Coping with Eco-Anxiety

Care for Yourself & the Planet

Find your sustainable path to supporting the environment and yourself.

shadow of a person putting a plant into a vase

The Environment & You

Whether it's our immediate physical surroundings, our community, or the planet, we're all influenced by the environment. This is known as environmental wellness and environmental health. 

There's a lot happening in the world as we face climate change, loss of biodiversity, and other environmental crises. These environmental events impact our wellbeing. For some, this can lead to eco-anxiety. The good news is, you can do something about it. This resource page is a collection of tips and tools to help you cope with eco-anxiety and care for the planet.

What Would You Like to Do?

Eco-Anxiety Defined

Uncertainties about the future of planet Earth can leave us with a range of emotions. From guilt and overwhelm to confusion and apathy, there are many ways we may experience eco-anxiety.

Eco-anxiety is a complex psychological experience often described as a "chronic fear of environmental doom." Anyone, anywhere can experience eco-anxiety, but recent research has found the following patterns in who is most impacted:

  • a significant percentage of young people feel hopeless about the climate crisis and are unsure of how they can help stop it

  • firsthand experience with environmental events like climate change and loss of biodiversity may be especially impactful

  • indirect exposure to environmental events, such as through media consumption, can contribute to eco-anxiety

  • two-thirds of American adults experience at least a little eco-anxiety

What It's Like to Have Eco-Anxiety

  • It helps to know you're not alone.

  • Eco-anxiety can look and feel different for everyone. 

  • Taking small steps toward a more sustainable lifestyle that works for you can help. 

  • Talking about it with someone you trust can also help.

silhouette of hands in a heart shape with a sunset in the background

Is Eco-Anxiety a Disorder?

Eco-anxiety is not mental illness. Anxiety of any form is a natural response to threat, and it's natural to worry about what might happen to the world when we learn about or witness events like global warming, climate change, and species extinction. 

What You're Feeling Is Valid

The feelings of eco-anxiety mean that you care about the planet. They're a normal response to an abnormal situation. Some psychologists even identify the destruction of the environment we're seeing as a form of collective trauma.

Avoid labeling yourself as having a problem. Instead, show yourself acceptance and compassion. Acceptance and compassion can help you navigate uncertainties, decision-making, and the strain eco-anxiety can put on you.

person sitting in the grass

Be Kind to Yourself

You matter too.

While eco-anxiety is not a disorder, it is closely linked with mental and emotional distress. Here's why: eco-anxiety may motivate us to engage in pro-environmental behaviors, but it can also leave us feeling overwhelmed. It's easy to feel both personally responsible for saving the world but also too insignificant to make a difference. 

Pro-environmental action may be part of coping with eco-anxiety for you. Remember that self-care is too.

Practice Self-Care

Keeping yourself physically, mentally, and emotionally well helps prevent burnout and compassion fatigue. Here's how you can start: 

  1. create a daily self-care plan that works for you
  2. use positive and constructive self-talk
  3. name and respect your boundaries - you can't be 'on' all the time
  4. take time to process and express how you feel
Get Self-Care Ideas on the CAPS Self-Care Hub

Use Self-Compassion

Self-compassion involves 3 components: 

  1. recognizing and naming that you’re hurting
  2. reminding yourself that you're not the only one who feels this way
  3. choosing to do something caring or soothing for yourself, big or small
Attend a U of A Compassion Center Event

Set Realistic Expectations

Changes happening on the planet are bigger than any one individual can control, but that doesn't mean you can't help. Do what you can while respecting your limits as you do this. Not every lifestyle change or solution is going to be practical for you right now, and that's okay.

Simple Steps Toward a Sustainable Lifestyle
paper cutout of two hands open around a paper earth with a paper heart above it

Find Your Balance

Staying informed is important, but so is staying balanced. Pay attention to how the information you're taking in is impacting you and adjust if needed.  

 

How to Stay Informed and Balanced

  • Be mindful of where you get your information. Look for neutral, unbiased sources. Climate Home News and Inside Climate News are two you can try.

  • Take in lighter stories to counterbalance the heavier ones.

  • Take small breaks from media, especially if you've been feeling overwhelmed or burned out. 

  • If you find yourself doomscrolling, stop, refocus on something else, and seek out positivity.

  • Spend time appreciating nature in your daily life.

  • Focus on the concrete, actionable steps available to you.

person potting a plant

Connect with Nature

While thinking about the environment may trigger eco-anxiety, taking time to connect with nature can be healing. The link between nature and our resilience is at the heart of ecopsychology and ecotherapy.

Your time in nature doesn't need to be long or complicated to make a difference. Here's what researchers have found: 

We Can All Connect with Nature

  • Nature replenishes the mind and body. 

  • Nature is everywhere. 

  • You can take small steps to connect with nature starting where you are today.

 

Local Options for Connecting with Nature and with Others

Find Like-Minded People

Connecting with like-minded people helps you remember you're not the only one who cares. We are all in this together.  And by working together, we can be part of the solution. 

Resources for Connecting with Others

ASUA clubs and organizations for people who care about the environment:

Housing & Residential Life

  • Eco-Reps create one-of-a-kind programs to educate residents about sustainability. Joining Eco-Reps is a great way to get involved, meet other people who care about sustainability, make connections and friendships outside of your dorm, and make a difference. So, whether you’re an expert or just have a budding interest, join Eco-Reps to advocate for sustainability in your building. 

Off Campus Resources 

Online Resources 

  • Extinction Rebellion is a decentralized, international and politically non-partisan movement using non-violent direct action and civil disobedience to persuade governments to act justly on the Climate and Ecological Emergency.
reusable shopping bag and a phone with a recycling symbol shown on the screen

Build Your Sustainable Lifestyle

Sustainable living can help us build hope and feel empowered when we have eco-anxiety. The key is to focus on what you can control, no matter how small, and what would make a meaningful difference in your life. 

What Is Sustainability? 

Sustainability is a big concept with many layers, and that can be daunting to think about it. Let's distill it down to the core components:

  1. understanding that our choices impact the planet and future generations

  2. making choices that reduce our impact today and tomorrow

How to Build a Sustainable Lifestyle

Helpful Sustainability Terms

  • biodegradable: something that naturally breaks down into its basic components

  • single-use: anything used once and thrown away

  • closed-loop: a system where everything is recycled and reused

  • fair trade: fair treatment, wages, and safe working conditions for workers

  • organic: produced without chemical fertilizers, pesticides, or other artificial agents

  • minimal waste/zero-waste: the practice of minimizing waste or trash production wherever possible

Sustainable Living Ideas

  • Use biodegradable, compostable, and reusable items whenever possible.

  • Avoid single-use items and plastic whenever possible.

  • Understand your waste habits to give you an idea of where you can make meaningful change.

  • Be resourceful: make things from scratch, DIY your cleaning products with natural ingredients, and grow your own produce

  • Repurpose household items like jars and linens.

  • Leave your car at home and ride a bike, share a ride, or use public transportation.

Sustainability & You

There are so many ways to live more sustainably that it can be hard to know where to begin. Remember that we all start somewhere, so reduce the pressure and start where you are.

Make sure you're caring for yourself along the way. Be patient and kind with yourself, and pay attention to how sustainable a new habit is for you. If you're feeling burned out or overwhelmed, take a step back and examine where you could make adjustments.  

Sustainable Living Resources

Campus Resources 

Online Resources 

close up of a person's hands holding potted plants

Give Back

Contribute to the solution by joining forces with others or by taking small actions independently to benefit the environment. 

Ways to Give Back

Campus Resources 

Online Resources 

  • Ecosia.org: Plant trees while you search the web. Profits made from your searches go to plant trees where they are needed most. Get the free Chrome and EDge extension and plant trees with every search. 

Find a Safe Space to Talk

Talking about eco-anxiety with a supportive person can help release pent-up emotion and gives you some validation and empathy.  

Don't have someone to talk to? Try these services and resources:

Togetherall

  • Togetherall is and free, safe, anonymous online mental health community where you can share whatever's on your mind and get feedback from real people.

Counseling

You don’t have to wait until a problem becomes big to talk to a counselor about it. You can consult with a counselor to prevent a problem from becoming bigger, to create a plan on how to cope with the stress in a more effective way or to access helpful resources, which will help preserve your mental wellness. 

How do you know how much anxiety is a problem? 

Campus Counseling Resources