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We are living during a global environmental crisis. From plastic pollution and climate change to rising sea levels, there’s never been a more important time to evaluate your lifestyle and implement some changes. But, it can feel overwhelming, right? Where do you start? Will your actions alone make a difference? (Plot spoiler: yes).
Here, award-winning environmental campaigner Natalie Fee, author of new book How to Save the World For Free, shares her tips on how each individual can maximize their positive impact on the environment…
SHARE AND SHARE AND LIKE
Whenever you make a switch from something you were doing and the green alternative feels better, smells better or tastes better, make sure you tell all your friends. Social media has its downside but, as a tool for social change, it’s incredibly effective – never doubt the power of sharing a petition, post or film on social media. Whether it’s a quick video recorded on your phone, a rushed photo or a work of art, get it out there. Share your solutions.
A NEW NARRATIVE
Sharing something personal, that’s made a difference to your life, can be even more influential, as we humans are more likely to act if the message comes from people we love and trust.
Whether it’s a super-simple switch from a plastic scouring pad to a natural loofah, or something bigger, such as joining a climate march of hundreds of thousands of protesters, telling your story is how we build a movement.
The more of us telling green, solution-focused stories, the faster we shift the focus from what’s wrong with the world to what’s right. And, when those ‘right’ things are seen as normal, the whole world will want to do them.
THE POWER OF PETITIONS
Online petitions are a fantastic tool for change-making, and they’re available to anyone who has an internet connection. Handing in a physical petition can be an important media event, too, if you’re running a campaign. A petition’s success can depend on a number of factors, from how well-written the ‘ask’ is, to the photo that depicts the issue, or how well-connected the person that starts it is. But the fact remains that online petitions offer a route to lasting change and, sometimes, in a matter of weeks. Change.org, Avaaz, Sum of Us and 38 Degrees are great examples of people-powered petition sites that are making waves. My organisation’s ‘Switch the Stick’ petition on the 38 Degrees platform asked UK retailers to stop making the stems of cotton buds (Q-tips) out of plastic and switch to paper instead. 155,000 signatures later and all nine major retailers had agreed to make the change, a move which stopped over 400 tonnes of single-use plastic at source, every year in the UK.
SING CONSUMERISM AS A TOOL FOR CHANGE
The above example demonstrates how we can use consumerism for good. Our supermarkets and retailers need us; without us buying their products, they can’t exist. Never underestimate how important you are to them and how, in fact, you have all the power. If you want refillable groceries in your supermarkets, tell them and get all your friends to tell them. If you want them to stop using palm oil, make sure they know you’re not going to spend your money in their stores until they do. If there’s a few hundred thousand of you saying the same thing, they will have to listen or risk losing customers.
NAMING, SHAMING AND GIVING THANKS
I’m all for positivity and sharing solutions, but when it comes to corporations not taking responsibility for the mess they’re making, a bit of naming and shaming doesn’t hurt. If your favourite makeup brand has unrecyclable packaging, make a song and dance about it by writing to them or calling them out on social media. Or you could switch to a more ethical
brand and champion them publicly for looking after people and planet as well as their profits. In addition to encouraging them to keep doing it, thanking companies that are doing the right thing has the added bonus of promoting their product to other people who might benefit from your findings. Your voice can make a huge difference, so use it often.
GETTING YOUR GOVERNMENT TO LISTEN
This one’s harder, as corporate lobbyists have a great deal of access to, and influence over, many of our elected representatives. Frustratingly, it’s often the case that their interests carry more weight than those of the average citizen. Corporate lobbyists aside, ultimately politicians want to stay in power and can be influenced by their supporters, especially if they think it can win them even more votes. Get to know the people that represent you in Parliament or Congress and at a local level, too, in your town, city and county councils. Go to your representatives’ surgeries, write them letters and engage them in the issues you care about. And make sure you’re registered to vote.
GETTING CRAFTY
Activism comes in many forms. A particularly beautiful one is craftivism, in which people use different forms of craft work to bring about change in the world. This is perfect for people who prefer to ‘provoke not preach’ and want to take a quieter, more reflective path to protest. UK-based Sarah Corbett, founder of the Craftivist Collective, was behind the successful ‘Don’t Blow It’ campaign that included bespoke, handstitched handkerchiefs being given to 14 board members of a large UK retail company. The campaign resulted in 50,000 of the retailer’s employees having their pay increased above the minimum wage and to the current UK Living Wage calculations. A gentle, playful approach that’s clearly not to be sniffed at.
IN THE BELLY OF THE BEAST
Change can come from within, of course, and I don’t just mean in terms of meditating more and feeling less anxious. In this case, I’m talking about changing the system, or the company you work for, from the inside out. I know some brilliant examples of people who, when they switched on to sustainability, managed to get huge changes happening in their workplaces, from online retailers, to banks and, even, a major restaurant chain. After all, you’ve got more than a foot in the door, you’ve got a desk, the ability to talk to people in different departments and, in some cases, access to the supply chain. Done in the right way, you can use your power and influence to make change happen. Whether it’s bringing in speakers to open people’s minds on their lunch breaks, getting your canteen to choose local organic food, switching disposable cups and packaging for reusables, or getting the company to become a certified B-Corp – businesses that balance purpose and profit – you can be the activist within. And, when your employer has thousands of employees and a long supply chain, those small changes can have a massive impact.
DO WHAT YOU LOVE AND LOVE WHAT YOU DO
The best way to maximise your impact is, ultimately, to be yourself. Bending yourself out of shape to do volunteer work that doesn’t suit you isn’t going to light you up. But doing something you love, or that makes you shine, will be irresistible. Build on your strengths, do what comes naturally to you and be who you are. Get clear on your motivation for changing the world and tell the story in a way that’s unique to you – knitting or fundraising, scientific research or filmmaking – wherever your talents lie, you can make them count by applying them to saving the world.
[Via GLAMOUR UK]
