From May 9th - 11th, 2013, a number of Friends and OPRD staff members
attended the Environmental Summit with the Dalai Lama in Portland.
The Dalai Lama was joined by religious leaders, politicians, and prominent
environmentalists to discuss the importance of environmental stewardship,
education, protection and preservation.
The event was a success: Venues sold out, audiences were
given a wealth of information on the environment, speakers received standing
ovations, and participants felt energized and empowered. However, the issue of
environmental advocacy – specifically, how does one compel and inspire others
to take action – was a question that largely went unanswered.
We are facing a future of unprecedented global threats to
the environment. On Saturday, May 11th, the front page of the
newspaper carried the headline, “Carbon
dioxide levels hit new milestone”: the article went on to note that, “Worldwide
levels of the chief greenhouse gas that causes global warming have hit a
milestone, reaching an amount never before encountered by humans, federal
scientists said Friday. Carbon dioxide was measured at 400 parts per million…
the last time the worldwide carbon level was probably that high was about 2
million years ago.” The following day, Sunday, May 12th, the
newspaper’s A section carried another ominous headline, “Common
species at risk, climate study says.” According to the study’s lead author,
Rachel Warren, “…the average plant and animal will experience significant range loss under climate change.” The study looked at 50,000 common species and
determined that “…more than half the plants and a third of the animals could
lose 50% of their range by 2080 if the world continues its current course of
rising greenhouse gas emissions.”
What do we do with such bleak news?
Paralysis is one common response. When we encounter
unsettling or worrisome news and information, a seeming inability to take
action, to even know where to begin in addressing the problem, can take over.
Those that are able
to process the news and are motivated to take action often find themselves
facing an additional challenge: How do you inspire people to rally around a
cause that is freighted with gloom and doom scenarios?
Eisenberg's post below is valuable because it provides a blueprint for how to approach the subject with people in a constructive and productive way. There's no pointing fingers and no lecturing - and your audience will be inspired. We hope you will read and share with others.
Becoming an Earth Ambassador
The art of persuasion
If you follow
environmental issues closely, you may often feel the urge to share your
knowledge with those around you for the sake of the common good. You think: if
only Gina and Joe knew about the Sargasso Sea of plastic trash in the Pacific,
they'd stop buying bottled water. Or: tomorrow's the last day for public
comments on fracking. I'd better get the word out.
In theory, educating family and friends about these issues
is a great idea. In practice, it's a hard trick to pull off.
If you've tried it, you know. Your lessons rarely go over
as well as you'd hoped. Inexplicably, your friends yawn and change the subject
or argue the points. However they react, the upshot is the same: no conversions
to the cause.
At least, that's often been my experience.
There is a simple reason, and we all know what it is.
Outside the classroom, people don't like being lectured to. Even less do they
like being told how to live, except perhaps by real preachers, and then only on
the Sabbath. At worst, they're offended; at best, they write us off.
("There's Sheryl going on about the environment again...")
So how can we get our message across more effectively to
our family and friends?
We begin by being mindful of the nature of these
relationships. Our nearest and dearest are not potential recruits, but people
who trust and care for us. To speak to them otherwise, even in the service of a
good cause, would distance them from us, which can't be good.
We consider each person's interests, just as we do in
ordinary conversation. (None of my friends would think to talk to me about
sports, nor would I bring up Victorian literature with many of them.) If
there's no point of connection on an environmental issue, we don't bring the
subject up. If there is, we make it as relevant to the person as possible.
We avoid talking doom and gloom at get-togethers where our
seriousness would be out of place. It never pays to be a killjoy.
When it comes to green practices, we talk about what we
do, not about what others should do. And to the extent possible, we rely on our
friends to see what we do, rather than make a point of telling them. After
all, our reusable water bottle and cloth napkins don't really need commentary,
nor does our habit of biking to the store. These things really do speak for
themselves.
When raising a particular issue, we explain why it matters
to us. Do we want to save forests because our father loved trees? We
tell that story. Do we fight for clean air standards because our child has
asthma? We tell that story too. Was it an essay by Thoreau that got us living
more simply? A film about factory farming that made us stop eating meat? The
memory of once common butterflies that have disappeared from our garden which
got us campaigning for a carbon cap to rein in climate change? When we relate
these stories, we dwell on our eureka moments, knowing they will make a greater
impression than a recitation of facts alone.
Of course, we bring facts to the table too, solid ones
we're sure of, but not too many at a time. People will ask if they want to know
more.
If a friend disagrees with our position, we ask why and
listen with an open mind, remembering there is something to be learned on both
sides from every exchange.
We are not strident and we know when to stop. If we've
described the issue, tied it to the person's interests, told our personal
story, and got no reaction, we put the subject to bed.
But if we see a spark of interest, we fan the flame.
In the end, we let the other person decide whether he or
she is interested. And we respect the person either way, just as we hope to be
respected in turn.
We know there will always be another opportunity for
conversation. We keep the doors open.
—Sheryl Eisenberg
