Not interested in climate change? This might be for you

NEWS RELEASE

CLEAN NORTH

At Sault College on April 8 at 7 p.m., author and Vancouver Observer reporter Carrie Saxifrage will read from her new book The Big Swim, using it to illustrate some of the latest principles in climate communication.

The Big Swim reconnects personal life with climate change through stories that are funny and touching.

Saxifrage set out to write a book that people who aren’t interested in the issue would enjoy.

As a result, some of her stories have less to do with climate change and more to do with life.

Other stories face the predicament head on: how climate change affects identity, the benefits and losses of decarbonizing one’s life, and perspectives that support resilience in the face of difficult knowledge.

Every story invites awareness of our place in the magnificent and intricate biological world.

The result is an accessible book that can be used to start necessary conversations with a broader spectrum of people, conversations about how ending our deadly dependence on fossil fuels could bring meaning, shared purpose and a happier future. 

We need these conversations.

Many people feel a growing unease about the disconnection between our daily lives and the irrefutable evidence that it’s time to act on climate change.

Psychology research abounds with deep seated reasons why people choose this unease over action.

In Don’t Even Talk About It: Why Our Minds Are Wired to Ignore Climate Change, George Marshall compiles this research and suggests ways to communicate climate change that reach through the barriers.

Principle number one: tell stories!

Carrie Saxifrage will use stories from The Big Swim to illustrate some of Marshall’s principles, with ideas for listeners to consider in planning their own climate stories.

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