99 Ways To Fight Climate Change
From extreme floods to overwhelming fires, climate change is becoming increasingly evident in our daily lives. And it’s easy to feel an overwhelming sense of eco-anxiety or dread. But instead of giving in to panic and overwhelm, veterans of the fight against climate change are urging us to keep going.
“The opportunities to get involved in the climate fight are endless, and that can be overwhelming,” writes climate journalist Emily Atkin in her newsletter HEATED. “But the beauty of people power is that you don’t have to do everything.”
In the comments section of her piece “What can I do? Anything.”, readers added their own recommendations, resulting in hundreds of ideas for carrying on the climate movement for a better future.
To continue the discussion, we’ve also brainstormed 99 ways to join the collective fight against climate change. Find an action that works with your budget, schedule, and energy to carry out routinely. Or, find one large action to participate in now and return when you have the bandwidth to take up another.
Whatever you choose, choose to do something.
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Read and Support Climate Journalists & Media
1. Subscribe to Mary Annaïse Heglar and Amy Westervelt’s newsletter Hot Take and listen to their weekly podcast.
2. Sign up for a paid subscription to the HEATED newsletter.
3. Support independent climate journalism from publications like Floodlight.
4. Stay up-to-date with climate policy through these 9 trusted resources.
5. Make Drilled News a part of your daily routine. The team prioritizes expert reporting and produces an investigative podcast.
6. Subscribe to Gizmodo’s daily Earther newsletter.
7. Fact-check your media and continuously look to support media policies that combat disinformation.
8. Listen to Scene on Radio’s latest podcast series, The Repair. It explores “the cultural roots of our current ecological emergency, and the deep changes Western society will need to make to save the Earth and our species.”
9. Listen to Citations Needed, a podcast “about the intersection of media, PR, and power,” and subscribe to additional podcasts that pull the curtain back on mainstream messaging.
10. Share Bill Mckibben’s The Climate Crisis newsletter with folks over 60.
Voice Opposition Against Policies & Players Actively Harming The Environment
11. Join the Hot Take duo in “greentrolling” fossil fuel companies.
12. Participate in one of Stop the Money Pipeline’s campaigns to demand Wall Street divest from fossil fuels.
13. Join the #JustUseTeams campaign aimed at stopping unnecessary use of private jet flights by the Microsoft Corporation.
14. Disrupt fossil fuel development by becoming a mineral owner. Through All The Way To Hell’s activist art project, you can help make fossil fuel companies’ jobs much more difficult.
15. Voice opposition to Line 5 in Michigan. Tell President Biden to support the pipeline shutdown through this petition.
16. Take action to Stop Line 3, a pipeline expansion proposed by Enbridge.
17. Use Climate Hawks Votes to vote for and back climate candidates.
18. Call your senators to voice your opposition to harmful climate policies and actions.
19. Canvas with Environmental Voter Project.
20. Sign a petition to stand behind the No Climate, No Deal campaign.
21. Contact your state’s public service commission about clean energy standards.
22. Support HR 2307, The Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act, which will help reduce America’s carbon pollution to net zero by 2050.
23. In the PR and advertising industry? Take the Clean Creatives pledge, which brings “together leading agencies, their employees, and clients to address the ad and PR industry’s work with fossil fuels.”
24. Sign Move to Amend’s petition to hold corporations legally accountable.
25. Use #Call4Climate to make calling congress a breeze.
26. Get involved in local climate policy.
27. Advocate for better public transportation in your area.
28. Sign this petition to tell the New York Times to stop promoting fossil fuels.
29. Attend climate protests around the country and world.
30. Support political candidates who are actively fighting to protect our environment.
Volunteer & Donate to Organizations Fighting Climate Change
31. Take action with The Climate Reality Project, a grassroots organization mobilizing people and providing them with “the skills, campaigns, and resources to push for aggressive climate action and high-level policies that accelerate a just transition to clean energy.”
32. Volunteer with Citizens Climate Lobby. Start by donating one hour of your time per week.
33. Donate to aid Common Earth’s restoration projects.
34. Help protect those displaced by climate change by donating to Climate Refugees and sign up to partcipate in the organization’s next campaign.
35. Allot one hour a week of your time to action through Climate Changemakers.
36. Keep track of Future Coalition’s Youth Climate Finance Alliance project.
37. Follow Fossil Free Media’s pioneering work.
38. Become a supporter of Climate Central’s scientific research and reporting.
39. Participate in one of Alliance for Climate Education’s campaigns and donate to their efforts.
40. Get involved with the Climate Museum in NYC—from near or far!
41. Add your voice to End Climate Silence’s work, a volunteer organization “helping the media cover the climate crisis with the urgency it deserves.”
42. Donate to Project Drawdown, one of the world’s leading resource for climate solutions.
43. Find a 350 group near you.
44. Get involved with We Act, an organization working to combat environmental racism.
45. Participate in Climate Justice Alliance’s impressive work.
46. Volunteer with the Sunrise Movement chapter near you.
47. Start a climate action group in your community.
48. Donate to recovery efforts in communities hardest hit by environmental disasters.
49. Volunteer in park restoration efforts through groups such as TreePeople in Los Angeles or the PRISM network in New York.
50. Take a workshop or course to learn how to identify invasive species on your own.
51. Donate monthly to national parks.
52. Also, volunteer at your nearest national park.
53. Get involved in the Clean Clothes Campaign and help fight for garment workers’ rights.
54. Regularly offer your skills to a local climate-focused group, organization, or campaign.
Make Lifestyle Changes That Prioritize Our Planet
55. Talk with others about “unusual” weather and its connection to climate change.
56. Divest your personal assets from fossil fuels. Find green banking alternatives.
57. Work to manage eco-anxiety as an individual and as a parent.
58. Participate in Meatless Mondays, or go vegan if it works for you.
59. Read up on how climate change is a bipartisan issue.
60. Talk about it. Talk about climate change with friends, family, coworkers, neighbors, anyone who will listen!
61. Are you a person of faith or religion? Join an interfaith climate action group, or create one in your community.
62. Rethink the way we talk about climate change.
63. Invest more responsibly with Fossil Free Funds.
64. Imagine climate policy futures with the En-ROADS simulator.
65. If you have the means, join Sustainable Agriculture and Food Systems Funders.
66. Take time outside, enjoying nature and remembering all that we’re fighting for.
67. Travel locally when you can instead of flying.
68. Avoid traveling to areas overrun by tourists and hard-hit by climate change, such as Hawaii, Venice, Santorini, and the Florida Keys.
69. Get rid of your lawn and discover the popular landscaping’s colonialist past.
70. Learn the importance of intersectional environmentalism.
71. Utilize Energetics to integrate clean energy technologies and strategies into business.
72. If you have the means, invest in climate policy lobbying.
73. Push for energy efficiency at your school or your kids’ school.
74. Encourage schools in your area to divest from fossil fuels and reinvest in ESG funds.
75. Support young climate activists of color.
76. Join (or start!) a local environmental advocacy group in your area.
77. Endorse local candidates who aim to create more affordable housing in urban areas and combat suburban sprawl.
78. Join the waitlist for United by Zero’s website and guide to shopping smarter.
Keep Reading & Learning
79. Read up on deforestation.
80. Read up on ecosystem restoration projects.
81. Practice reading the news critically.
82. Read the anthology “All We Can Save.”
83. Read these other books on climate change.
84. Learn about carbon footprints and the myths.
85. Support regional publications that are talking transparently about climate change.
86. Start a climate change book club.
87. Understand how toxic masculinity is connected to climate denial.
88. Discover all about permaculture.
89. Equip yourself with knowledge of the history of the fossil fuel industry and its propaganda.
90. Attend a virtual lecture or workshop on climate action.
91. Research the history, importance, and current threats against the Amazon rainforest.
92. Unpack the everlasting impacts of colonization on the environment through resources such as “As Long as Grass Grows: The Indigenous Fight for Environmental Justice, from Colonization to Standing Rock.”
93. Become a supporter of Slow Factory’s anti-colonialism work and learn through their OpenEdu climate justice and human rights courses!
94. Check out the Climate Town video series.
95. Dive into Climate One’s radio, podcast, and video reporting.
96. Follow and read climate news from Grist, a nonprofit, independent media organization.
97. Do your best, but remember this is a team effort.
98. Resist pointing fingers at other individuals’ choices and focus on the system instead.
99. Stay hopeful and keep fighting.
Have additional ideas for taking action? Drop them in the comments below!
Audrey Stanton was born and raised in the Bay Area and is currently based in Los Angeles. She works as a freelance writer and content creator with a focus in sustainable fashion. Audrey is deeply passionate about conscious living and hopes to continue to spread awareness of ethical consumption.