Stay Focused on Making Change
I have a vague memory of being in the 2nd grade and standing outside a large manufacturing facility near my elementary school with my friends and family.
We gathered in the cold, holding up homemade signs that demanded clean air for our community. I was too young to understand what pollutants rose from those chimneys, and I had no clue how harmful they were. The main reason I was there, to be honest, was to get my recess time back. You see, there were days where the air quality was so bad, that we weren’t allowed to go outside- and this wasn’t in Los Angeles, it was rural New Hampshire!
I may have been a naïve 7-year-old, but watching the people in my life- the people that I admired- take a stand for what they believe in, has made a lasting impact.
Many years have passed, and that plant has long since closed, but my awareness of climate change has grown exponentially and my desire for action has grown with it. But it’s easy to feel defeated when reading about the effects of climate change that are already occurring: Accelerated warming, substantial amounts of plastic in our oceans, devastating wildfires, floods, and storms. Glaciers that are retreating for the first time in millennia, sea levels rising at a rate beyond even the “alarmist’s” expectations. And the list goes on and on.
Easy to get overwhelmed, right?
What does it mean to be overwhelmed, anyway?
Feeling “overwhelmed” might be a result of too many stimuli to respond to. For example, when you’re at work and you need to respond to multiple tasks at the same time- you may not know where to start or find yourself unable to pick a task to begin. You might refer to this state as being “overwhelmed”, right?
Another factor that may play a role in feeling ‘overwhelmed’ is the absence of discriminative stimuli (or signals) in our environment to increase our desired responses. Have you ever arrived to the grocery store only to realize that you forgot your re-usable bags? Or gone out to eat and forgot to mention that you don’t need a straw? Both of these things have happened to me because I didn’t have any signals in my environment that would occasion the behavior of grabbing my re-usable bags on my way out of the apartment or letting the server know I brought my own straw.
The good news
If you’ve felt those same concerns, felt the pressure to make big changes towards living more sustainably, you’re not alone. But there’s some good news - it’s not too late and it’s okay to start small. We don’t need to wake up tomorrow and lead completely different lives to save the world. In fact, the changes we make will be more likely to maintain if we focus on one behavior at a time rather than making many big changes all at once. If you are like me and forget your re-usable bags from time to time, try creating your own discriminative stimuli to occasion your desired behavior, such as posting a sticky note on your front door to remind you to grab them or leave the bags out in the open near your front door so you see them every time you leave your home.
Don’t forget- One person can make a difference
In a previous post, (Applying What We Know, 3/21/21) we discussed the importance of modeling sustainable behaviors. This may seem simple, but it makes a greater impact than most people realize, and it just takes YOU to make the difference.
Another great way to get others involved is to talk about sustainability with your friends, coworkers, and neighbors. You might be surprised how many people are already involved or want to get involved.
Start the conversation, model sustainable behaviors, and don’t feel defeated. This is not a hopeless battle and you’re not alone in it!
Please let us know how you manage feeling “overwhelmed” or the strategies you use to stay focused on the issues. Leave a comment below.
Katie Arnold, MS, LABA, BCBA