How to Support the Environment When You’re Stuck Inside During the Pandemic

Do you consider yourself a good person who wants to protect nature? If so, good. We need people like you, now more than ever.

This blog series (see past installments here, here, and here) focuses on how to accelerate and scale protection of nature. Some readers tell me, “That’s all very interesting, but what can I do?”

The answer is, a lot. 

The Covid-19 crisis is everyone’s top priority right now, for obvious reasons. We need to address this health and humanitarian crisis. We need especially to help the most vulnerable people and the heroes who are on the front lines. But when the immediate danger passes and the pandemic eventually ends, climate change and other environmental hazards threaten to wreck our lifestyles, culture, economy, and planet even more ferociously than the virus does. 

This is an excellent time to address urgent and critical environmental challenges. And there is plenty you can do to make a positive difference right now, even if you feel increasingly helpless and trapped at home due to necessary social distancing measures in place across the country. 

Here, I’ve outlined a few ways I think you (yes, you!) can get involved and make a big difference:

Get political

The Covid-19 crisis makes it crystal clear: when leaders in government neglect science and defer on huge risks like pandemics and climate change, the economic and human life toll is immense. Let’s learn our lesson. Let’s push our elected officials as hard as possible not to make this mistake again. Climate change, in many ways, is no different from Covid-19. As is the case with the virus, we know the science and the risks are clear, but the necessary motivation to mitigate and confront the coming catastrophe is not happening. Nothing is more important than getting government policy right.

There is an election this fall. Political leaders know that change is underway, and business as usual is being challenged. You can do a lot to help ensure elected officials pursue a more sustainable political agenda. The most important thing you can do is vote, and it’s worth knowing which candidates—whether they’re running for president, Congress, or for local elected positions—back green platforms. Even before you vote, you can help support the candidates of your choice, via phonebanking, volunteering for their campaigns, and/or donating. And, in general, you should become familiar with your local elected officials and their sustainability platforms; you can work to push your state and national Congressional representatives to back the climate policy you want to see happen in the future.

Push your organization to do more

Whether you’re an employee at a business, a student at a university, or a parishioner at a church, you can use your clout to push your organization to be an environmental leader. People have more organizational clout than they realize. Bosses listen to their employees. University administrators listen to their students. Churches listen to their congregants.

For example, at Amazon in September, a group of employees announced a one-day walkout to protest what they viewed as insufficient commitments by the company to address climate change. Guess what happened? Amazon announced new and more ambitious climate change-fighting initiatives. Organizational leaders listen to their teams, and during Covid-19, leaders are paying even more attention as they work to create and adapt to the new normal.

Talk to your supervisors, talk to your colleagues, talk to your deans and deacons, and see what kinds of initiatives you can all pursue together.

Support environmental non-profit organizations

Here, I should disclose my bias. I worked at the Nature Conservancy for 11 years. I know most of the leading environmental non-profit organizations very well, and the ones I know are all superb. They are staffed by hardworking, brilliant people. These organizations provide critical leadership and get essential work done. They are also under-resourced. They need your financial support and/or your help as a volunteer. In fact, your financial support is especially crucial right now, as Covid-19 bears down on the economy and stock market. Some of these non-profits will likely see drops in donations, in part because people are worried about the economy, and also because individuals and corporations may be using their donation funds to fight Covid-19. But with a decline in philanthropic support, the organizations protecting the environment will struggle to do their essential work. Don’t forget about them—now is the time to be more generous than ever. Don’t wait.

Get smart

When confronting a potential future crisis, knowledge is power. Think of how much better off society would be if each one of us had been better informed on pandemic risks. It’s easy to blame political leaders for missing this. But I missed this too, and perhaps you did as well. Let’s not make this mistake again. Research the science behind climate change, the worst-case scenarios, and the mitigation efforts scientists say are essential in order to prevent them. There isn’t actually a lot of debate behind the science, despite what some elected officials and pundits might claim. And if you’re up to speed on what’s happening, why, and how to stop it, you can better champion the public policy we need in place to protect nature.  

Nurture the environmental stewards we’ll need in the future

Most adult environmentalists say it was time spent outdoors in childhood that got them interested in protecting nature. Many folks point to a grandparent or aunt or uncle who nourished that interest and taught them the importance of a healthy ecological system.

Today, young people spend an average of less than ? the time outdoors that my generation did as kids. How will today’s children develop the commitment to protect nature that we’ll soon need to rely on? Make this your priority. Take your kids, nieces, nephews, grandchildren, etc. on nature walks. Teach them about plants, rivers, animals, habitats. Talk to them about the changing climate. (Gently) compare the current Covid-19 crisis to the future climate crisis. If you instill in them a deep and abiding love of nature, they’ll grow up with a motive to save it. 

As a bonus, here’s the secret to a long and happy life

As CEO of TNC, one of my duties was to spend time with key supporters and donors. Unexpectedly, this was, in many ways, the most fun and educational part of my job. Often, these supporters and donors were people in their late 80s. It was really the first time in my life when I spent a lot of time with people that age. My wife Amy and I would often remark to one another, after participating in TNC events, that it was the elderly people who seemed to us to be the most inspiring, positive, youthful, and full of life. It was a joy to be around them.

What is their secret? They find a cause they care about (in this case, the environment), they give it their all, and they think more about helping others than themselves. The result: they are upbeat, focused, energetic, and highly engaged.

You too can experience this. Please—do the steps outlined above, to the best of your ability. You’ll make the world a better place and yourself a happier person at the same time. 

Read the first three blogs in this series: Nature Needs Investment Bankers (March 3, 2020); Raising the Capital to Protect and Restore a Forest (March 10, 2020); Environmentalists, Prepare Now for Opportunities in Fiscal Stimulus Programs (April 10, 2020)

@MarkTercek is an advisor to companies, start-ups, institutional investors and NGOs on environmental strategies, organizational management, and impact investing. He is the former CEO of The Nature Conservancy (July 2008 - June 2019) and former Partner and Managing Director for Goldman Sachs (1984 - 2008). He believes that business can be a force for good and strives to help organizations realize benefits for both the environment and their bottom line.