Climate Conscious Is Bringing the World Together

We’ve built a global network of writers that span over 30 countries — and this is just the beginning

Building something to bring people together

Back in 2019, when I first thought about creating what would become the Climate Conscious publication, I had three primary goals that I set out to achieve:

1. Rather than further polarize one another as the mainstream media and social media have consistently done, I wanted to create a publication that would bring people together in a genuine way to share their ideas, thoughts, and knowledge.
2. Since we will need as many people as possible to help develop solutions to the climate crisis and shift our society in the right direction, I wanted to create a publication that would give everyone a voice and decentralize information sharing.
3. Instead of focusing primarily on the impacts of climate change as mainstream media has done, I wanted to create a publication that was more solutions-focused and covered all the interconnected issues such as the links to racial disparities and wealth inequality.

And in May of 2019, Climate Conscious was created. Initially, it was just me posting my own climate change-related articles. But over the next several months, I began reaching out to writers on Medium asking if they would like to submit their work to the publication. Some articles went viral from writers like Danny Schleien and Michael Touchton that really helped introduce the publication to more people. Word quickly spread about what we were building together. But little did I know just how widespread it would become over two years later.

As I stated in my goals for the publication, I wanted to create something that would bring people together. But I never thought the publication could end up having the global reach it now has. I recently analyzed where our over 800 writers are currently based and put together the map below that shows this amazing reach. Every country in a shade of blue represents where at least one of our writers is based with the darker shades of blue representing larger country populations. At the time of writing, we have writers in at least 33 countries representing nearly 4.8 billion people in those respective countries. My hope is that every country on the map will one day be a shade of blue.

Transitioning to a better future

The unique perspectives and ideas found within the stories of this publication cannot be found in any mainstream outlet. There are also deeply profound personal stories of those who have experienced the impacts of climate change firsthand, those that have dealt with the psychological effects of eco-anxiety, and those who are at the front lines fighting for a better future. What we have built together is something entirely different and I believe will only continue to grow in its influence and reach.

I think it has become clear to many of us that are a part of this publication that we cannot rely on world leaders or wealthy elites to save us from what is coming; they will only try to save themselves. It is imperative that we become leaders within our own communities and begin to make this transition to a better future starting at the local level and learning from one another in the process. And we must also not be afraid to take on these powerful people and institutions. As I wrote in one of my first articles:

“…they have the power and influence of money. So, we must have something that trumps money. The only reasonable answer is ‘people power’, i.e., they can outnumber us in terms of wealth, but we can outnumber them in terms of people fighting for a common cause.”

I hope this publication will continue to serve as a valuable source of information to all, regardless of where you live, that can be utilized to develop solutions and overcome obstacles as they come up.

As an example, in the current work I’m doing with a local school district, I am trying to apply not only what I have learned from my educational background in environmental science and policy, but I am taking the ideas and lessons I have learned from the many writers here to help the district develop and implement the right climate mitigation and adaptation solutions. I love learning from you all and I hope you have learned a thing or two from my own writing as well.

For me, joining Medium was never about building up a large following or making a name for myself. It was about sharing my insights, knowledge, and ideas with others so that maybe, just maybe, they might think or act a little differently after reading something I said — or at least learn something new in the process. With about 50,000 views a month, I have no doubt that the publication is doing that on a much larger scale.

When I first started writing, I never really thought about it as a form of activism but I do now. Activism isn’t always about those in the streets with picket signs in their hands. Activism is any form of raising your voice and taking action for a cause. So let our voices ring loud and clear both across the virtual world and the real world that we will not let our future be determined by those in ivory towers.

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To address the crises we face, we all need to work together and contribute our knowledge, ideas, and skills. If you share my vision of building a better future together, then please consider subscribing here to stay connected and be notified when I publish a new story.