Long-Term Climate Activism

If you want to make a big impact, then long-term activism will be more effective than short-term activism. Though it won't have as many effects in your community, it may actually be more effective. Pressuring a legislator to pass a bill will reduce emissions more than having a garage sale, if the bill goes through; however, it could be harder.
             The easiest (which doesn’t mean it’s easy) form of long-term is to write, call, or e-mail a politician. Read up on laws that are being worked on; some may be good for the environment and some may not. You can also put pressure on politicians to do things about climate change that aren't part of laws that are currently being decided. If your state/country leader has not declared a climate state of emergency, you can pester them to. (If you're not sure who to write to, the website whoaremyrepresentatives.org will list all your US political representatives if you provide an address.)
             Your letter or e-mail will be more powerful if more people sign it. If you don’t wish to stand around collecting signatures all day, you can use an online petition site and share it on social media. This can also be more helpful for getting things other than politicians to listen to you, for instance, big companies. For this, you may also want to ask everyone who signs your petition not to shop at or use the companies. Then they may start to lose money and therefore perhaps listen to you. That is called a boycott.
             You can also attend or organize a march or protest for climate justice. Organizing a March or protest will be difficult, but if you've attended several before, you can try. Make sure, though, that it is legal to march wherever you plan to. (You may need a permit.) If you'd like to get involved with others to attend or help host a march or protest, you can look at social media and community bulletin boards to see if anyone is having one soon, or look at our Join Others article.