Worrying about the future of the planet can feel really overwhelming. It can be hard to think positively or feel like anything we’re doing is making a difference. But what if instead of letting climate anxiety consume us, we committed to building community and resilience? How can we learn to channel our climate anxiety into action and hope?

During the Climate Change: From Anxiety to Action theme, we’ll work to define climate anxiety and identify the actions, community building solutions, and self-care practices that can keep us going even in the face of climate disaster. 

This page is the hub for all things related to this theme. Explore the resources tabs below to find definitions of climate anxiety and inspiring stories of community building, advocacy, and self-care. 

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Blog Posts:

Won’t You Be My Neighbor: Community Building, Mutual Aid, and Climate Anxiety

One of the best ways we can channel our feelings of climate anxiety into something more productive is to become more actively involved in our communities. By doing so, we can tap into local support networks and get to know our neighbors. Check out 3 tips for...

Committing To Climate Action

Because climate change is such a big problem, it can sometimes feel like individual actions don't really matter. Taking action is important for many reasons, though. One of the biggest being that your actions can inspire and connect you to others, which can turn your...

Breaking Unhealthy Climate Anxiety Habits

When we started this sustainability theme, we had quite a few responses from folks asking us to cover topics like coping strategies and how to not feel guilty about needing a break from climate news. By taking a look at the ways in which our feelings of climate...

Turn Climate Anxiety into Action with Imago

If you’ve ever experienced any kind of anxiety you know that there isn’t a simple way to turn it off. You can’t just say “I’m going to stop being anxious now” and suddenly get on with your day. And when that anxiety is tied to the future of the planet and you’re...

Resources for turning anxiety into action

 Check out the topics below to learn more about climate anxiety. Featuring stories of hope, ideas for building community, resources for parents and teachers, and much more.

Defining Climate Anxiety

    Stories of Resiliance 

    How do I build community? 

    Why Taking Action is Important

    • Talking about dread is not enough – we need action too | “Emotions shouldn’t be buried, but explored and understood, then taken up as tools.” Gen Dread is an email newsletter that is focused on finding tools for coping with our dangerous climate reality and cultivating resilience in these times.
    • Op-Ed: Is climate anxiety bad for the planet? | “We needn’t remove carbon from the atmosphere in one fell swoop to be effective in addressing climate change. We need to start where we are, use the talents we already have, and plug into groups and communities that are already doing the work.”

    What Can I Do?

      Making room for self-care is very important, especially when it comes to feelings of climate anxiety. If we feel too overwhelmed, our anxiety can turn into hopelessness, loneliness, and inaction. Explore the resources below to find some self-care practices that may help you turn your climate anxiety into action.

      • Sunrise Cincy | Cincinnati-based hub of the national youth-led policy-based climate justice organization, The Sunrise Movement. Learn more about the Sunrise Movement here.
      • Mutual Aid Cincinnati | Mutual Aid Cincinnati is group that encourages sharing resources and information. “Sharing is encouraged with an attitude of providing solidarity, not charity, to the people of the greater Cincinnati metro area.”
      • Greater Cincinnati Native American Coalition | “GCNAC exists to preserve and represent the culture and heritage of Native American, Indigenous, and First Nations people; providing education, advocacy, and support on Indigenous issues, cultivating knowledge in local and regional communities.”
      • The Free Fridge | The Free Fridge is pretty much exactly what it sounds like: a fridge stocked with food available to anyone who needs it. Donations to the fridge can be made in the form of food or monetary support.
      • Triiibe Foundation | Triiibe Foundation is an organization whose goal is to bring together communities through projects like urban gardens and sharing resources. “Triiibe Foundation aims to empower and cultivate a strong, empathetic community. Our organization is unique because we choose to educate, and align with a common goal: Community. People. The preservation of both. When you see Triiibe Foundation, we want you to see yourself. We want you to see how attainable it is to reach personal, and community goals, when we work together.”
      • Cincy Nice | Cincy Nice is a creative collective that creates events and projects where the goal is for people to come together, have fun, make friends, and bring about change. “Bringing folks together, Celebrating Cincinnati, Making friends, Spreading joy, Sparking conversations, Encouraging action, Creating memorable experiences, Curating freedom, Shifting the culture, STILL SMILING.”
      • Cincy Food Not Bombs | Cincy Food Not Bombs is a volunteer-run that “not only provide meals to the hungry on the streets and at protests we also participate in planning and implementing campaigns of nonviolent direct action.”
      • Community Happens Here | Community Happens Here was founded with the hope of bringing together neighbors for conversation, connection, and building community. Their co-working space is located in Pleasant Ridge. “The concept behind this project is that a mix of co-working and conference room rentals can sustain and fund programming for social good in the building, and create community.”
      • Co-op Cincy |Co-op Cincy is an organization that supports local businesses who want to transition to become worker-owned cooperatives. Some of the co-ops include a childcare co-op, a composting business, and an affordable housing venture.  “Co-op Cincy nurtures a resilient, integrated network of worker-owned businesses in the Greater Cincinnati region. Our goal: to create an economy that works for all.”
      • Citizens for Rights of the Ohio River Watershed | Local group active in the Rights of Nature movement. “We recognize the sacred rights of the Ohio River Watershed to flourish as a life-giving natural ecosystem.”
      • Tikkun Farm | Tikkun Farm is a 3.5 acre farm located in Mt. Healthy that offers a place of healing, restoration and repair. Tikkun hosts a number of workshops and retreats and is also home to a free food market for members of the community. 
      • Wave Pool | Wave Pool is an art and community organization located in Camp Washington. Their mission is to “create community fulfillment through artistic opportunities.”

      For some, climate anxiety relates to hopelessness in the face of future climate catastrophe. But for many communities, the impacts of climate change are already being felt today. Explore the resources below to understand how the climate crisis — and therefore climate anxiety and trauma– affect communities of people differently.

      • Is It Time to Abandon the Term “Climate Anxiety”? | An interesting perspective on the term “climate anxiety” and how the term may fall short to describe the situation for many marginalized communities who have long been experiencing the impacts of climate change.
      • Climate Anxiety Is an Overwhelmingly White Phenomenon | “As climate refugees are framed as a climate security threat, will the climate-anxious recognize their role in displacing people from around the globe?…How can we make sure that climate anxiety is harnessed for climate justice?”

       

      How does climate anxiety affect young people and parents?

      Helping children deal with climate anxiety 

      Teaching students about climate change 

      Youth Activism | Inspiring stories of youth activists that you may want to share with young people in your life.

      Podcasts

      Books

      Videos

      Climate Anxiety Email Series:

      Click the boxes below to explore the Climate Anxiety Email Series. Each email contains resources related to a certain topic as well as a prompt to inspire you to take action and dig deeper.