Be Sustainable: Do You Suffer With Eco-anxiety?
Eco-anxiety are feelings of helplessness, panic and guilt towards to ecological climate.
Whilst eco-anxiety is perfectly rational and isn’t a recognised medical condition, it can still cause harm to your mental health and impact your daily life.
Here are some ideas that may help you overcome these feeling of being out of control towards the climate crisis.
• Remember that climate change and the state of the environment are mostly not results of your everyday actions, so don’t hold yourself personally responsible! Most of our actions are determined by the economic and social systems in which we live, many of which developed before climate change was considered a serious issue. For people to live in fully ecologically sustainable ways, the economic and social systems in which we live, need to change first.
• If you haven’t done so already, decide which small actions you can regularly take in your daily life, to reduce your carbon and environmental footprints.
We each need to feel that our lives and our ideals are partly in sync with each other. If we’re campaigning for the government to regulate on reducing carbon emissions, but if we’re not trying to reduce carbon emissions in our own lives, then we may feel conflicted. So we each need to choose some lifestyle patterns which we believe in, like walking or cycling short journeys instead of taking the car, or eating less meat and dairy, then follow these improved patterns most of the time.
• Engage with nature. Studies have shown that regular time in green spaces or near rivers, lakes, and sea, is good for physical and mental health. Green spaces absorb carbon dioxide, and in urban areas, green spaces are usually cooler.
• Nurture the habit of maintaining and improving your own physical and mental health. You’re an integral part of the ecosystem, so looking after yourself is part of looking after the ecosystem!
“We don’t need a handful of people doing zero waste perfectly. We need millions of people doing it imperfectly. ” (Anne-Marie Bonneau – Zero Waste Chef)”
Safe Stay, Kim
