Sharing Environmental Leadership With Others

One of the best ways to help the environment and contribute to the fight against the climate crisis is to speak up and speak often. Sharing the information in this blog and from your other research and knowledge about conservation is vital to the survival of the environmental movement. The authors, philosophers, activists, and world leaders discussed on this blog are not the only people advocating and sharing information on the climate crisis and alternatives to the capitalistic consumerism lifestyle that has become a pattern in society. There are millions of people around the world sharing their own stories on the internet, in publications, and even by word of mouth in personal conversations. This post is dedicated to giving you the skills to share environmental leadership with others in your daily life. 

Sharing with the Public

1. Attend a rally or march. Sharing your frustration over the lack of action by local, national, and global governing powers is a great way to spread the word. The best thing that those of us taking the climate crisis seriously can do for the planet every day is to never give up and never quiet our voices. The planet can't speak so we must all act as advocates for the environment.

2. Join a volunteer program. Joining an initiative that is active in your local area or that is global is a great way to get your face out there while doing good for the environment. It is also a great way to meet others with the same environmental values as you. This will give you opportunities to make connections, learn even more, and make a difference outside of you home. 

3. Social Media and the Internet. If conservation has become a part of your identity and your personality after learning about the climate crisis, make sure those that are interested in your life are aware of the change. Sharing and recommending articles, speeches, books, podcasts, tips and tricks, blogs, documentaries, other environmental leaders, scientific research and solutions, eco-conscious and zero-waste businesses, and other resources on social media platforms and across the internet is a simple and traceable way to introduce others to the conversations and responsibilities surrounding the planet.

Sharing in Personal Conversation

1. Appeal to their personal interests. When starting a conversation about the climate crisis, or any conversation where you may be trying to persuade someone to see your side, remember what their personal interests and values are. Appeal to those interests during the conversation. For example, if the person you are talking to loves to visit national parks, remind them that leave no trace is a practice that can be taken inside urban areas with only a few alterations. 

2. Stress the benefits of eco-conscious lifestyle changes. People have a tendency to look at a problem and prefer or only accept a solution if it will result in some sort of personal gain. Use this to your advantage when having conversations about environmental leadership. There are many personal benefits to these lifestyle changes. For example, remind the person you are talking to that eco-conscious lifestyle changes more often than not will save you money in the long-term.

3. Use accessible language. After reading this blog, even if you didn't expand the research to the recommended sources or find your own sources, you have started building a mental dictionary of terms that not everybody you meet will know or understand right away. When having conversations about environmental leadership and pubic responsibility, remember to use language and terms that anyone could follow. If you have to use a specific term the first time you are having this conversation with someone, make sure to give the definition and confirm that they are still following the conversation. 

4. Be positive, but urgent. Keep the conversation positive when talking about the realities of the climate crisis, stressing the many solutions and thousands of scientists working every day to track our progress, but do remind them that nothing is decided yet about the future of our planet. The more people who understand that the climate crisis is a an urgent matter, the more stress we can place on our governing powers, and the more we can help the environment recover from the damage we have caused. 

5. Give them a starting point. After this conversation and the fourth point especially, the person you have been talking to may be feeling overwhelmed and unsure of where and how to start their journey towards environmental leadership. It is helpful to give them a starting point, one thing that they can change that very day to help the planet. For ideas, head back to my previous post What If I Don't Own Land? Small Lifestyle Changes for Conservation.

Sharing without Words

1. "Actions speak louder than words." Your consistency and persistence towards living a low-waste, eco-conscious, environmentally friendly lifestyle and the choices you'll make daily within that will show those around you that you are serious about the climate crisis and that these choices are doable for everyone. 

2. Invite conservation into your social activities. Combining the time you want to spend with your friends and the sustainable practices in your life is a great way to introduce others to the ways you live an eco-conscious lifestyle. Inviting friends to the farmers market, or a zero-waste refill shopping trip, or to volunteer or march with you, or even to vote on bills and politicians wanting to combat climate change are all ways to initiate them into asking about what else you do to protect the environment. Pretty soon they have started the conversation instead of you!

3. Give subtle eco-friendly gifts. Wrapping your gifts in paper and boxes you collected from past packages is an easy way to show that you use what you have and don't buy unnecessarily. Making your gifts, purchasing from low-waste businesses, giving zero-waste gifts and products, thrifted items, or items that were not mass or quickly produced shows the person you are gifting that you not only care about them enough to put extra thought into the gift, but you care about the impact that item makes on the environment.

The next post is titled What If I Don't Own Land? Small Lifestyle Changes for Conservation and gives a huge list of ways to make changes in your life to protect the environment.