Kids with climate anxiety better strap in, because it's going to be a bumpy ride

This column is an opinion by Sharon Boddy, an environmental researcher and writer based in Ottawa. For more information about CBC's Opinion section, please see the FAQ.

"I've got ADHD and a lot of climate anxiety."That was my introduction to a 10-year-old when I took a local school class on a hike through the Carlington Woods. 

The Carlington Woods is one of two urban forests in central Ottawa within two kilometres of my house. I grew up in the same neighbourhood and spent hours combing through the Hampton Park Woods, which was closer. I still do. 

I also lived through the Cold War and the threat of nuclear annihilation always hovered in the background. I was more afraid of killer bees. You can't understand a cold war when you're eight, but you can see a killer insect. But despite my apiary misgivings, I was always happier outside. I didn't know why, I just was.

This generation of kids is on a roller-coaster that involves a lot more than killer bees. There's a new Cold War, an actual war in Ukraine, COVID is still here, and not a week goes by that they don't hear about the impacts of climate change. To make matters worse, most kids don't spend nearly enough time outside.

It takes a particular kind of stubbornness to be a long-term climate activist. You've got to ride the roller-coaster of good and bad (mostly bad) news, update your knowledge constantly, keep telling and showing people they have the power to change things, and be ready to go to battle against another bad developer or another piece of bad legislation at a moment's notice. 

Most days being an activist sucks. I've been doing it for more than 30 years so I know climate anxiety is real. It's what drove me to my career as an environmental researcher and writer, and now to being an almost full-time volunteer.  As I get older, my anxiety has been replaced by a grim resignation that although many species, including humans, are probably doomed, it won't be today and it won't be on my watch.

I've volunteered many hours with students of all ages over the last few years: walking, birding, planting native species, and removing invasive ones. There's no end of things that kids can and want to do. They seem to instinctively understand that small actions are worthwhile. 

So, what about the kid with the climate anxiety? I handed him a garbage bag and told him that I had climate anxiety too, but that cleaning up litter, especially plastics, always made me feel better because I knew I was making a difference to this little corner of the world. And that's all each of us can do.

What I didn't say was that plastic pollution is a physical embodiment of the climate crisis: it's made from fossil fuels and has been found in every corner of the globe. So even on my worst days, when I grumble out loud about the colossal morons who throw their fast food detritus hither and yon, I still feel good about cleaning up.

He took the bag and we talked a bit about how plastics break down into small bits but never really go away; about how birds, animals and fish eat them and can get sick. I gave him information he could understand, and an in-the-moment solution to what he was feeling. He got the message and had soon run ahead to grab yet another bag full of dog poop left hanging from a tree branch.

One of the ways to deal with the powerlessness felt by kids with climate anxiety is to give them a sense of agency. And how do you do that? By breaking down this big problem into small actions you can take.

Earth Day is April 22 and, once again, the kids came through. This time, it was the students at Evergreen Life Learning and St. Elizabeth Elementary School in Ottawa who made more than 70 unique wildflower seed envelopes for a giveaway at an electronics recycling depot. 

All of us have had a hand in putting this generation on the roller-coaster. They didn't ask for the ticket, but they're going to have to take the ride. We can't stop it, but the very least we can do is take the seat beside them, tell them the truth, and try to slow it down.