Is deciding between individual action and systems change a false choice?

And a couple things you can do to bridge the gap

Copyright: sustainability-directory.com, Creative Commons

by Marianne Krasny

Recently I got a surprise call from a writer at the National Geographic wanting my take on Japan’s Spogomi litter cleanup competition. Is picking up litter or any other individual action, she asked, actually worth the effort? Or, to put the question in a context larger than litter, if big meat and big oil are responsible for the vast majority of greenhouse gas emissions, why should any individual consider limiting how much red meat they eat or how high they turn up the heat?

I struggle with the question of whether individual actions matter everyday as I “plawk”-- “pick up litter while walking”-- on my walk to and from work. In the end I come down on the side of individual actions matter. I am aware that big polluters try to blame individuals — Coca-Cola launched the Crying Indian Keep America Beautiful anti-litter campaign, and BP tried to convince us to keep track of our individual “carbon footprint.” But I think it’s more complicated than pitting individual action in our daily lives against collective action to change the system. Here’s why.

Taking action can bring happiness, hope, and a sense of purpose to our lives

Ikigai is the Japanese word for “purpose in life” or “life worth living.” Older Japanese talk about ikigai as “taking care of grandchildren,” “volunteering,” and “keeping their street clean and pretty.” Ikigai has been linked to lower risk of dying of cardiovascular disease, which led Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare to incorporate ikigai into its official health-promotion strategy. Similarly, taking environmental or climate actions can lend purpose or meaning to our lives — even if they are small actions like picking up litter. A sense of purpose — or finding meaning in life — also promotes happiness. And as embodied so skillfully in Climate Action Now’s Daily Dose of Climate Hope SubStack, taking action, whether in your daily life or as part of a group, can be the antidote to despair about climate destruction.

Spill over

Like many people, I began with individual actions to reduce environmental harm — like picking up litter and walking instead of driving. Eventually these actions spilled over into volunteering for climate advocacy organizations including Elders Climate Action, Climate Reality, and Climate Action Now. Like so many others, my individual daily actions started me on a path to collective advocacy.

When asked what actions they could take, young people focused on individual consumer behaviours (like recycling, using less, or litterpicking) rather than collective or structural forms of change. They recognised that governments and businesses hold the greatest responsibility but struggled to see how their own efforts connect to these broader systems.

Katy Wheeler, University of Essex, in report on youth sustainability attitudes in the UK

Walking the walk

I once asked a Cornell Climate Fellow from Kenya, who consulted on high-level climate agreements between EU and African countries, why she chose to eat a plant-rich diet. Given that she was working in high-stakes international negotiations, I thought a small action like changing what she ate would seem trivial. Here is her response: “When focusing on my professional work, which primarily focuses on climate change mitigation in lowering emissions, I don’t want to just talk the talk — I want to walk the walk.” Conversely, when I finally met in person someone I had admired for their work on sustainable eating, and they ordered a steak for lunch, I wondered if their work had been sincere. Acting in synch with your beliefs communicates the importance of climate action to friends, family, students, and colleagues.

Social contagion

An individual’s action influences other people — especially close family and friends —to take action. If you start eating more grains, tofu, and nuts, those in your household and those you invite over for a meal will inevitably join you and over time may adopt a more plant-based diet. This phenomenon of behaviors spreading among family, friends and neighbors has been documented for rooftop solar panels in Arizona, quitting smoking, losing weight, and more ominously, McMansions and destination weddings.

Norms and policy makers

Imagine you install plug-in solar on your balcony or porch. Your neighbors see your panels and install them on their balcony. As more people install plug-in solar, it becomes the norm in your community. This signals to policy makers that their constituents favor solar power so there is little risk in taking a stand. They implement incentives and other more favorable policies for renewable energy. You and your neighbors are then able to take advantage of the incentives, and install roof top solar to cover all of your energy needs.

In a positive feedback loop, our individual actions influence social norms and in turn policies, which enable us to take additional climate-friendly actions.

Climate actions performed with others can also help forge the social connections, alongside the trust and shared identity, that become the foundation for future political action.

“(I)ndividual action may not be very effective at directly reducing emissions but it can be very effective for consciousness-raising and enabling political action.”

Dale Jamieson, Climate Philosopher and Writer

All action is individual. Some actions become collective.

In the end, whether you eat less meat or join in a protest, you are still one individual. In a sense, all actions are individual actions.

A better distinction might be lifestyle actions –- things we do as part of our daily lives like what we eat, how we commute, and how we treat our waste — and advocacy actions like writing letters to public officials or protesting. Advocacy actions influence the policies that make daily actions more or less feasible. So, if a bill to support research and development of alt-proteins is passed, Beyond Burgers and other alternative meats will become cheaper, making it easier for people to eat less red meat.

Lifestyle actions can be individual — what we do on our own — or collective when we invite friends over to take the actions with us.

Advocacy actions can be individual — I send a letter to a government official — or collective when an organization mounts a campaign to urge many people to write letters.

Perhaps it’s time to stop pitting individual action against collective action. Time to recognize how those of us who are changing daily behaviors, such as what we eat, can work together with those of us focused on changing policy through joining climate organizations. Time to realize that the same person often engages in lifestyle and advocacy actions –- individually and collectively. And time to see how all these actions are connected and can reinforce each other.

My book In This Together: Connecting with your Community to Combat the Climate Crisis goes into more depth about individual and collective lifestyle, philanthropy, and advocacy actions.

What You Can Do

Join a group working on climate. It took me a while to find a group where I felt I could contribute but I ended up with three groups: Elders Climate Action, Climate Reality, and Climate Action Now. These groups tend to focus on advocacy actions, and there is a sense of being part of a larger effort.

Credit: Elders Climate Action and Climate Action Now

Incorporate climate concerns into a group you are already part of. If you are active in a church, social, or other community group, you can link their concerns — for example, stewardship, poverty, or health — to climate actions. These can range from serving plant-based communal meals at events and to the homeless, to adopting the Climate Action Now carousel if you want to work on policy issues.