Eco-Anxiety Is Not Weakness, It Is Proof You Care

0:00So what if the reason you're overwhelmed by the state of the world isn't because you're fragile, it's because you're paying attention. Every day we're bombarded with headlines about climate change and economic uncertainty, social division, and a future that can feel completely out of control. And somewhere along the way, many people stopped asking, how can I help and started wondering, does anything I do even matter? So today's conversation might completely change how you think about anxiety, sustainability, and your role in creating change. Because what if you're overwhelmed isn't the problem, what if it's the starting point? So I want to welcome everybody back to the show. We have a very special guest today and her name is Paula Rose Kastrenova. She is a sustainability leader, a speaker, a thought architect, and someone who is redefining what sustainability really means. So most people think sustainability is about recycling, reducing waste, or protecting the environment. Paula believes it is so much bigger than that. She teaches that sustainability is ultimately a

1:02human issue. Why not affects how we live, lead, consume, connect, and even how we care for ourselves. And through our work as an act of sustainability director, Paula helps organizations and individuals move beyond hearing guilt and into meaningful action. She brings a powerful system thinking approach that connects environmental challenges, emotional well-being, leadership resilience, and purpose. And today we're talking about something millions of people are experiencing, but if you are openly discussing, and that is eco-anxiety, that feeling of caring deeply about the world, while simultaneously feeling powerless to change it. By the end of this conversation, you'll walk away feeling less alone, more hopeful, and equipped with practical ways to turn overwhelmed into empowerment. So Paula, it's so good to have you here. Thanks so much for being here today. I'm excited about this conversation. It's an important one. Hi Lisa, thank you for having me. I'm excited to talk with you, and it could not be more relevant right now with all the fires we are seeing in the Western US, Canada, and the EU.

2:08They're close to my heart. I was born in California, have friends and friends, and my father's family was raised in the US near Toronto. So this really is an important subject to talk about right now. Absolutely. I mean, a lot of people are super anxious about the future of our planet. And what do you feel like people are really feeling underneath all of that anxiety? That is a great question to start with. I really have thought about this quite a lot. I've experienced it myself, and I'm sure, or you have, and a lot of our people that are listening. So since an eco-anxiety has become increasingly common, you know, a lot of younger generations as well, with growing up with the constant exposure to all our environmental crises. And I've found that it often shows up, you know, as feelings of helplessness, guilt, or even emotional fatigue. There's also an emotional numbness that can sometimes go along with that. You know, we may feel a lot of guilt about driving a car, you know, we worry about having children with the uncertain

3:10future that we can see around us. And, you know, many of us, like myself, you know, sometimes do feel overwhelmed by the sheer scale of all the environmental challenges that we're facing. And I guess to sum it up, I would say when someone feels anxious about the future of the planet, they are often expressing their deeper emotions, you know, of the fear, sadness, or even a sense of loss with the biodiversity and, you know, all the things that we are seeing that we are losing. And at its core, eco-anxiety reflects the deep care for people, nature, and future generations. And that is also now combined with the feeling of parallelism is to influence all of these complex global challenges that we are facing. Absolutely. And we're seeing it rise dramatically, as you said. And I mean, I'm seeing things like these videos that are being released, what is actually being recycled? It feels to me like a lot of stuff that goes in recycling isn't actually recycled. So, even for myself, I'm like, is anything I'm actually doing making a difference? And if it's not,

4:12then what are we doing to change this? And so, do you feel that our newer generations are experiencing this differently than the older generations? Yes, definitely. That's really important. I don't know if you see it, but I do find that the younger people often report higher levels of eco-anxiety because they expect to live longer. So, they're going to live with the consequences of the environmental degradation that we're witnessing now and have been witnessing for a few years and will into the future. Unless we start changing the patterns of the systemic problems behind what happens with the climate, biodiversity, and the extreme weather patterns that we're seeing. So, I do feel that they are uncertain about their own future and rightly so. So, many feel a strong sense of responsibility to act, which is great. I'm believing that they can make meaningful change, but they don't feel that it's happening quickly enough. And that is exactly what scientists and

5:14others that I know in the sustainability sector are thinking that the warming is happening much quicker of the atmosphere and the oceans and we really need to start moving a lot quicker with initiatives that we are having on all levels. For sure. And now, how does someone tell the difference between a concern and chronic eco-anxiety? Yes, well, that's a great question. And I'm healthy concerned, I cause you to be motivated, so you want to learn more about it, you want to make sustainability choices and take positive actions. So, even though like we were discussing here that maybe your recyclade isn't going somewhere, well, you can just do a little bit of research and go to your council or your local government and go, hey, what is happening here how's this working? And then you have to let go what we can't control, we shouldn't worry about. So, then that brings us into chronic anxiety and although I'm not a clinical expert, I do believe that it could show up in daily life, it causes persistent distress, sleep problems, difficulty concentrating. It's like normal anxiety issues. Absolutely, for sure. What are some of the things that people with

6:20eco-anxiety are worrying about? Like, is it that our planet is going to explode? Like, what are the things that most people are worried about? How do you say what are most people worried about? There are so many different complex issues that I don't know really if I if I can answer that one, but I do believe that worry is something that can be switched to motivation. So, if you don't worry if you don't have that hopelessness or guilt, then you can actually be able to work and take action. Right. Right. Well, you have this powerful perspective. You're not overwhelmed because you're weak, you're overwhelmed because you care and you kind of touched on that when you just said about worry becomes motivation, but can you impact that statement for us? Yeah, yeah, I can a little bit. This statement kind of reminds us of that feeling of overwhelm by emotional issues, and it's not a sign of weakness. It's actually a sign that you care and that it's empathy and compassion. So, people who experience eco-anxiety, you often care deeply about the planet.

7:25You know, you care about your communities, you care about the future generations, and those strong emotions just are a natural response to the challenges we are facing right now. Absolutely. And so many people are feeling stuck because they feel like they care deeply, but they're helpless. So, they don't know what to do. Do you know what I mean by that? Mm-hmm. Yes, exactly. I love that. But I always like to say, so what if our overwhelm is not evidence that something's wrong? What if it's evidence that we actually are human? Too often, I think people believe that they must either solve everything or disengage completely. And I don't think we have to see everything as opposites. And I don't think that a lot of people should. The opposite of empathy doesn't have to be perfection. We don't have to be perfect. When we shift from our attention for what we cannot control and to what we can influence. So, it's more about influence than control. Then we begin to see that our own personal power comes from taking purpose full action. And those small, consistent steps, they can build hope and they can strengthen our

8:29own human resilience. And that creates a real impact. Mm-hmm. For sure. So, why do you think so many people feel like their actions don't actually matter or are making a difference? Gosh, I know, I have felt that too. I'm sure you have. The scale of emotional challenges can make individual actions seem insignificant. But real change happens when millions of us take the small actions that work together and that creates lasting impact. Part of this challenge is that the scale of change is so large. We've got deforestation, pollution, climate extremes, and biodiversity loss. And they're all large global issues. When we face problems of that size, it's really easy to think that our individual actions just don't matter. And that there's absolutely no progress, innovation or solution. So, you might think, oh my gosh, I'm too small to make a difference. Or nothing I do changes anything. We blame the systems and then we blame organizations or we even blame each other. And that's detrimental to our own humanity. Absolutely. Or for me sometimes, it's like,

9:32what's the point? You know, like, why would I go out of my way to recycle this? Like, what's the point? If I've seen that it doesn't even get to the recycling place and it's not recycled properly. Like, but a lot of this stuff that I'm seeing, I mean, you study this stuff. So, you're in the know, but for me, it's stuff I'm seeing, like, online or in the media. So, how much of this stuff do you feel like is coming from the consumption of the media? We yes, exactly. And yeah, just think about touch on that recycling. It's also that nothing's perfect, especially in sustainability, especially through chain. And there are some places that are recycling really well in some art, but if they have those role models or sort of at scale that someone is doing it correctly, then they can take on that as well. And that's really up to that particular business, but at least we're trying to recycle. And then the first thing is not to use in the first place. So, try not to buy the plastic like recycling in the five hours that is part of my book is the last resort. So, there are so many things that you can do before that we as

10:35individuals so that it doesn't even get to that point because waste is a huge issue that is actually the pollution and the waste that we see in so many different sectors is actually the problem. So, if we start at the beginning and don't make that waste in the first place, then that's a really good initiative, but I won't get into that right now. Media, let's go. Okay, media is does play a significant role. And because most of the time for mainstream media, that we see stories of disaster, conflict, environmental decline, unfortunately, you know, this often comes without equal attention to the progress and solution that we're saying. I always go to the sort of media places where I got the positive, thoughtful sort of ideas around sustainability or anything really. So, it's easy to fill overwhelmed when you're just getting bombarded by disasters and conflict and environmental decline and you even get a little negative about it, you sort of want to shut it out. But that being said, there are great media platforms as I've just

11:36discussed and publication like yours. It's wonderful to be able to talk about all of this in a real way. Then we have to bring that awareness and positive solutions as we're doing right here to all the problems that we are facing right now. But nothing is perfect. And I think that's the main takeaway that media should maybe start doing a lot more positive stories because there's so many great things happening out in the world and so many levels. Yeah, absolutely. I am not one to throw on the news or TV like CNN because of the negativity on there. And I found that when I had that on it would give me that anxiety and then I felt powerless. I felt like just a small little piece in the world underestimating my own power. And so on that note, why do you think people often underestimate the impact of these small little actions? Well, yeah, I think that people often think that one action can't make a difference because the challenges seem so large, but

12:36sustainability itself is built on collective action. So when individuals, businesses, and communities, if we all make consistent change, that those actions add up to meaningful environmental and social impact. And even though we need systems, systems are made up of people. So every major social transformation, if you talk about anything, the car or electricity, that'll begin with individuals wanting to change how they lived and how they believed and the conversations they had. This movement is no different. This transformation that we're going through is no different. Yeah, for sure. Paula, can you share an example of a small shift in behavior mindset that created a much bigger ripple effect than you could have expected? Definitely, definitely. There's a few of them, but I think one of the biggest ones as a physical example is people choosing to use reusable bags, bottles, and coffee cups. It began as a small personal habit. And it has influenced businesses and encouraged policy change. It's helped normalize a more sustainable behavior. It's showing how

13:38individual actions can inspire broader cultural and systemic change, basically. And then another example is the whole new renewable energy movement. Consumer demand, then investor pressure, that's the business side of it. Then we had all the technical innovation around that with the policy changes from government. And they all work together to transform our industry that was considered impossible to change. And that's why those sort of examples can move to other industries as well. A broader one would be to choose to start having conversations like we're having right now about sustainability. And they can have a powerful ripple effect. When one person shares ideas and then you ask questions and then you talk about your practices and your sustainable behaviors and how to improve them, that often inspires our family, our friends, our colleagues, and workplaces to make changes to. I have a friend and government who I'm always wearing the sustainability hat. When they change their whole fleet into electric, just by talking to them. So you see it around you, it's great. When he's think you have sort of made an imprint just by talking about sustainability

14:42and how we can make nature positive solutions for the planet. And that's absolutely interesting. It feels like such a big change in the moment, like talking about like switching from plastic bags to reusable bags. In the moment, it seemed like, is this actually going to work? You know, and then once it happens, and it changes things, and then you're like, I can't believe we didn't do this before. And I was downtown in my city, and I go to a yoga studio, downtown in my city, and there's a building beside it where there's homeless people that kind of hang out. And so I saw them putting up the stations for the electric cars there, and I thought that was interesting. I'm like, wow, the world is really shifting. And like, obviously, I would love to help all the homeless people in the world. But I just found it interesting that like they were putting those there. So it's like the world is changing. It was just such a contrast to see. But instead of hearing it, yeah, it's just interesting. It was just an observation. Yeah, no, I love that. I love that. I love that stupidity of life that you see. We still have

15:46so far to go, especially with social impact. But sustainability is about that too, so that people can survive without a lot of financial assistance, or that our governments can support the people that are less advantaged than us. Well, I'm here. We don't have a lot of homes because our social welfare is so strong. It's so strong. So I do appreciate Australian society and how we are egalitarian in the way we approach progressive democracy. But there are setbacks in every country. So you try to take what you can in your local communities. And that community is very important, especially in sustainability. But sustainability does help social equity quite a lot. And you can see that in solar panels and things like that and giving back and sharing and car share and all those sort of things. So the world is becoming a much better place. It's just not happening quick enough. And I think the problems in sustainability currently, and that's why we have eco-ansiety is the climate. And a lot of different factions have to get on board because this isn't about sort of

16:47taking things away or making things different. It's just about taking nature into the conversation on how much she contributes to, and I just say a she, how much she contributes to our welfare. We are human. We eat and we breathe air. So if we don't have any of those things, we won't be here. So the planet will be fine, but we need to look after her as much as we look after other things in our lives. Absolutely. I'd love to talk about the turning point. So how to move from fear into empowerment. You teach a pretty powerful framework. So awareness, acceptance, action. Can you walk us through that? Yes, thank you. I will. So our journey in sustainability, it begins with our awareness. And this is more on the eco-ansiety side of things. This is about how we're feeling in our emotion. So we have to recognize that what are we feeling and why are we feeling it? You know, just sort of really question, where's this coming from? Why am I upset about what's happening to our

17:48environment? And then by understanding that the environmental and social challenges we face without sort of ignoring or avoiding them. So really think about it. Then you have to accept it. So acknowledge our emotions without judgment and recognize that it is actually normal to feel concerned or overwhelmed. And accepting that not one single person can solve all these complex issues. After that, we can choose action. We can choose to influence and have a constructive response that goes within our own values of what we truly believe and each person has different values. But how can we transform our concerns into purpose? So it's really about what is your purpose here? And how you think about it. And then you take practical achievable steps. So it could be at home or it could be in our communities. Where can we go and have our social outings and things and through nature? It could be at work if you see something that you want to change. I just did an article on bio-philic design. So a lot of it has to do with your environment and trees and oxygen and the

18:53feelings of positivity that come from being in nature because we did start in the forest. And it's only been a few 200 years where we've been locked inside with lights and things. So it really encourages our own mental health and well-being to have those sorts of things around us. And we can replace the helplessness with hope and that becomes a collective action for change. And that drives a more sustainable future. So it's like a whole loop that comes back around. For sure, it's interesting you say that I just moved from a highly populated area of my city into a more urban area where I wake up and there's like rabbits and deer like right next to my window. And the difference that I feel is I can't even tell you. It's like I had no flow to all of sudden having all of this flow in my life and just these feelings of like good energy. And I love that. It didn't take I literally just moved here. So it was like immediately I felt that shit. Yeah, no, I mean, it looks so bright and it's beautiful where I am and I'm in the middle of the city. But I've got bird lots of bird life and

19:58beautiful trees and flowers and butterflies and I love it. I have lived in New York City. I've lived in places where I don't have that and to my set is different. It's just wonderful to have a little bit of nature around you and we can bring that into urban settings. It's not hard. It can be reintroduced. Yeah, for sure. So what happens when awareness never turns into action because people often get stuck at the awareness phase. Yes, they do. They do. So emotion, it brings an emotional resilience. So it's really being emotionally sensitive but being resilient. So being able to not take it into yourself and avoid it. And it's the ability to adapt to stressful situations, trauma or adversity. So I think those are probably sort of basic anxieties of prompts if you like. But that really applies here. So if you're looking at eco-exiting problem, the things that are happening around you, especially with extreme weather that we've been having, which is hard not to get upset about it. I certainly have. Rather than suppressing the feelings, it involves processing

21:02those intention motions and maintaining your mental flexibility. So it's about recovering from setbacks. It's actually just very good advice, I think, for life, but in sustainability, that really matters. So and that because there is so many setbacks that we are seeing, it's a creative start to the transitioning. So it's going to be a beginning that has its setbacks and then also its growth. So there'll be until it's settled in each sector, there'll be things that don't work out and things that do work out. And then we learn and we grow from there. And awareness without action can lead to being frustrated, helpless, and then the eco-exiting. And the actions, even on a small scale, they help restore a sense of purpose for us and remind us that progress is built through our consistent efforts. Definitely. Why do you think guilt creates paralysis instead of change? Oh wow, that's a really good question. Guilt tends to keep people focused on what they haven't done rather than what they can do next, but positive action is far more motivating than self-creditsism.

22:05And sustainable change is actually driven by encouragement, not perfection, as we've said. In sustainability, that might mean replacing guilt with conscious value-aligned choices. So when you go to the supermarket, you look at the labels and you buy things that aren't packaged, a raw sort of anything clean, and then you can just make it yourself very quickly. And there's all sorts of ways to make those value-aligned choices. And then might mean focusing on the progress rather than the perfectionist's choose, meaningful action that aligns with your values instead of trying to solve everything at once, and then saying, well, I can't do this and it's not perfect, so I'm not going to do it at all. It's more making those small incremental steps that brings the massive impact, because if millions of people do the same thing, then that creates a whole new way of living. It's a shared purpose, and you don't have to carry that burden alone and feel isolated. Just having the conversation, like we often carry guilt and shame, because we feel like we're the

23:06only one doing that or feeling that way. And then when you talk about it and you realize that if a global issue or the people in the room are feeling the same way, it makes it real and it makes it alive. And then we can start doing things and that paralysis can disappear. But I know this is a good question because I get stuck in perfectionism. So how do we stop trying to be perfect and start being more effective? I get stuck in the perfectionism trap all the time. I know. I used to, like, I'm happy I've let that go. I'm much happier person, but the sustainability you have to let it go because it's never going to be perfect 100%. Life isn't like that. Really, when you think about it, there's always imperfections and there's always growth in that. But yeah, I don't know if everyone does this, it is by recognizing the sustainability as a journey. So it's not all or nothing. It's not a goal to strive for perfection. You just need to focus on making practical consistent choices.

24:06I love clothes and fashion and I've been a fashion designer, but maybe go and get something in one of the pre-loved shops or buy one thing that you absolutely adore and wear it for three or four years and also repairs. And then that comes into repairing anything that you have, like your washing machines or your scissors or anything that you use, sort of go and repair them as as opposed to throwing them out and getting a new one. So it's all those sorts of little small actions that are repeated by many people and then that will create the lasting change. As far as being a sustainable person, it's just about thinking. I guess more like our great, great, grand parents before I don't know how long ago, but I hear when they used to bake their own bread and they used to really use things and use them sparingly, they might keep one of their lights for their entire life. So it wasn't the disposable driven environments that we see now. Maybe just take a step back and not think that it has to be perfect, sort of enjoy, community people. It's a whole new cultural mental shift on where we find our enjoyment in our lives.

25:12Definitely, switching from the material world to the inner world was really helpful for me. I've moved a year ago as well and got rid of most of my stuff and I remember sitting in the space that I just moved from and I barely had anything and I went to the store and I bought two plates, two forks, two not like just enough for myself and it really got me thinking like why do I need all this stuff and why am I so attached to my things because I was getting anxious about losing things, or getting rid of certain things. I think nowadays we're faced with this choice overload. You go online, you can buy a shirt for like two bucks and it's like crazy. We just have so many choices and there's this ideal way to look and feel and live and you're successful if you have all these things, but to me that doesn't make me feel like I'm successful at all. It's more of how I feel on the inside. So I think the world is just really overwhelmed by these messages as well. Have you ever been overwhelmed? I have, I have and you know I always like to say as far as what you

26:16were talking about that you can't take it with you. So I went through a similar phase in my life and that's where I found my purpose. This is what really shifted for me. I was in Sydney, Australia during the Black Summer fires so that was in 2000 and the sky was orange and the sun was red for days and we couldn't breathe. I really did think that the world was coming to an end. I just did not know what was going on. Then straight after that we had the COVID lockdowns and we had the industry shutdowns and after that we had a month of relentless rain followed by major flooding. That's right in the area that I am in and I was distressed inwardly and looking for answers. I truly felt like the planet was trying to tell all of us something. So I listened and I moved from helplessness to asking why is this happening? I personally turned to education so I found answers through sustainable and societal business, academic study at Cambridge and Harvard and then I embraced the UN SDGs, became part of the United Nations and worked with the sustainable development through them and importantly started collaborating and working cross systems and communities and that we're

27:20sharing right now. Because of my media background I love the podcast and a lot of media and writing is what I've sort of been deep-diving to in the moment but I work with a lot of different organizations just to help with what we see around us, the detrimental things that are happening, a to our planet, to our biodiversity laws, to the warming oceans and all the things that seem like they're very extreme but Mother Nature she comes back very quickly if we give her the right sort of atmosphere to actually come back. So when you see a lot of the sort of algae blooms it's caused by synthetic fertilizers so if we help the soil health I do a lot of work in the agricultural sector and food and wine and if you really bring those things back Mother Nature she actually recovers really quickly. We've seen that on so many different levels so there's a lot of hope there. Definitely yes. What about can you speak to the audience for a second here if someone who's listening feels exhausted and discouraged what do you think they should do to take a step to feel better? Okay so

28:20well in my opinion and regarding sustainability if you're feeling exhausted and discouraged about the state of the world I think you need to start with one small achievable action that's within your control whether it's spending time in nature as we were talking about or reducing waste or supporting a local sustainable business something that has sustainability in its DNA. We're having a positive conversation like we're having right now small steps create momentum and momentum builds hope so remember you do not have to do everything you just have to keep moving forward. I love that I love that just one step at a time we always want everything at once but it just one step at a time so Paula I like this this is where your work is really interesting so sustainability you say isn't just about the environment it's essentially about the people so what is human sustainability what does that mean? Okay yes interesting for human sustainability it is about creating a future

29:23where people can thrive so it's not just survive which is just wonderful if you think about it well environmental sustainability focuses on protecting the planet human sustainability recognizes that healthy resilient people are essential to achieving lasting change it encompasses our physical and mental well-being our relationships our communities our workplaces and our sense of purpose so basically every living part of who we are as humans if people are exhausted or we're disconnected or overwhelmed we're far less able to care about the environment or contribute to sustainable solutions so sustainability isn't just about saving the planet it's about creating a world where both people and nature can flourish together and that means tackling all these pollution air quality ocean warming and excessive carbons in our atmosphere to name a few but if we all get together and tackle whatever little bit that we can whether it's the scientists or it's the CEOs or it's your schoolteacher we can easily work through this and make both people

30:30and nature work together and thrive yeah definitely I mean a burnt out person definitely can't do anything but been there before where I just was working so much and I felt like I was useless and all I wanted to do was sleep so how then does emotional well-being impact sustainability? okay so that's the other thing that emotional well-being gives us the capacity to actually make thoughtful decisions adapt to chain and then we can also remain hopeful in the face of challenges when people feel supported and resilient they're far more likely to adopt sustainable behaviors and then we can inspire others to do the same so when all of our messages that we hear feels urgent when the headlines are devastating and our efforts feel then insignificant it becomes difficult to stay engaged and it's really our emotional well-being is tackled to that staying engaged with sustainability so emotional well-being it's not separate from sustainable action it's actually a vital part of it yeah agreed so you mentioned leadership in the last part there what

31:35role does leadership play in creating these sustainable communities? well I'm from my experience I believe leadership actually sets the tone for sustainable change great leaders in the past create environments where people feel valued empowered and connected to a shared purpose which this definitely is and making it easier for communities to embrace sustainability so leaders aren't just great leaders that have been a schoolteacher is a leader a parent is a leader a small business owner a CEO as I say a council member or a politician or a student we all have leadership roles to play for someone else so our guidance is important no matter who we're speaking to yeah so literally the person at the top right and creating a place an environment where everyone kind of feels like equal and and full of power and you know in power I think empowering leaders are the most effective for sure do you think we're trying to solve the environmental problems while ignoring human problems do you think that humans are essentially fueling the environmental problems?

32:40in many cases yes we've discussed we often focus on environmental solutions without giving equal attention to things like burnout and disconnection inequality or even our mental well-being but a truly sustainable feature depends on caring for both people and planet because resilient communities are better equipped to protect the environment and then we can drive lasting change and I think that makes perfect sense. I'd love to talk about interconnected systems because you often talk about those so what happens when we stop seeing environmental issues social issues and economic issues as separate conversations and we bring them together. yes great question when we stop seeing you know these environmental social and economic issues as separate conversations we begin to understand sustainability as the connected system that it is climate dependability equality health business stability and community well-being all influence each other this allows us to move beyond just treating symptoms and that's where holistic

33:45sustainability comes into the whole equation and start addressing the root causes so it creates solutions that are not only environmentally responsible but also socially fair and economically resilient and those are things that make make our our world's possible. Truth's systemic change happens when we recognize that protecting the planet and improving human well-being are not peting goals they are deeply interconnected part of building our future and yeah that is the way that holistic health or anything that has to do with that term is a true way of seeing things that we are all organic we're all connected and those parts need to work cohesively together. yeah it reminds me of like human health we're in this world now where people are wanting quick fixes and there's all these things being advertised take this and you're going to feel amazing and this is the only thing you're going to need to do but that's not true everything is pieced together so like eating well and sleeping well and all of those things all contribute to our

34:47foundational health and the same goes for our environment we can't just do one thing and expect the whole world to change look at it from all different perspectives so I want to ask you this you say that the environmental crisis is also a relationship crisis and I found that to be an interesting statement can you tell the audience what you mean by that? sure sure so the term the environmental crisis is also a relationship crisis means that many of our environmental challenges stem from a disconnection in the way we relate to nature each other and the systems that support us when we lose that sense of connection and responsibility it does become easier to exploit resources or ignore inequality or prioritize your turn games with long-term well-being so you know creating a sustainable future requires rebuilding those relationships and it also recognizes that people communities and the planet are deeply interconnected and that caring for one means caring for all

35:49I think I'd like to add that sustainability is also deeply internal and relational so it depends on how we feel cope and connect and whether we believe that change is actually still possible if we want to build a better future we must also support all those emotional conditions that make the participation impossible so to create a healthier future we need to support the emotional conditions that make that participation possible it's also with the technical solutions we need healing we need to restore the trust rebuild connection and reimagine how we live and care for each other it's a total shift in thinking to a more positive way of being and if we feel supported grounded and connected to something larger than ourselves we are far more capable of taking that important meaningful action and I think that brings us back to the emotional resilience and why that matters if we help people that move from fear to clarity from helplessness to agency and from isolation to our collective purpose we can have a truly sustainable future that supports both

36:51the planet and the people protecting it definitely definitely yeah I'm gonna go off track a little bit but I just feel like there's gotta be some kind of event that's gonna happen in the world over the next decade that is going to force humans to come back together because right now there's this trend of like independence you don't have to go out anymore because you can talk to people online I just feel like in order to come back to all of this and really change the world we all have to come back together so I don't know come back to this 10 years or so now see if I'm right but I think there's gonna be a huge shift in the world it's gonna bring up on the other I hope so that would be great definitely the new world that's it that's it I'm there we're making it yes exactly we're making it right now yes it's a manifestation for sure yes I love that so Paul can you give the audience some practical advice like what can they do to feel more empowered

37:57within all of this well it's as we said simple steps one step at a time so I think one simple thing that everyone everywhere can do this week is to choose one action that's within their control and commit to it that might be reducing food waste you might make a more sustainable purchase you might spend time in nature that's what I love doing joining a local initiative or having a conversation about mental well-being and sustainable solutions like we're having right now and power movement grows when we move from feeling like bystanders in our own lives which I certainly have to recognizing that our choices voices and actions all contribute to positive change and as we've said small consistent actions often create more lasting impact than trying to achieve perfection repeated actions build confidence that reinforces our independent choices that fuel our personal power and doesn't it feel good if you try to be perfect it's quite stressful yeah I agree I agree now how do we stay informed without being overwhelmed well I'll keep a pretty simple I find the

39:02key is to be informed with intention rather than constant exposure so choose your trusted sources of information you need to set your healthy boundaries of what you will accept and won't accept and want to hear and don't want to hear and then you balance that challenging information with positive stories of innovation solutions and progress and that's what I do and and it makes you feel so much better absolutely do you know I want to choose sustainable habits that creates momentum I think that one powerful habit would be becoming more intentional about your consumption so that's positive before you buy use or discard something and ask is there a better way the simple mindset can influence your everyday choices and then that builds a more sustainable lifestyle a small repeated actions create more lasting change than dramatic short term actions whether it's as we said reducing food waste go to the farmers markets or walk more often instead of jumping in your car and participating in the community initiatives and all this consistency it just matters when you'd

40:03think about what you're doing before you actually do it just because that's what you've done before and you need to celebrate progress our health and the healthy environment do not emerge by waiting for perfect outcome it grows when we see movement and that provides the momentum and then that creates the positive change isn't that what we need right now positive change that is definitely what we need right now now Paula before we go for the day what is something you wish more people understood about hope thank you for that question I wish more people understood that hope is not something we wait for it's something we create through action hope does not mean ignoring all the challenges we are facing right now it means believing that our choices our relationships and our collective efforts can influence the future and sustainability our hope comes from recognizing that progress is happening and that every person can contribute meaningful change so every small action when we multiply it across communities can become powerful forces for the transformation

41:05then our sensitivity becomes our strength and that is so important the goal is not to become unaffected by the challenges around us the goal is to remain engaged and keep showing up even when our futures feel uncertain and then that brings us back but if you feel overwhelmed by the state of the world it's not because you are weak it means you care caring is not the problem it's the starting point the challenge is learning how to transform that care into the momentum because we're concerned becomes action it makes empowerment and that grows sustainably I love that I love that so Paula this has been such an important conversation thank you so much for coming on the show where can people find out more information about you and tell everyone about your book okay thank you thank you Lisa our conversation really has open new possibilities for me I I just so enjoyed being here with you it has been a pleasure to be part of the advisor with Stacy Tlemi and I look forward to talking with you again soon if people want to reach out to me at the moment I like to keep it simple

42:08so you can find me on LinkedIn and please connect if you want to ask me anything I'm here also my mini course launches and my website collaboration with my first book holistic sustainability or active sustainability have worked the title yet but we're getting there it's almost going to be out by the end of the year and watch out for that amazing amazing well thanks again so much it was so fun talking thank you and I want to thank our audience for tuning in and for listening to this very important conversation so caring deeply is not a weakness it's actually one of the most powerful qualities that we possess our goal isn't to become fearless our goal is to become engaged because hope isn't something that magically appears it's literally something that we practice so Paula reminded us today that you do not need to carry the entire world on your shoulders to help create change it happens with one conversation one choice one action one person that added time so again Paula thanks for joining us and helping us transform overwhelm into empowerment and thank you guys so

43:10much for tuning into this show until next time remember you're not powerless because you're one person history has always changed because individuals decided to participate in something bigger than themselves so stay tuned for the next episode everyone take care bye bye