Hopeful Action | Issue 2
- Christina Willard-Stepan
- 5 days ago
- 4 min read
As a climate engagement specialist, I spend much of my time helping people of all ages stay rooted in hope and action when it comes to climate change. But that doesn’t mean it’s always easy. Recently, a Grade 2 student told me, very seriously, that “taking care of the Earth is the most important thing,” and then whispered that they were worried everyone they love is going to die. Moments like that land heavily—and they’re also what keep me going.
That conversation reminded me how urgently we need to offer children (and ourselves) not just facts, but a believable, positive vision of the future. I often come back to Thomas Homer‑Dixon’s idea that “the answers lie just outside of the periphery of the imagination.” To build a better future, we have to be able to picture it first. Choosing to imagine a future of accelerated change that could actually be better than today isn’t naive to me—it’s more useful than staying stuck in doom, and it’s a mindset that helps people take real action (see the youtube video included in this month’s issue for a wonderful example of this).
I also believe that hope lives in the unknown. We don’t yet know exactly how this story ends, which means there is still room to move toward collaboration, care, and choices that make us good ancestors to future generations. That Grade 2 student’s worry is exactly why I keep talking about the importance of visualizing a more positive future—and inviting others to do the same.
This is the (long‑awaited!) second issue of this newsletter, and from here on out I’ll be sharing it on a quarterly basis. My aim is to offer you practical, hopeful ways to act locally while keeping an eye on the bigger picture. I’d love to hear what you’re trying, what’s working, and what you’re wrestling with—please email me and share what fellow co‑conspirators in creating a smarter, better world are up to.
Warmest,
Tina
Climate Action Sprint
Easy everyday challenges to rescue your personal carbon footprint
THIS ISSUE…COMPOST YOUR SCRAPS!
Did you know that when food and yard waste end up in the landfill, they break down without oxygen and release methane, a greenhouse gas more than 25 times more powerful than carbon dioxide? Cutting methane from waste is one of the fastest ways to slow climate change—and composting your scraps is one of the easiest ways to help, right at home.
If you live in the Comox Valley, you already have a powerful climate tool sitting at the curb: the green-lid organics cart, which takes kitchen scraps and yard waste every week, turning them into class A compost instead of methane. Just move your food scraps—coffee grounds, veggie peels, leftovers, soiled paper—from the garbage to the organics cart and you’ve taken a climate action that can rival popular steps like switching to LEDs or driving a bit less, because methane reductions pack such a strong punch. 23% of Canada’s methane gas emissions come from preventable food waste going to landfill.
Compared to many climate actions, composting is low effort and high impact: you don’t need to buy an electric car, renovate your home, or overhaul your diet—just change which bin you use. Each time you choose the green cart, a backyard bin, or a local service instead of the garbage, you’re cutting methane and building better soil at the same time.
No curbside program where you are, or living outside city limits? You still have options. You can set up: a simple backyard compost bin for fruit and veggie scraps, or a worm bin (vermicomposting) or small countertop compost appliance for indoors. That means your apple cores and carrot tops don’t just avoid emissions—they come back as healthy soil for gardens, agriculture, and landscaping, actually sequestering carbon from the atmosphere - it's like a double win for the planet.
So what are you waiting for? Look up “organics” on your city or regional district website to see exactly what goes in your local program, or explore backyard and worm composting if curbside isn’t available where you live. Let’s keep our scraps out of the landfill and turn them into climate-friendly compost instead—one banana peel at a time.
Hopeful Resources
What would your future self like to be able to say?
Inspired Reading
A strong, hopeful recent pick is “Clearing the Air: A Hopeful Guide to Solving Climate Change in 50 Questions and Answers” by Hannah Ritchie. It’s written to counter doom, using clear data to show that many climate solutions already exist and are working, and to explain what actually needs to happen next.
Quote
You can save this image and share it with your online community, or print it for your fridge or office!
In The Community
Community leaders in the Comox Valley were invited to paddle and learn about impacts to the drinking watershed over time. Wonderful storytelling, decolonizing perspectives, and place-based learning. All meant to nurture a new cultural narrative about care for the land and water.
