Seven Suggestions When Despair About Climate Change Hits Hard.
If you are like me and the countless people, from scientists to regular folks, to artists and the next generation, we are in distress about the rapidly changing climate. Our home is on fire, in more ways than one.
I fall into despair when I know the humpback whales are starving to death and that the people of Iceland hold funerals for disappearing glaciers. Every day, the news reports of another endangered species, another recorded breaking heatwave, another recorded breaking hurricane. Everyone and every living thing is displaced.
When the macro-environment becomes overwhelming, I turn to the micro-environment. That is my garden, my backyard, and the handful of regional parks that inspire my work as an artist.
In these spaces, I can find comfort, joy, awe, wonder, and most importantly hope.
We’ve all seen and read articles about things people can do in the face of an existential threat. I think people have become so numb to the word “existential” that it doesn’t mean anything anymore. What do you do with news like that?
As one person, I know I can’t bring back the Arctic ice or the majestic glaciers. But I can do things in my immediate surroundings.
It’s a short list — seven suggestions when despair about climate change hits hard. See if anything resonates, then do it for yourself and your immediate surroundings. These things are not overnight fixes. That’s not how nature works.
1. Plant a Native Garden.
Or, if you already have a garden, plant more native species. When we moved into the house we currently reside in, there was a patch of “landscaping” boarded with daylilies covered with plastic (A) and topped off with shredded bicycle tires. It was plain ugly. I knew this man-made system was killing the soil. (See a letter in ( )? See the notes below).
It was a lot of work, I won’t lie, ripping out the plastic sheeting and removing the shredded bicycle tire bits. (Sadly, we could not find an organization that would recycle them.)
It took three years (B) (it always does) for my native garden to establish itself and be home and habitat for a whole host of pollinators, insects, and birds. In three short years, I tripled the biodiversity in our yard.
Now that my garden is established and because it is native, I hardly have to do anything. The plants do all the work. I also leave the plants over winter so they can provide safe havens for insects to hibernate.
Check out your county soil and water conservation district or state environmental non-profits. They can offer you resources, education, guidance, and possibly grants to help you create a bee lawn (also called from lawn to legume programs), native gardens, and rain gardens. You don’t have to go it alone on this.
2. Don’t Spray.
We live, for better or worse, in a homeowners association. That means our HOA dues go to pay for lawn care and the arrangement is shockingly expensive. But every spring, when lawn services come to spray chemicals, we post signs not to spray our lawn. And you know what? Our lawn is lush and diverse, not all Kentucky bluegrass.
The neighbors’ lawns tend to burn out in the summer despite the sprinkler system. Bonus: With no spraying, a variety of plants grow for the rabbits to safely eat in our yard so they leave (for the most part) my garden alone.
3. If You Can Possibly Afford It, Go EV.
Get yourself an electric car. You will be smiling every time you pass a smelly depressing gas station. You will rejoice not having to stand at a pump in freezing winter weather.
Note we are early adopters with a learning curve and patiently waiting for more and faster charging stations to be brought online. With the infrastructure bill, the movement to install more charging stations is happening across the country.
Our Subaru Solterra has adaptors to work with any electrical outlet. We charge the car during off-peak hours. Compare the $25-50 on our electric bill for charging our car to the $200 on average at the pump every month and it’s a no-brainer.
I will be transparent. We went with a Subaru because the company’s values align with ours. I think it’s a wash between the cost of an EV and a gas-engine car. The insurance is high due to ours being a new car and we are leasing.
4. Bring Your Own Bags.
By now we know the big lie the oil companies have been feeding us for decades. Most plastic is not recyclable or too expensive to recycle. It’s the deadly cost of convenience.
With few of us able to slow plastic usage, there is some hope on this front. In Maryland where my parents live, the state has completely banned plastic grocery bags and single-use plastic. You have to bring your own. I’ve been practicing bring-my-own-bags for years. The affordable mesh bags for produce are washable. It’s a simple habit I want more people to adopt but it may take state law to enforce that habit.
5. Spend Time in Nature.
After all, we are nature though most of us feel completely cut off from it. We don’t know how to be comfortable outdoors. Instead, we are tethered to our phones, our cars, our homes, and climate-controlled indoor spaces.
I agree, that nature doesn’t always cooperate. I, for one, can’t stand really windy days. But I embrace the power of it. I love getting caught in a thunderstorm. The idea of the possibility of getting struck by lightning is life-affirming.
What I do know about nature is that she is designed to enhance and maintain your well-being, both physically and emotionally. Our skin has receptors that pick up the bio-chemicals trees emit, which in turn, boosts our immune system.
Just about every plant (especially the ones we call weeds (C) are either edible, have medicinal purposes (plural), or both.
As an artist, spending time in nature is essential to my work. It’s where my art and stories come from. I pay attention because I want people to see how amazing it all is and to see and know it before it all disappears. I also believe that when we love something we are driven to protect it.
Attention is the beginning of devotion. Mary Oliver. Upstream: Selected Essays, pg. 8.
If we nurture our immediate surroundings, we nurture ourselves. When others see what we’ve accomplished with our yards and our gardens, the hope is they will want to do the same.
6. Then Share What You Know With Them.
7. Vote.
This is the single most important action we can take. That also means being an informed voter. When we have an educated, engaged citizenry, together we can elect competent, dedicated people of service who will protect our environment, hold corporations accountable, and take measures to reduce and reverse the harm that began in the industrial age.
If You Live in Dakota County or Minnesota, Here Are a Few Resources:
Dakota County Soil & Water Conservation District began in 1944 organized by local farmers to establish practices that conserve soil and increase production on their land. Over the past 80 years, the Conservation District’s goals and practices have adjusted to meet the resource concerns of the times. They have education and programming for residents, too.
Metro Blooms: partners with communities to create resilient landscapes and foster clean watersheds, embracing the values of equity and inclusion to solve environmental challenges. Also, check out their sister organization, Blue Thumb: Planting for Clean Water®
FreshWater: inspires and empowers people to value and preserve water. Living in Minnesota, you know how much we value our lakes, rivers, and wetlands.
Notes From Above
A) On plastic covering in landscaping. This is a useless and deadly practice. Not only does the plastic not hinder or hold back weeds from growing but it suffocates the soil and all the micro-organisms living there. In other words, plastic covering kills the soil. Healthy soil is one of the top carbon sequesters we have.
B) It takes three years to establish any garden. First year the plants sleep. The second year, they creep. Third year they leap.
C) Weeds are just plants out of place. The so-called weeds we love to hate arrive by not by their own accord. Invasive plants, in particular, are here due to human movement and trade. We have all the technology and systems to stop non-native species from entering but lack the political will to do so. When something can be done and it isn’t happening, it’s a sign somebody is making money off the problem.
Whew. A longer post than most. Thank you all for stopping by and taking the time to read. Till next time, be kind to everything that lives and especially be kind to yourself.
Your turn.
What do you do when you feel like the world is burning? How do you cope, negatively or positively, with climate change? What are you witnessing in terms of climate change where you live? Does being out in nature help? Please respond in the comments. I respond to all.
