First of all, I saw a therapist, and they helped. Truly, if it’s bad enough, go talk to someone.
Now what I personally do? The biggest thing was learning that I can’t carry the weight of the world on my shoulders. I have a habit of doing that. I’m a very empathetic person so when I see climate change I just fall into a spiral that’s hard to get out of. Learning that I need to focus on what I can change is the most important.
So, I do what you already touched on. I am not going to get Shell to stop polluting, but I can change myself, and those near me. I have switched my entire home away from fossil fuels (heat pump, electric water heater), when it was time for a new vehicle I went for an EV, and even then I take the bus and train whenever I can now. I’m looking into an e-bike.
That still wasn’t enough so I’m starting to get into local politics a bit. City council issues, local neighborhood issues, those are things I can help control. My city is trying to push a natural gas ban on new housing, and conservatives are frothing, but it’s something I can push and help with. I’m pushing for more transit in our area, with more bus lines. And my ultimate one, writing letters and trying to ban fucking leaf blowers god fucking damnit just use a goddamn rake they’re so fucking loud and pollute so much.
That helps me personally. And hey, if everyone did these things, we’d make a dent on climate change. I can’t change everyone, I can’t do everything myself, but I can influence those around me.
An odd thing that makes me feel oddly comforted too. World birthrates are dropping. Conservatives are also frothing at the mouth over this because iNFiNiTe GrOWtH but to me, I view it as another form of evolution. Have we realized as a species we’ve reached the limit of what Earth will support? Fewer and fewer people are having kids. Idk, in a weird way it feels comforting, like evolution is still at play and something very biological in us as a species is like “nope, can’t do any more”