Tara, thank you for writing this. It is a powerful call to action that resonates deeply. Thank you for bringing up the idea of "weaponizing privilege"—it reframes privilege as a tool for impact rather than guilt. Your examples of everyday people finding creative ways to contribute, from food forests to drainage socks, show how meaningful change can happen when we use what we have for the collective good.
The way you highlight Cannupa Hanska’s words is also incredibly motivating. Instead of isolating privilege, it empowers people to think about their skills, networks, and resources as entry points into climate action. And your personal note about community and belonging is such an important reminder that collective action isn't just about solving environmental issues; it’s about connecting and finding joy in the process.
My climate joy lies in building my community garden, where we focus on native plants to support local pollinators. It’s a small act, but it’s my way of contributing to a larger ecosystem. Thank you for sharing this vision of positive, community-driven change.
Agreed! I like to think of hope as a verb. It's something we must cultivate every day, like a garden. Little by little it grows and flowers and fruits. But we have to keep at it. And like a garden, it should be joyful. Finding joy in our work and cultivating hope is resistance.
This is a wonderful article and just what I needed. Small local actions are the way forward for sure. Not to mention they give us a genuine feeling of connection and wellbeing in this increasingly aggressive, increasingly digital world
So glad I gave you what you needed! That's always a goal of mine on Substack. Isn't it amazing how easy it is to forget the power of local actions? Sometimes I think that's by design--certain people in power love to obscure our power. Speaking of which, more power to you, friend!
Great writing, Tara! As you know, I am trying to use my privileges to advance. the Earth law movement. Occasionally, I feel bad that so much privilege is squandered.
Great post, Tara! I hear you and agree. Collective action is key. Social movements are what drive change. To me, protests are a fundamental tool here. Society needs to get active to force governments hands around the world. We can no longer rely on those in power to do enough.
PS: did you go to OSU? I was a postdoc there from 2015 to 2018!
Omg I thought you looked familiar! Then I saw you live in New Zealand, so I wrote it off as you "just having one of those faces," but I must have seen you around! I graduated Dec 2018 as part of the second cohort for the MA in Environmental Arts & Humanities. Part of my thesis was a series of art shows on and off campus, and I was the Artist in Residence at the Hatfield Marine Science Center summer 2018 where I created an art & science program development packet. And they used it the next year! I was so humbled.
Hi Tara - I like the idea of weaponising our priviliedge and I agree building skills to connect and work together is key. I also think we live in a very complex world.
For example the Scottish rewilding project you mentioned I think is the one owned by a Danish billionaire who is a large shareholder in ASOS and who owns a large percentage of Scotland (in fact only 16 people own the majority of Scotland). There are community buyout schemes in Scotland run by local communities doing good work more rooted in community - and all its complications too - but not enough of scotland is managed like this.
Of course rewilding has value but when i see a foreigner business owner owning large chunks of my country - I see power at play. So that worries me.
The highlands are areas where local people were historically often violently evicted by large landowners. I think we need to weave in this complexity and power dynamics to ultimately find justice. Because the climate crisis wasn’t created outwith these histories and power structures.
I completely agree. This is why I emphasize place-based actions in my posts and why I developed 6 Questions of Care to guide projects into ecocentric equity in my last thesis (a series of posts to come). The TV series was not specific enough for me to find the project that was mentioned. I’m sorry to hear about the project you described. Unfortunately, it’s a global theme, one I hope humanity can end.
I took part in a beach clean in Gili Trawangan in Indonesia on Friday. The island has only developed as a tourist destination because of people like me. It is only struggling to cope with the amount of waste because of people like me. But there are only efforts to take care of the environment - and the turtles that climb the beaches to lay their eggs - because of people like me. I wanted to get involved and do something to help. And our reward was that our experience there became so much richer. We had conversations with local people about the efforts to care for the environment, the innovative things that are happening to deal with waste (eg glass is too heavy to transport off the island for recycling so instead it is turned into bricks right there on the island, and the bricks can be used for construction). We learned about efforts to look after the turtles, and then on our last night on the island were able to spot where turtle nests had been marked then came across a group of Gili Eco Trust workers who had just finished relocating a nest to a safer place. The atmosphere was celebratory, the people passionate about their work. The problems are great but I came away with hope in my heart.
Tara, thank you for writing this. It is a powerful call to action that resonates deeply. Thank you for bringing up the idea of "weaponizing privilege"—it reframes privilege as a tool for impact rather than guilt. Your examples of everyday people finding creative ways to contribute, from food forests to drainage socks, show how meaningful change can happen when we use what we have for the collective good.
The way you highlight Cannupa Hanska’s words is also incredibly motivating. Instead of isolating privilege, it empowers people to think about their skills, networks, and resources as entry points into climate action. And your personal note about community and belonging is such an important reminder that collective action isn't just about solving environmental issues; it’s about connecting and finding joy in the process.
My climate joy lies in building my community garden, where we focus on native plants to support local pollinators. It’s a small act, but it’s my way of contributing to a larger ecosystem. Thank you for sharing this vision of positive, community-driven change.
That’s exactly what I hoped to share with people. 💖 Thank you.
Thank you. so much is working to make us feel hopeless, so we have to work to bring hope again... and results!
Agreed! I like to think of hope as a verb. It's something we must cultivate every day, like a garden. Little by little it grows and flowers and fruits. But we have to keep at it. And like a garden, it should be joyful. Finding joy in our work and cultivating hope is resistance.
This is a wonderful article and just what I needed. Small local actions are the way forward for sure. Not to mention they give us a genuine feeling of connection and wellbeing in this increasingly aggressive, increasingly digital world
So glad I gave you what you needed! That's always a goal of mine on Substack. Isn't it amazing how easy it is to forget the power of local actions? Sometimes I think that's by design--certain people in power love to obscure our power. Speaking of which, more power to you, friend!
Brilliant. Thank you.
I’m happy it spoke to you. (I was also startled by your name because it’s so close to my brother’s! Fun.)
Great writing, Tara! As you know, I am trying to use my privileges to advance. the Earth law movement. Occasionally, I feel bad that so much privilege is squandered.
I know you and your work. You shouldn't feel bad, it doesn't help anyone! We're all doing our best.
Excellent piece, thank you!
You're so welcome! So glad you like it.
Great post, Tara! I hear you and agree. Collective action is key. Social movements are what drive change. To me, protests are a fundamental tool here. Society needs to get active to force governments hands around the world. We can no longer rely on those in power to do enough.
PS: did you go to OSU? I was a postdoc there from 2015 to 2018!
Omg I thought you looked familiar! Then I saw you live in New Zealand, so I wrote it off as you "just having one of those faces," but I must have seen you around! I graduated Dec 2018 as part of the second cohort for the MA in Environmental Arts & Humanities. Part of my thesis was a series of art shows on and off campus, and I was the Artist in Residence at the Hatfield Marine Science Center summer 2018 where I created an art & science program development packet. And they used it the next year! I was so humbled.
That's crazy! Ha. Small world eh. So cool to have your work used at Hatfield. :)
Yep, agreed. We need to dig in at the local scope where we can make a difference and then level up.
Hi Tara - I like the idea of weaponising our priviliedge and I agree building skills to connect and work together is key. I also think we live in a very complex world.
For example the Scottish rewilding project you mentioned I think is the one owned by a Danish billionaire who is a large shareholder in ASOS and who owns a large percentage of Scotland (in fact only 16 people own the majority of Scotland). There are community buyout schemes in Scotland run by local communities doing good work more rooted in community - and all its complications too - but not enough of scotland is managed like this.
Of course rewilding has value but when i see a foreigner business owner owning large chunks of my country - I see power at play. So that worries me.
The highlands are areas where local people were historically often violently evicted by large landowners. I think we need to weave in this complexity and power dynamics to ultimately find justice. Because the climate crisis wasn’t created outwith these histories and power structures.
I completely agree. This is why I emphasize place-based actions in my posts and why I developed 6 Questions of Care to guide projects into ecocentric equity in my last thesis (a series of posts to come). The TV series was not specific enough for me to find the project that was mentioned. I’m sorry to hear about the project you described. Unfortunately, it’s a global theme, one I hope humanity can end.
I took part in a beach clean in Gili Trawangan in Indonesia on Friday. The island has only developed as a tourist destination because of people like me. It is only struggling to cope with the amount of waste because of people like me. But there are only efforts to take care of the environment - and the turtles that climb the beaches to lay their eggs - because of people like me. I wanted to get involved and do something to help. And our reward was that our experience there became so much richer. We had conversations with local people about the efforts to care for the environment, the innovative things that are happening to deal with waste (eg glass is too heavy to transport off the island for recycling so instead it is turned into bricks right there on the island, and the bricks can be used for construction). We learned about efforts to look after the turtles, and then on our last night on the island were able to spot where turtle nests had been marked then came across a group of Gili Eco Trust workers who had just finished relocating a nest to a safer place. The atmosphere was celebratory, the people passionate about their work. The problems are great but I came away with hope in my heart.