海角大神

From my earliest days, I鈥檝e been encouraged to steward the Earth. In school, the familiar adage 鈥渞educe, reuse, recycle鈥� was drilled in us. We planted trees on Earth Day. Every year we plodded through the 2-mile stretch of the highway my church adopted, filling our bags with takeout containers, old magazines, and other debris.

As the planet continued to heat up through my adolescence and young adulthood, I realized we were now facing a global crisis. As an adult, I was surprised to learn that my lifestyle wasn鈥檛 as sustainable as I had thought. The more I learned, the more I realized I had underestimated how much my way of life was contributing to climate change. I wanted to do my part to make it better, and as a journalist I had an excuse to call experts to see how I might make a difference.

鈥淚f we change every person鈥檚 behavior, we change the world,鈥� says Rebecca Benner, managing director of climate programs at The Nature Conservancy.

During our conversation, I told her about my desire to adopt more sustainable practices. The hardest part, I confided, is feeling that it鈥檚 never enough.

鈥淭his is the biggest, thorniest, scariest issue that I think humanity has ever confronted,鈥� says Dr. Benner. So what do you tackle first? she asked. Do you reduce your travel? Change the way you shop at the supermarket? The clothes you wear?

鈥淓very choice you make has a climate impact, and it鈥檚 really hard to know how to change your lifestyle to have an actual positive impact,鈥� she says.

I asked her how she manages this in her own life, as someone working on the front lines of trying to reduce climate change. She sighed.

鈥淪o I make choices that I can do with my family that, yeah, inconvenience us a little bit, but aren鈥檛 so big and dramatic that it turns our entire life upside down,鈥� Dr. Benner says.

They live rurally, so giving up their car isn鈥檛 an option. But she鈥檚 discovered other things they can do, such as flying less, using reusable water bottles, and 鈥済oing deep鈥� in scrutinizing the types of chemicals they use at home.

When I reflected on the changes in my own life that have stuck, I saw a pattern: I took one small habit and adjusted it; when that became my new norm, I adopted another. About 10 years ago, I made the switch to reusable bags. It was awkward at first, and I often forgot them. Now it鈥檚 second nature.

Sean Ellis says his team researches how best to encourage people to adopt beneficial practices into their lives, whether it鈥檚 related to health, education, or even climate change.

鈥淗ow can we nudge people? How can we get people to change their habits, to maintain new habits?鈥� says Dr. Ellis, director of analytics at the Behavior Change for Good Initiative at the University of Pennsylvania.

One way to do this is to highlight something everyone cares about: their finances.

鈥淚f I use less electricity at my house, I鈥檓 paying less on my electric bill. If I鈥檓 using less water, I鈥檓 paying less on my water bill,鈥� says Dr. Ellis. This awareness affects consumer usage.

I remember receiving a note from my utility company one month letting me know my electric usage was double that of my neighbors. I was shocked, and it prompted my family to remember to turn off the lights when we leave the room.

Leaning into other practices that alleviate stress on the environment and my wallet has become a fun challenge. I made it my New Year鈥檚 resolution a few years ago to buy my clothes secondhand. I discovered my local Everything Is Free Facebook group where members of our community give and take items freely. When my son was born, a local mom gifted me cloth diapers. Most of my son鈥檚 toys are from this group, and when he outgrows them we pass them on to the next family. Recently a woman from the other side of town offered me milkweed seeds to plant in my yard for pollinators. The group has created an ecosystem of care, sustainability, and support.

Social pressure can be a huge motivator for habit change, says Yasmine Kalkstein, a professor of psychology at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. It鈥檚 much easier to adjust your habits when it鈥檚 the social norm.

鈥淩emind people that almost everybody else is doing it, so why aren鈥檛 you?鈥� says Dr. Kalkstein. Those small changes, traveling from person to person, can add up to a big difference.

鈥淥ne bag doesn鈥檛 seem to do a whole lot. But what if I looked at it like, I am currently reducing my waste by 400 plastic bags a year? Whoa, that鈥檚 huge.鈥�

Dr. Kalkstein mentioned a study regarding hotel towels. Simply pointing out that a majority of guests reuse their towels encourages others to do the same, reducing the amount of water and energy required to wash them every day.

Now, as I look around and see the ways I can continue to make changes in my life, I don鈥檛 feel so hopeless. I feel motivated hearing about the ways that others are taking baby steps. Getting one toy secondhand won鈥檛 save the planet, but it might continue to move the needle toward the lifestyle shift we need. I鈥檒l be part of a collective of people who are doing their best to adopt sustainable practices, one small change at a time.

鈥淲hen we have the right mindset that we can grow, we can change 鈥� I think we are more likely to change,鈥� Dr. Kalkstein says. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 empowering.鈥�