Small but sustainable ways for Catlin students to alleviate climate anxiety through action

By Lucia Alvarez ‘26

Courtesy of Ila Reynolds Kienbaum.

For many, anxiety is a cloud that follows them around, disrupting thoughts and daily life with its constant presence. But when the cause of your anxiety is a global issue that feels out of your control, what do you do?

In a global survey of people aged 16-25 years, The Lancet reported that 59% were worried about climate change. The percentage is even greater at Catlin Gabel School (CGS): 68.2% of the 23 students who responded to my survey reported experiencing moderate to extreme climate anxiety. Climate change has been an important issue among young people, especially at CGS. 

Patrick Walsh, the faculty advisor of the Environmental Action Team (EAT) and a Green Team member, describes a climate strike in the fall of 2019 and how “about a third of Catlin Gabel, including the assistant head of the school…went downtown to this enormous rally.” However, the protests and normal life would eventually be cut short by COVID-19.

But just because the movement slowed didn't mean climate anxiety went away. Erin Gilmore, an Upper School counselor, says that she has seen an increase in students coming in to talk about climate anxiety in the last four years. 

When asked about how she helps students with climate anxiety, Gilmore describes her way of “pulling students into thinking about small acts that they could do in their everyday life.” Gilmore says this can alleviate some of the climate anxiety experienced by students.  

But what small acts specifically? When one Googles “how can I be more sustainable,” there are often articles about signing up for recycling services, using solar panels, or buying an electric car. However, most of those actions are ones that the average student does not have control over. 

In addition, most recommendations online are generalized; blogs such as Learn with Leaders tell teens to “Reduce, reuse, and recycle,” but do not give realistic ways to reduce or reuse. Personally, feeling lost about ways to be more sustainable is a massive reason for my climate anxiety. 

Below, I have compiled a list of routines and practices that can help reduce your climate impact and potential climate anxiety. Additionally, I surveyed students to ask how realistic the practices are, and tried to uncover which would be most easily maintained in Catlin's daily life. 

Bringing a reusable cup to Starbucks or other coffee shops 

Starbucks is a common pick-me-up that students reach for, so avoiding it completely in the name of sustainability is unrealistic. 

Instead, try to bring a reusable water bottle or cup to use instead of a disposable one. This is a small and easy way to reduce the amount of plastic you use. 63.7% of survey responders to my survey said they would realistically implement this practice.

Avoid impulse shopping

Impulse shopping—buying unnecessary or poor-quality items that are rarely used because of an impulse — can be a massive source of waste, but for many students, it's not just about wanting something. For a survey responder, “Wants are necessary to resolve stress,” making it difficult for them to avoid impulse shopping. Instead of stopping online shopping altogether, I recommend taking a few of the steps below to ensure that the thing you are buying will actually be used and isn't just a one-second boost of serotonin.

Try removing credit card information from websites where you typically impulse shop to make the process of buying the thing you want longer, requiring more thought, making it easier to quash the impulse. 

When buying something, go through a checklist first, linked here. The checklist asks you a few short questions about the item you are buying, and can therefore help you consider if you are buying something out of need or want.

If you tend to impulse buy the most when shopping at malls or other first-hand stores, try replacing that time with thrifting. While thrifting can still be impulse shopping, it is better for the environment and may be a more realistic way to be sustainable while not quitting shopping cold turkey. 

Survey responders had mixed feelings about this change, with one responder saying they “Grew up thrifting,” and another responder saying they would be very unlikely to only shop for fun at thrift stores because they “suck at thrifting.”

Carpooling 

Carpooling to school, while better for the environment, is unrealistic for most students because of extracurricular activities and spread-out home locations. I therefore recommend making an effort to carpool as much as possible when going to social events. 

This can help to reduce emissions and has the added bonus of having more time with a friend. 90.9% of survey responders said they were likely or very likely to do so. Survey responders described this practice as “convenient “and “easy,” with one responder saying, “Gas bills are crazy”.

Bring a reusable cup to boba tea shops

Bubble tea can sometimes serve as a reward, stress reliever, and mood booster for many students, but bubble tea also uses a massive amount of plastic in its packaging. Reducing the amount of plastic used by bringing a reusable boba bottle would help reduce waste.

That said, completely removing bubble tea from your weekly routine may feel unrealistic. A logical step can be bringing a reusable cup to bubble tea shops. When asked, Bubble N Tea, Share Tea, and Tea 4 all accept reusable cups. With all of those places being close to Catlin Gabel, making use of a reusable cup on your weekly boba runs is easier.

However, a majority of students who responded to the survey reported that they would be unlikely to bring a reusable cup to a bubble tea shop, with their reasons being “if not all places have the option to fill your cup that you bring, then I don't think I would carry a reusable cup everywhere.” Another student said that bringing a reusable cup to a bubble tea shop was “doing the most.”

A good alternative reusable boba bottle is linked here.

Get food from the Barn or pack a lunch

The Barn is a great centralized place where students can get food, and eating there instead of going off campus can be a good alternative to still get a hot lunch while not going off-campus for meals. Or if going off campus is a helpful mood booster, consider bringing a Tupperware instead of single-use to-go containers. 

Get involved with a sustainability community

With climate anxiety, it can often feel hopeless, and while big changes need to be made globally, small changes and a reinforcement of community can help to alleviate climate anxiety and spread sustainable practices. And working to fight climate change with a community is a lot less lonely than doing it by yourself. 

Set a sustainability goal with a friend; maybe it's that you both bring a reusable thermos when going to Starbucks, maybe it's thrifting together, sharing your anti-impulse shopping goal, or holding each other accountable when doing a no-buy month. Working towards a sustainability goal can be so much easier when you are doing it with a friend.

Carpooling with your sustainability buddy can be a time for fun, connection, and longer conversations during your time together.

When you can, go to an EAT meeting, a pollinator garden work party, or any sort of organized sustainability event. Getting involved in something small but important can help to alleviate climate anxiety and build community, which is the best part of sustainability.

Atharva Deepak ‘27, the CGSA Sustainability Coordinator, says one of the best things you can do for the planet is “join hands with other people” and “you find meaning by doing something with other people being in that community.” Within that community, your efforts for sustainability are compounded by the efforts of others within your group. 

“[If I] recycle a marker… I saved like 5 g of plastic from going into the ocean, but if everyone in the upper school…recycled their markers…it's gonna do something,” Deepak says.

These are all small things that may feel inconsequential, but single-handedly fixing climate change isn't the point. As Walsh says, “you feel better when you are working side by side,” and you feel better by getting out of the rut of anxiety. 

The point is to get you involved, which can help to relieve the dark cloud of climate anxiety; every action has a benefit, however small it is. It still helps to shape the sustainable community that we want to see.