Eco-Anxiety: Anyone have it? How do you cope?

[mrsggrowsveg]

This is really personal, but here it goes.  Eco-anxiety is a term for a chronic concern over environmental issues.  This is surprisingly common and can even happen to children.  I remember having insomnia at the age of 8 because I worried about overpopulation and pollution.  This constant worry about my impact on the environment effects many of my choices that I make as an adult.  I find myself making decisions that I think would be good for the environment and then finding out they are not as good as I think and I panic. 

Does anyone else feel the same?

Does anything make you feel better?

[hoodedfalcon]

Wow! I had no idea there was a term for this. I definitely had this as a kid. I would go and read the ingredients on all the laundry detergents at the grocery store to get the ones without phosphates. I wrote recipes for homemade household cleaners (recently found the list, scrawled in my childish handwriting - recipes still good!). I was also afraid of chemical warfare and nuclear bombs. :)

Now I am vegan and I garden and compost and still make my own household cleaners, my own "beauty" products (deodorant, scrubs, face cleansers, etc.).

For me, I think this all stems from my father being very ill as a result of Agent Orange exposure, and so all chemicals seemed really scary to me.

[GuitarStv]

I think that the cavalier attitude most display towards environmental issues is a more chronic problem.

[swick]

Something I have been struggling with since childhood as well. Part of my problem with the whole FI/ER path is knowing that a lot of what is publicly available to invest in, I am against on a personal level. The term "Eco-anxiety" is perfect - did you come up with it?

I have been wondering how I would share this new concept I am involved with (mostly as a social experiment, founder is in a mastermind group I am involved in)  I love the concept and can see the potential, and wonder how it would go over in the MMM community...

The basic idea is distributed capitalism and crowd (co-op) funded eco-investing. Website has not launched yet, but it is at http://www.crew.coop/

Also, there is a super cute promo video on youtube that gives you the basic idea here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ARSiWWXKLto&feature=youtu.be

I'd love all your thoughts and ideas!

[jm3531]

It is something that weighs on my mind a lot, but maybe not to the extent you described.

In one of my classes I sit behind a girl who brings several single serving drinks every session, and it is so distracting to me. She throws the plastic bottles/cups away (often stuffing other wrappers in them). I find myself not able to focus because I start thinking about all the massive waste and trash that people create on a daily basis. I would like to say something to her, but can't figure out how to approach it without coming off as holier than thou.

I think that you just have to do your best, educate people where you can, and try not to dwell. Dwelling and giving yourself anxiety does no good, and you alone are suffering for it most likely.

[Northerly]

Really interesting. I would venture that this kind of anxiety occurs when a serious matter of conscience is combined with a certain personality type. I experienced a lot of anxiety as a child and teenager with regard to certain matters in religion. Eco-anxiety seems to share many elements of orthodox religious experience, where there is
-dogma
-creed
-propriety
-free will
-judgment
-grace (hopefully)
-proselytization

From the religious side, the answer for me was not unbelief, but acknowledging that many things are outside of my control, perfection is unattainable, and grace is necessary. I think the same could apply to eco-anxiety.

[mrsggrowsveg]

HoodedFalcon:  I am sorry about your father.  I too find myself obsessing over labels.  I often find myself making my own things, because nothing is clean enough at the stores. 

Swick:  I love the idea of Eco investing.  That is definitely somewhere I would like my money to go in the future.

jm3531:  I see many people with their daily disposable products.  I understand that the dwelling and anxiety really don't help the situation at all.  I am trying to get better about this.

Northerly:  Your post really resonated with me especially with my strict Catholic upbringing.  I will try to remember that "perfection is unattainable and grace is necessary"

[DoubleDown]

acknowledging that many things are outside of my control, perfection is unattainable, and grace is necessary. I think the same could apply to eco-anxiety.

Great answer!

I had no idea so many people suffer from this kind of concern over the environment. Listen, no one should be having anxiety about things that are beyond their control. If you're experiencing anxiety about anything, you need to find ways to eliminate or handle that anxiety. Worrying is not a way to go through life. It bothers me greatly when I see the latest forecasts of doom for our planet, elephants and rhinos being hunted to extinction for ivory, thousands of other species being wiped out through habitation loss, melting polar ice, smog pouring into the atmosphere unabated from China and India (and somewhat abated in the U.S.). Do what you can to control your own actions and to influence policy, but don't let yourself get anxious about it. That does nothing but harm you (and you're part of the ecosystem!).

[Elderwood17]

I think that the cavalier attitude most display towards environmental issues is a more chronic problem.

Agree!

[DarinC]

I feel the same way, and I've found that action was the best treatment to help with my anxiety. I also likely have an anxiety disorder, so SSRIs helped with anxiety in general, but I was acting far before medication and found it's far better at dealing with specific worries.

I've done some of the usual stuff (CFLs/LEDs, more insulation, mostly hybrid/FE cars and biking when I can, minimize meat consumption, buy used/re-use/recycle), and I'm looking forward to some more usual and unusual improvements. I helped my mom buy an earth-bermed block/stick home, and it's been pretty nice. Cooler than normal in the summer and warmer in the winter. We're planning on putting in solar panels, a solar thermal/GSHP system, getting/building EVs, raising hens for eggs, grey-water recycling, maybe hydroponics per MMM's recent post, etc...

[mak1277]

It helps me to always remember that nothing I do will either save or ruin the earth.  It will be here (and fine) long after I'm dead.

[RetiredAt63]

I think that the cavalier attitude most display towards environmental issues is a more chronic problem.

Agree!

+1

[RetiredAt63]

I do all the obvious stuff.  It impacts me psychologically more in that I used to teach Environmental Science, so I saw lots of issues that generally don't get into public awareness.  When policies took problems into account and they got better, people would say "see it wasn't a big problem".  Well it was a big problem but it didn't get to be an even bigger problem.  Just like Y2K, for an example for the technically inclined among us.  I know several people who worked very hard to prevent Y2K from being a problem, and they were just a small fraction of those working on it.  And after all that effort, which worked, people said "why was everyone so fussed about Y2K? Nothing happened."

And there are just so many environmental issues, because people who think of ways to do things rarely think of the bigger picture.  Think neonicotinoid insecticides and honey bees.  Heaven forbid we should ban a group of chemicals that may mean we end up hand-pollinating all our insect pollinated crops, like they have to do in China because they have killed their bees. Our individual efforts matter (or get on SumOfUs's mailing list for environmental petitions).  You can imagine how I feel when people casually talk about having lots of kids.  Even if they have a low ecological footprint, anyone in North America and Europe has a huge environmental impact.  There is a reason I only had one kid and I had her late.  So there is one way everyone has an individual choice and impact.

And as a real downer, I have just finished Peter Ward's latest books.  Not happy reading.  If you want to get really depressed, read Under a Green Sky and The Flooded Earth.

Oh, for general science and a great way to find out what is happening , http://www.sciencedaily.com/ is a great web site.

[dr_sassy]

I totally have eco-anxiety. So much destruction and willful ignorance, while intelligent, concerned people get burned out.

A few things helped. I decided that my anxiety was not helping the plants and animals survive. So I took a leaf from Dan Ariely and his Coursera course and decided to use gamification help motivate people to be eco-friendly. I wanted to make it super easy. First, post one challenge a month.
“Like” task              1 point
Post on wall          2 points
Picture on wall   2 points
Pic & post               5 points total (can still get “like” point as well)
DIY challenge      5 bonus points

More explanation here:
http://theearthsteps.wordpress.com/tag/dan-ariely/

Actual game on Facebook here: https://www.facebook.com/theearthsteps

So few of my friends participated, I got discouraged and left it. But MMM could be the perfect group. What do you say?

I posted a November challenge. Walk, bike, or sled/ski (depending on your geography) on an errand, instead of driving. I know MMM could raise the ante on this. Please do.

Cheers,
Melissa

[agent13x]

I think that the cavalier attitude most display towards environmental issues is a more chronic problem.

With the opposite of this being pretentiousness.

[mrsggrowsveg]

These are some lovely tips.

It helps me to always remember that nothing I do will either save or ruin the earth.  It will be here (and fine) long after I'm dead.

This one is particularly helpful.  I am trying to focus on doing the things that I can, but not stressing about the things that I don't do.

[The Architect]

These are some lovely tips.

It helps me to always remember that nothing I do will either save or ruin the earth.  It will be here (and fine) long after I'm dead.

This one is particularly helpful.  I am trying to focus on doing the things that I can, but not stressing about the things that I don't do.

Investigating - and really understanding - the scale of the Earth (and our Solar System as a whole) would probably help you. I used to worry that someday we'd run out of material. Now I realize that there are 5,972,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 (5.9 septillion - or a trillion trillion) kg of material beneath my feet, and that at ~90 kg I don't make a dent in that.

[Beric01]

I'm honestly not that concerned about the environment. We've already done some amazing things today compared to the damage we've done in the past. I think we as humans are a very adaptable species. I even think we'll adapt to global warming. I do enjoy spending time in nature, but I don't have some quasi-religious reason to protect it beyond all else.

I see no reason to buy organic (IMO it's just marketing BS), and think pesticides and GMO's are incredible inventions which allow more people to live rather than starve.

At the same time, I think Mustachianism as a way to achieve financial independence and maintain control over one's life is awesome. I happen to not own a car (I bike everywhere), and have a carbon footprint lower than that of many environmentalists. But that's because of my values (such as saving money), and the environment is pretty low on that list.

[GuitarStv]

Beric appears to embody what I mentioned earlier.  Sticking your head in the sand and hoping that things will magically turn out OK is a piss poor approach to dealing with environmental issues.  The capitalist system we are a part of is currently set up in such a way that there are pretty few negatives for causing long term damage to the environment.  There is an awful lot of money tied to the pretense that everything will be OK if you just ignore what the large corporations behind the curtain are doing.  Many environmental issues snowball . . . small changes now can prevent the need for huge changes later on, but few will make the small changes now if they're being told that there won't be a problem in the future.

We're giving the shaft to our future selves.

[Kyle Schuant]

Yes, I am anxious about the future course of the world. But aside from voting for the appropriate candidate in elections and writing them the occasional letter, I worry about what I can control. I used to be involved in a peak oil website, wrote blog articles on reducing your impact, etc. Had a carbon consumption spreadsheet and everything.

Nowadays I talk less and act more. We've swapped our halogens for LEDs, etc, and I work from home, so less burning fuel to get around, etc.

Consider the below figure carefully. The things you control contribute to step-by-step change. I mean when I was growing up, only weirdos had solar panels and rode bicycles and so on. But more and more people did these things and treated them as normal, so eventually... now it seems normal. The same with women being CEOs or gays living together openly as couples, or whatever.

Most of the things you need to do to reduce your impact on the environment are just reducing wasteful consumption. Which also saves money. Frugality and environmentalism have a big overlap.