haven’t read these, but have seen them consistently recommended or listened / read interviews with their authors) Generation Dread by Britt Wray, Not Too Late: Changing the Climate Story from Despair to Possibility edited by Rebecca Solnit & Thelma Young-Lutunatabua (there are free resources on the site as well, and you can also 🎧 this interview) and Climate Optimism by Zahra Biabani.
Apply:
Sign-up to host an All We Can Save Circle, and facilitate for a community that wants to focus on solutions.
Intersectional Environmentalist has put out a rolling call for content submissions. What sorts of stories are they looking for? “Climate Optimism + Joy” and “Black Climate Futures + History” to name a few. They pay 💵
Join: If you are a therapist, psychiatrist or other mental health professional, here are some communities you can join to improve your practice: Climate Psychiatry Alliance and Climate Psychology Alliance (UK or North America)
Engage in ethical environmental practices and support those sounding the alarm about corruption and pollution
Protect: Journalists and activists! Helping the environment with donations to conservation orgs is important, but it must be in tandem with supporting the people on the ground and reporting about issues. Organizations such as the Committee to Protect Journalists and Global Witness are some ways to start.
Read: Independent journalism, such as Heated, that holds the fossil fuel industry accountable.
Host: If you love plants, you can share that love with others. Consider hosting a plant swap, a free and legal way to get plant life into your home. And remember that it is illegal and potentially ecologically damaging to traffic plants, so only leave with admiration for species you (or someone else) encounter abroad.
Follow: The Goldman Environmental Prize to learn about extraordinary activists, many whom have quite literally put their lives on the line. And The Wildlife Justice Commission, which conducts investigations into wildlife crimes.
Consume: Ethically and sustainably caught seafood, if you eat seafood. The Monterey Bay Aquarium (one of my faves; you should go!) has consumer guides you can use to help make decisions about what to purchase or eat out.
Learn more from Nice News on how to become a Citizen Scientist and improve your mood at the same time!
Form an intersectional perspective on environmental issues
Watch: Learn more about about a ‘Just Energy Transition’
Browse: Lemonada Media partnered with Only One, an ocean conservation platform, to further educate us about plastic pollution and ways to take action. Check out the site and listen to their excellently podcast about “Cancer Alley.”
Read: All We Can Save, an inspiring anthology that is intersectional and solutions-oriented.
Apply:
(Grant): NDN Collective has launched applications for Community Action Fund (CAF) grants of $15,000 - 30,000, which will support efforts that include community organizing, amplification of community voices, and a wide variety of tactics imperative to shifting the political and financial systems that are impacting Indigenous communities, April 17 - October 31st 5:00p.m. CST.
(Jobs): Want to transition to a “Green Job”? Look at these job boards.