The Planet is Worth Living For

I wanted to write about the best thing my friend told me when you feel kind of existential about life or you feel like fighting to save the planet (and everything on it) is a lost cause. I found it quite hard to write about and I do mention that I have some low points in my life where I could have done with this advice as a disclaimer but the post gets more and more positive throughout. 

When I've been at a low point before. And I used to get like this in my early teens. I would struggle with finding something to show me joy and purpose in life, which I eventually discovered was sometimes part of the human condition. Life is never 100% purposeful or joyful, you just have to embrace the moments that are. Now, I only occasionally have those thoughts.

In those moments, I would begin to convince myself that the planet - climate, environment, animals - would be much better off without me on it. I would then have no carbon footprint. I'd require no food, or clothes, or items, or transportation or anything to sate my greed as a human. Therefore, I would be saving the world. 

And when one's in their head like that this all makes logical sense. The conclusion is that no individual change for the planet will ever make as much difference as not being on the planet at all. Which, of course, is not really the conclusion anyone wants to come to, especially as a climate activist who is wanting to do their utmost for the cause. 

As a result of the advice my best friend proceeded to give me one day when I felt this way, she has become one of the wisest people in my eyes. She is also just very clever because she has recently graduated with a first in her degree. But that is beside the point.

However, she proceeded to remind me that I was in fact not correct. The way that I could make the largest positive difference to the planet was by being an advocate for the planet, standing up for mother nature and the animals and the rest of the humans. So that was really my only choice, if I truly wanted to save the planet then that is what I had to do. 

By convincing everyone I know, and everyone I am yet to know, that we need to do something. Only by being alive and spending my life trying to convince people to do something about the climate and ecological emergency would I be able to make the largest positive difference to the emergency. 

I think this is an important concept to keep at the front of my mind whenever I feel a little lost within the climate movement or that nothing I am doing is making any difference or is even worsening the planetary emergency. We can all make a difference by making sure our individual actions align with our personal values and by being an advocate for the planet and the natural world. 

When we let other people know about the climate emergency, hopefully, it allows a spark to go off inside of them letting them know that the status quo is not enough, that what is happening - for example with extreme weather events - will only get worse, and that they have to do something about it for the survival of humanity. Maybe that spark will take weeks, months or years to really take ahold of someone who you have told about the climate emergency. But the idea is that with consistency and kindness, you will be able to get through with your message to everyone who is willing to listen on some level. 

I think we all grow up, in some shape or form, wanting to 'make an impact', 'solve a global issue', or 'save the planet'. Obviously, as we get older we realise such big changes may not be possible and that we will have to settle for smaller changes, but those are just as important. It is important for some people to be able to remind individuals, family members, friends and strangers or the climate emergency to help them make changes in their lives and continue to spread the word. Not everyone is going to make the biggest difference, but together we can make a big difference.

As Greta Thunberg says, "you are never too small to make a difference".

So, what can we do, in our own small way, to help spread the message about the climate emergency and make sure we avert a crisis.

This could be through using platforms like social media to talk about the important things that people can do or the facts and science about the emergency. You could talk face to face with the people in your life - your family, friends or even strangers - about what is happening, why we need to stop it and how they need to join you in spreading the word. Putting up posters or giving out leaflets about protests or information on the climate crisis works similarly by spreading the word to people you don't know and who may not have been exposed to the information before. 

If I'm being completely honest. I have had to remind myself a few times about this way of thinking. When I get in my own head and become a little self-centred with my own feelings, I forget the bigger picture. I forget that only by speaking out will I make the most difference. 

Here's to saving the planet, in small ways, together.