Five ways to turn eco-anxiety into something positive

It’s hard not to feel anxious when all you see is news about the catastrophe ahead, while everyone outside your algorithmic bubble seems oblivious. Remember: what you see has been carefully curated to keep you scrolling. You probably spend more time than you’d like doomscrolling, while the people around you are receiving entirely different information. Audit what you consume and notice what creates anxiety versus what empowers you. Then intentionally curate your feed: keep what sets you up for action and hope, let go of what paralyses you.

Image: Jonas Leupe

Anxiety is a marketer’s best friend. Someone is always ready to sell you a miracle solution, and, desperate for a fix, we fall for it. But quick patches never satisfy our underlying needs. Instead of buying your way out of anxiety, try making something. Moving from passive consumption to active creation reduces waste while increasing joy, skill-building, and community exchange. Whether you bake bread, mend clothes, or grow vegetables, manual labour and craftsmanship restore agency, pride, and connection — things no retail therapy session can deliver.

Image: Lee Vue

We need everyone to do the basics — recycle, vote, reduce their footprint — but we also need everyone to contribute their unique talents. Addressing the climate crisis touches every industry and every community. You don’t need to be an engineer or policymaker. We need graphic designers, teachers, storytellers, event planners, bus drivers — everybody. Draw yourself a Venn diagram: what are you good at? What work needs doing? What brings you joy? The sweet spot where those three circles overlap: that’s your climate superpower. Stay there as often as you can.

Image: Adam Winger

Isolation fuels anxiety; connection fuels action. Join a climate group, a community garden, or a local initiative. If big groups feel daunting, form a small circle of 3–5 friends to share skills, support each other’s actions, and co-create solutions. Last year I joined neighbours to transform a fly-tipping spot into a community garden. What I thought would be a half-day chore became a source of real connection: neighbours stopped to chat, new friendships formed, and we’re now planning more tree planting together. Small communities create real change, and real joy.

Image: Brooke Cagle

Most of us believe that acting for the planet requires doing something grand, and that belief stops us from doing anything at all. But change works like nature: small, interconnected actions grow into something much bigger. Ask yourself: “What is the smallest thing I can do today that feels like a seed for the future?” Write a letter. Learn a skill. Start a conversation. Action breeds action. You don’t need to see the whole forest, you just need to plant the first seed.”

Enora Thépaut is the Creative Director of OF POSSIBLE FUTURES, a creative organisation working with mobility, health, and environmental brands on regenerative futures.

Image: Sippakorn Yamkasikorn
Main image: Aleksandar Nakic