Saturdays Are For The Planet
Ever since I was in middle school, I’ve known that climate change would be one of the defining issues of my generation.
Yet like so many, I was often paralyzed by doom and gloom, unsure of what I could do. It was emotionally easier to pretend that climate change was fully outside of my control. So I lived my life as if it weren’t already happening, doing the bare minimum like composting and patting myself on the back.
That was, until last year when my moral conscious reached a breaking point: there is no choice but to take serious action on climate change. (I wrote about how I reached through the most impactful books I read in 2023.)
But how? Where to even start?
Well, I decided I would start by dedicating a few hours each Saturday to writing about, reading out, or taking action on climate change.
One Saturday this January while sitting at a coffee shop in Medellíin, my girlfriend asked me what I was working on. I said, “Climate change writing. Saturdays are for the planet. They’re not for the boys. They’re for the planet.
Here are a few reasons I’ve found this “Saturdays Are For The Planet” approach powerful.
1) I Set Aside Time For What matters
Since I graduated college, I have set aside Friday mornings to work on personal writing. Thanks to this time, I’ve written a newsletter every month and dozens of articles in the last two years.
Just like exercise or writing or reading, vague wishes pale in contrast to clear plans. Saturdays Are For The Planet has scheduled in the time I dedicate to helping the planet.
Climate change is such a massive issue, like fighting a 50-headed dog who guards the underworld (called a Cerberus in Greek mythology), that the sheer hugeness of the issue can stall us. The Saturdays Are For The Planet approach reminds us that big change doesn’t occur without small action first.
2) It Reminds Me That We Need to Make Sacrifices
Yes, I enjoy writing about climate change. These Saturday mornings have led to some of my most fulfilling, inspired writing. But I’d be lying if I said some of these mornings I wouldn’t have preferred to just sit at home and read or otherwise dedicate myself to leisure.
it’s a small sacrifice to move towards the changes I want to see in the world.
That is the core of my “Saturdays Are For The Planet” approach.
It’s not only about setting aside time for what matters most, it’s also about making sacrifices in line with my values. The road towards a cleaner, more equitable world involves all of us giving something up.
What Am I willing to Sacrifice to see positive changes in the world?
My Saturday mornings are an easy place to start. This question applies to so much more than this.
- I always take a train if it’s all reasonable instead of flying. (I’ve even set a personal flying limit.)
- I never buy from Amazon, and I haven’t for years. Local bookstore supremacy.
- If I’m somewhere that doesn’t compost, I’ll go buy a 5-gallon bucket and start the composting, or I’ll look up if the town or city has compost drop-offs.
I do these things even if it costs more. Even if it takes longer. Even if it’s slightly inconvenient for me.
We will not save the planet without big sacrifices, both as individuals and as a society.
3) It Keeps Climate Change Top of Mind
In the essay The Top Idea in Your Mind, Paul Graham explores how the things we think about while we’re in the shower matter a lot. He says, “It’s hard to do a really good job on anything you don’t think about in the shower.”
I’ve noticed that by intentionally thinking about climate change every week, I’m spending more and more of my time thinking about it. A day doesn’t go by where I don’t have some idea or thought related to climate change.
Devoting Saturdays to it has ensured that I don’t forget how big an issue this is. Now I write and think about climate change much more than once a week.
Will You Join Me This Saturday?
In an empowering essay Loving in a Vanishing World, Emily N. Johnson says, “If you can, then the world needs you, and it needs you right now, because anything that we do this year or next is worth ten of the same thing ten years from now. Nothing has ever been more important than holding the world well back from any of the ecological tipping points that we haven’t yet crossed, and some are perilously close. This makes us, however unintuitively, the most powerful people who have ever lived… Our last best chance is now.”
We will not avoid the worst effects of climate change without regular people like you and me becoming active participants in the fight. Now is the time.
If you’re not sure what to do a great place to start is to read abotu climate change. In particular, I recommend finding a topic you’re already interested in and considering how that relates to climate change. Ask ChatGPT or Gemini for ideas. You can also start by reading a few of my articles.
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