Introduction

Ever feel kind of stressed about the state of the planet? You're not alone.

A recent survey of 10,000 young people (ages 16–25) found that 45% said concerns about the environment are negatively affecting their daily life and mental health. That number’s even higher for people who are more involved in environmental issues.

As creators and Earth advocates, we get it. We care a lot about the climate, and yeah—it can feel overwhelming. But instead of ignoring that stress, we believe it's important to talk about it, reflect on it, and turn those feelings into action.

This activity is a space for you to explore those thoughts in a low-pressure, personal way—and maybe start to feel a little more empowered in the process.

Let’s dive in.

Step 1: Find a partner

It can be tricky to sort your thoughts while keeping them to yourself. Silence often breeds anxiety as we keep in our worries, bottling them up. Expressing them to someone else can help you understand and process your eco-anxiety. 

• To do this, find a partner you trust and can speak freely to, such as a parent or friend.

Step 2: Share with each other

Go through this checklist before you share to make sure you are both on the same page: 

• Set yourselves up in a quiet area 

• Have this question ready to answer: “When you think about your concerns and anxieties about the environment, what comes up?” 

• Decide on how long each person will speak, whether that is 3 or 5 minutes. It does not matter which one you choose, just make sure you each get the same amount of time. 

• While it may seem unusual, your partner is simply there to listen to you. This is not a conversation but rather a way to freely verbalize your thoughts and feel heard.  

Step 3: Reflect

Once you both have shared, talk to each other about how you feel.

1. Are there any things you both had in common? 

2. Do you have any positive feedback in ways your partner could benefit from, such as things you have done yourself to lower your eco-anxiety? 

3. How did it feel to have a partner simply listen and validate your feelings?

Now, have a conversation about your experience using the following questions to guide you

1) How do you feel after this? 

2) Speaking about something often subconsciously releases internal emotions and reactions when we feel especially strongly about something, letting us localize trigger points.

A. Was there anything that you felt more emotion towards? 

B. Did you notice yourself speaking louder/quicker or did you feel your heart rate go up when talking about a specific topic? 

C. Was there one thing that you wanted to talk about more than others? Was there maybe one thing that was hard to talk about? 

Helpful tip: If you’re still feeling a little bit anxious, hopefully, this article can help you out!: https://www.choosingtherapy.com/eco-anxiety/ 

Step 4: Dive Deeper

While the above pair and share dealt with an open-ended question, below are more questions to dive deeper into eco-anxiety. If it feels right, this could be done after taking a break so as to not overwhelm. These could also serve as discussion questions for a larger group or class. Alternatively, they can be questions you can journal about.

Step 5: Change for the better 

The next step to help your eco-anxiety is to get out and about! 

It is easy to get caught up in dark statistics, numbers, and predictions that we sometimes forget there is also hope. The idea here is to balance out all the eco-anxiety-producing stories in the media with stories of hope. So go out and share the positivity! 

Option 1: Stay Local 
Find a local community garden to get your hands in the soil and connect with your community.

Option 2: Earthships 
Another way to combat anxiety around ecological issues is to acknowledge the possibilities that work for our planet, like Michael Reynold’s Earthships! With his freshly awarded Architecture Degree, Reynolds set out on a mission to create his Earthships. Ever since 1972, he has been creating homes that are completely self-sufficient, sustainable, and very artsy. As people working in the creative space, we have the possibility to use our imaginations to create an innovative future that works with, not against, the planet.

Check out this video: The Eco-Friendly Genius of 'Earthships' | That's Amazing then follow the steps below!

For a deeper dive into Earthships, you can also check out this video:
Brilliant EARTHSHIP Home Makes Off-Grid Life Look Easy!

One more thing before you go!

We truly hope you learned something about yourself and the environment while doing this activity. 

If you have already done this exercise in some way before, try doing it again every year. Think of it as a layering exercise where you can grow upon your past experiences, creating even stronger awareness and healthier habits!  

More than anything, we hope you had a bit of fun and be sure to check out the other activities as well!