Guest columnist Jill Johnson: Climate change is huge; we must 'Think Little' to fight it

Fourth in a series

At The Conservation Foundation, a non-profit based in Naperville, we work daily to preserve and restore open space and natural lands, protect rivers and watersheds and promote stewardship of the environment right here in northeastern Illinois. And we see climate anxiety daily in the schoolchildren, homeowners, community leaders, parents, volunteers and businesspeople with whom we work.

Jan Roehll, who heads up our Nature Rx initiative, was comparing notes on the connection between nature and mental health with a local therapist who shared that she has seen a drastic increase over the last year in patients struggling with fear for the future because of the climate crisis.

Visiting local homeowners to advise them on ways to make their yard more environmentally friendly, our Conservation@Home Assistant Nancy Cinatl learned that this couple had elected not to have children because they did not want to bring a new life into a planet they feared could not sustain it.

Our Volunteer Coordinator Cass Hatzfeld admitted she struggles mightily at times worrying about our environmental future, but the influx of volunteers interested in doing something to help local nature lifts her up and keeps her going.

And lest we think we have sheltered our children from the issue, we recently asked elementary school students in our Mighty Acorns® environmental stewardship program how they want nature and our world to look in 50 years.

Juan hopes we will solve global warming. Brandon plans to try to "stop a lot of pollution." Allany hopes that the problem of "Monarch butterflies being extincting" will be gone. And, Affan puts a fine point on it: "In 50 years, I hope that global warming is gone so we actually exist."

Our problems with climate change are huge. How can we as individuals cope?

In 1970, renowned conservation and social justice author Wendell Berry wrote, "But the citizen who is willing to Think Little, and, accepting the discipline of that, to go ahead on his own, is already solving the problem."

Five decades later, we at the Conservation Foundation agree. Our best advice to all who struggle with climate change anxiety is to accept two things:

• No one person or one act is too small or insignificant to make a difference. Even if all of our governments, corporations and large-scale polluters decided right now to take drastic measures to address climate change, it will take a long time for those decisions to be implemented. But the seemingly small action taken today by a concerned citizen will have impact immediately, and when joined with other small actions, will create big change.

• No matter how quickly we right the ship, we are going to hit a bit of the climate change iceberg ahead. One of the most vital things we can do is to make our communities more resilient to the effects of climate change. For example, increasing the use of deep-rooted native plants in our landscaping and reducing the ecological deserts of turf grass will better prepare our landscapes to handle increased flooding and other extremes predicted as fallout from climate change.

The best part is that the simple act of doing something good for the environment not only has immediate impact, it also helps us feel less anxious about the climate crisis. We can let the sense of being overwhelmed we sometimes feel about climate change stop us in our tracks, or we can go out and plant a tree or some milkweed. If we choose the latter, the physical activity is bound to make us feel healthier, and enjoying the birds and butterflies our efforts will bring close is wonderful for our mental health.

As we heal our landscapes, we heal ourselves.

The Conservation Foundation exists to help people take those small but oh so significant actions that will make a huge difference in the healthy future of this planet we call home. Our job is to empower you to dare to hope. Actually, if I'm being honest, daring to hope will not be enough. We must BECOME hope. We must 'Think Little.'

• Jill Johnson is communications manager at The Conservation Foundation in Naperville, www.theconservationfoundation.org.