How have your thoughts or feelings about climate change changed over time?
When I first learned about climate change, I felt guilty — guilty that I had not been doing more and that my family had not been doing more. I viewed it as a massive weight on my back, and that I needed to be a driver of the solution. This also came with a lot of anxiety and concern for my future. Over time, however, I learned more about how addressing climate change demands systemic change — I could not solve it as just one person, and me switching to reusable items, etc., would only be a drop in the ocean in terms of making a positive change. The big industries, such as oil, fertilizer manufacturing, industrial agriculture, alongside government need to make massive shifts if we really want to combat this existential issue. This was both extremely frustrating to realize, but also relieving. It was not my fault that it is easier to use and access unsustainable practices — our world was designed in this way to benefit certain companies and industries that hold extreme amounts of wealth and power. Now, while I focus on making change throughout my own life to be more sustainable, I focus on supporting companies and brands that work to not be part of the problem. Thinking about climate change in this bigger picture makes me as a person feel much less guilty and that there are much bigger forces at play that are the contributors and drivers of climate change than me using a plastic fork.
