Opinion: On Climate Change Activism

Recently, I challenged myself to go vegetarian for an entire week. It wasn’t as difficult as I had envisioned it to be, largely thanks to the marinated tofu that became an inseparable part of my diet.

My motivation for this challenge was to develop my environmental awareness; vegetarianism for a week is the smallest gesture I could do to show my willingness to reduce my carbon emissions. To this point, I was met with a spectrum of reactions: some admired my receptive attitude, while others accused me of not doing enough or lamented that my efforts would not make a significant difference in combating climate change. I believe these criticisms are also the ones contemporary climate change narratives face.

To answer these sentiments, I want to share a climate change philosophy I’ve grown to sympathize with: moderate activism. Moderate activism comes to terms with climate change through policies that take smaller steps instead of large ones. Though each step might not be the radical change that will “solve” climate change altogether, the changes amount to a sizable effort. This also includes community involvement, where activism transforms from an individual pursuit to a more communal one.

In my experience, most popular climate change activists often emphasize revolutionary changes to drastically reduce emissions. A notorious example is Greta Thunberg, whose name often pops up when talking about climate change; her ideas are radical and infeasible as she advocates for carbon footprint reductions that exceed financial and logistical capabilities. So her passionate advocacy did not bring about the changes that she sought. Factories burning fossil fuels still emit carbon dioxide, animal production industries still raise herds of farting livestock that leave huge carbon footprints, and people are still driving these industries through consumption. I think there’s something evidently dysfunctional with predominant climate change activism. Moderate activism solves these problems in a few good ways.

Foremost, I believe moderatism allows for broader participation. I often find myself situated in a cascade of comparatives when confronting climate change. I had gone vegetarian to do my part in tackling climate change. But why didn’t I go vegan, if veganism reduces emissions so much more than vegetarianism? Why didn’t I boycott all fossil fuel energy sources to further lower my carbon footprint? Why didn’t I become a luddite to really spread the message? You see, the questions become quite absurd. The emphasis should not be on doing as much as possible, but on committing to actions sustainable—both to the environment and your own routines—so that you will ultimately stick with it.

Lower rigors for participation that I mentioned are also much more feasible for the general public. As Anne Bonneau, author of the environmental culinary guide The Zero Waste Chef, so eloquently puts it, “We don’t need a handful of people doing zero waste perfectly. We need millions of people doing it imperfectly.” The truth about climate change is that a lot of people doing a few far outweighs a few people doing a lot. An entire nation reducing their meat consumption by five percent does far more than a small community of activists abstaining from animal products for life. Speaking based on my own vegetarian challenge, going plant-based or vegetarian isn’t difficult, but going vegan is far more demanding. Getting a society to go on a plant-based diet should be the kind of policy we strive for. I believe a good policy should be from the shoes of the everyday layman—someone who’s accustomed to their lifestyle and isn’t ready to just live like a hermit.

Another benefit that comes with moderation is the possibility for more changes. Humans struggle with changes. We also hate being told what to do. So people tend to resent large changes, especially government-enforced ones. Moderate activism alleviates this tension through minor, voluntary changes. Voluntary commitments grant participants more initiative to take action. With that said, however, education regarding climate change impacts and potential for change needs to be advocated more and integrated into school curricula.

Through cultivating a cooperative relationship between activism and the people, we allow ourselves more spaces to develop these changes. Changes could start small, such as going on a plant-based diet a few meals per week. Another fact about human beings is that albeit they’re slow at embracing changes, they’re quick at adapting to circumstances if they set their hearts to it. These seemingly miniscule changes quickly amount to something bigger: a snowball effect. In fact, after the first five days of my vegetarian week, I was able to go entirely vegan for the final two days; the transition felt much less challenging than I had anticipated (though still nowhere near easy).

The greatest benefit of moderate activism, however, is that you can easily be a part of it. You don’t have to go fully vegan, become an expert in environmental science, or instigate protests. Just as I have done my vegetarian challenge, you can always find ways to strive for the greater cause by doing what you’re capable of. While you’re at it, invite your friends to do it with you and expand the cause to more people. If someone ever wants to opt out, let them be. But always leave an open door in case they change their minds.