What if someone told you that what you did over the next 365 days to address climate change would determine whether you, your children, and your grandchildren would get to live full and healthy lives or die within 15 years? What would you choose to do today? What would you choose to do tomorrow?
In September, several of us started a year-long conversation called “Duluth/365.” The purpose is to engage in a dialogue about the subject of climate change over the next 365 days. It is to exchange news and information about climate change and to ask ourselves what we can do to help create a more resilient, sustainable, and environmentally just city now — not next month, next year, or in 10 years. Part of the impetus for this was a growing realization that climate change is happening faster than we expected or planned for, and our local governments and business community don’t seem to be responding in substantive or thoughtful ways to what appears to be an all-encompassing and complex challenge.
In the introduction to their book, "The Future We Choose: Surviving the Climate Crisis," Christiana Figueres and Tom Rivett-Carnac wrote, “Who we understand ourselves to be determines the choice we will make. That choice determines what will become of us. The choice is both simple and complex, but above all it is urgent." They make a very clear argument that each day is important and precious, and with each passing day we are living on a more fragile and uninhabitable planet.
We are definitely running out of time.
While you read this column, think about who you are as a human being and all the relationships you enjoy and how you embrace the world around you. Think about being a parent, a sibling, a friend, a partner, or a neighbor. Think about your connection to nature. And think about how you can wrap your head around this enormous crisis and not simply deny its presence or distract yourself with something more pleasant or entertaining. Also, seriously consider what actions or behavioral changes you could undertake to proactively respond to improve your personal life and, at the same time, contribute to the well-being of your neighbors and the greater community.
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By emphasizing the importance of developing a cognitive framework that empowers all of us to change how we behave on this "complex landscape" called earth, Figueres and Rivett-Carnac wrote that we have three mindsets that can help us create a better world.
First, there is "stubborn optimism." To be stubbornly optimistic, we must acknowledge the bad news and still be able to see that a different future is possible. You also focus on all the good news of people and organizations working on and making positive contributions. And we remind ourselves that we need individual behavioral changes and systemic transformation.
Second, there is "endless abundance." This is where we choose to react or respond in a very broad, collaborative manner instead of what they call a "narrowly competitive way." We come to understand that collaboration, not competition, is the "necessary engine for regenerating the biosphere and creating abundance."
And third, there is "radical regeneration." This begins with acknowledging and accepting that our physical survival depends directly on nature. For example, without land, we have no food to eat. It’s understanding that we have a responsibility to replenish ourselves and help restore the world around us.
“We have to shift our action compass from self-centric to nature-aligned," the authors wrote.
Hopefully, Duluth/365 will offer a forum and incubator for many of us who will utilize these three significant mindsets. By adopting stubborn optimism, endless abundance, and radical regeneration, maybe, just maybe, you and I can make the most of each day to create a healthier city for the human beings and all other species who share this space.
Tone Lanzillo is a member of the Loaves and Fishes Community in Duluth, is a live-in volunteer at the Dorothy Day House, and is an active part of the Duluth/365 initiative. To learn more about Duluth/365, email risson1954@gmail.com.
