GUELPH - Students from St. James Catholic High School hope to turn climate anxiety into climate action.
More youth find themselves dealing with climate anxiety, a growing mental health phenomenon that Grade 12 student Indigo Moran believes can stand in the way of taking meaningful climate action.
“Many of us in high school want climate action now, but are impacted by climate anxiety," Moran said.
“One study found that 84 per cent of respondents aged 16 to 25 were at least moderately worried about climate change, and 45 per cent said their concerns were negatively impacted their daily life.”
As witnesses to the increase in record-breaking heat waves, wild fires and devastating storms, more young people are feeling powerless about the threat of climate change that can often produce symptoms such as anxiety, panic attacks and insomnia.
Taking the issue head-on, Moran, along with fellow Grade 12 student Abigail Walton, will host 'Youth Climate Anxiety and Climate Action', a five-part project starting on Sept. 20 designed to help young people feel like there is something they can do to make a difference.
Supported by the Youth Climate Action Fund and eMERGE Guelph Sustainability, Moran and Walton believe the way forward is to address the mental health aspect of climate emergency and to connect distress with personal and societal action.
"I, along with many friends and peers, have been affected by climate anxiety. My generation is one of the main demographics affected by this because essentially, we don't know what our futures are going to look like," Moran said.
"We have until 2030 before irreversible damage is done and that's around the time I will probably be graduating from university. I think a lot of youth are concerned that we aren't going to have much of a future or a healthy future. And we are also concerned because such little has been done for so long, even though demands for climate action have been made since the 1970s."
With the support of a mental health therapist Samantha Hicks and Evan Ferrari from eMERGE, the Youth Climate Anxiety and Climate Action program is designed to help youth harness climate anxiety and work with it to take practical environmental action.
The five-part program will work on climate anxiety, and provide action like tree planting and ‘seed bombing,' along with the opportunity to make societal change on a municipal and provincial level.
"We will discuss methods for managing climate anxiety with the help of climate action experts and a local mental health therapist who has experience in the field. We will also discuss practical ideas for climate action as well as ways to talk to adults and others in your life about climate anxiety," Moran said.
"Additionally, we will make seed bombs as a group which are essentially a combination of wildflower seeds and clay, used to promote biodiversity and plant life in the area."
The first event, 'Understanding and Working with Climate Anxiety' on Sept. 20, will be held from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. at 10C Shared Space on Carden Street. The workshop will include small and large group discussions regarding ways to cope with climate crisis distress.
Part two will be held on Sept. 28 at Norm Jary Park. Participants will plant trees with the guidance of an experienced volunteer from the organization, Trees for Guelph.
Part three will take place on Oct. 21, and along with parts four and five happening in November, these will be follow-up meetings for those interested in the advocacy side of climate action. With the support of the mental health therapist and climate professional from the Part one workshop, youth will plan practical activities for the coming months.
For registration, scheduled events and for more information, visit here.
The target audience Youth Climate Anxiety and Climate Action is for youth between the ages of 14 and 24.
"However, if there are any youth that are outside of that range, but are interested in coming, they are more than welcome," Moran said.
"And we are also on the lookout for volunteers with experience working in youth mental health. So, if there are any social workers interested in coming, we would love it if they could contact us."
Moran says there are three main goals for the project.
"Number one is to help youth feel supported and understood and to know that they are not alone in managing anxiety and distress," she said.
"Number two is provide practical avenues for climate action for youth. And lastly, our goal is to connect and network, starting with youth and hopefully in the long term, across generations, so that we can tackle the climate crisis as a community."