Two years ago this week, I published the first lead post in the Climate Change Collective series. Since then, our dedicated group of eco-bloggers has worked hard to spread our message of sustainability. To celebrate the collective’s 2^nd anniversary, today’s post is a look back at the content we’ve shared in the first two years, and a look ahead to what’s next for this terrific collaboration.

How the Climate Change Collective started

One of the most amazing and surprising things about blogging is the strong sense of community that exists. The Climate Change Collective series is one of the best examples of collaboration I’ve seen in five years of blogging.

The Climate Change Collective started with a simple exchange of comments on a blog post by Jamie Ad Stories. Jamie and I wanted to find a way to keep the climate change message top of mind for everyone. Following our conversation, I put out a tweet to see what kind of interest there would be in a climate-change-related blogging collaboration. The Climate Change Collective was born!

How the Climate Change Collective works

The members of the collective take turns writing a monthly blog post sharing their unique perspective about climate change. After the lead post is published, the rest of the group keeps the conversation going by sharing a link to the post on their blogs along with their thoughts and ideas.

The full Climate Change Collective series…so far

Over the last two years, I’ve been consistently impressed by the quality and variety of the lead posts, and the thoughtfulness of each blogger’s sharing posts. Here’s a full roundup of the posts we’ve published.

How climate change impacts our lives

One of the goals of the Climate Change Collective is to bring awareness to things our readers might not otherwise consider. Here are two posts that aim to do that.

• How climate change impacts your health…and your wallet was the first post of the series. In this inaugural post, I shared thoughts on two areas that are often overlooked—the health and financial implications of the climate crisis.
• How climate change in the Arctic affects us all was a more recent post where I looked at how we are impacted by changing climate in faraway places we may never visit.   

Practical everyday changes

Another aspect of the series is highlighting simple things that we can all do to make a difference. We’ve had several contributions that get back to basics.

• Returning to past habits from Smelly Socks and Garden Peas was a look back at simpler times, and how a return to some of those habits could make a difference.
• In Wrapping Up Doesn’t Have to Be a Waste, Jamie from JamieAdStories discussed his frustration with the waste generated by gift wrapping.
• Tiny steps to change the planet was the second contribution to the series from Smelly Socks and Garden Peas. It focused on tiny steps that are within all of our reach.
• Our climate action does not need to be perfect is a thoughtful post from Molly at Transatlantic Notes who highlighted how we need not strive for perfection—even imperfect actions are critical in the fight against climate change.
• Caroline from Enviroline Blog led us into Plastic Free July 2024 with Small steps, big difference.

The serious issue of climate change

Along with the simple changes, the group hasn’t shied away from a deeper dive into some more serious topics.

• In Understanding how climate action redefines our future, Molly from Transatlantic Notes highlighted the urgency of acting now, before it’s too late.
• A Greener World – Debunking Myths About Climate Change was the second contribution from Molly. She did an excellent job of providing fact-based responses to the climate change myths we all hear far too often.
• Food insecurity is a big global problem. Caroline, from Enviroline Blog took this on in The impact climate change has on food security and how to help.
• Frustrated by ill-informed comments about cold winter weather, I responded in It’s cold outside – The difference between weather and climate.
• The most important nature documentaries to watch is the most recent contribution from Molly at Transatlantic Notes. It includes suggestions of several excellent documentaries to continue our learning about environmental issues.
• Looking Into the Life Cycle of Plastic from Alison at A Sustainably Simple Life is a detailed look at plastic’s harmful effects throughout its lifecycle.

Travel and transportation

How we choose to get from point A to point B can have a big impact on our carbon footprint. Not surprisingly, we’ve had a couple of posts on the subject of travel.

• In Travel with climate change, Jamie from JamieAdStories considers the impact of our travel choice on a day-to-day basis and for our beloved vacations.
• The benefits of active travel – Could it save you and the planet? comes from Tim at Midlife on Earth who discusses the benefits of active travel for our communities, our health, and the planet.

Reducing consumption

Overconsumption of everything from food, to clothing, to energy is at the heart of our environmental crisis. Several posts in the series tackled the need to reduce our consumption.

• In How our need to shop is ruining our planet, Alison from A Sustainably Simple Life discussed the issues with capitalism, consumption and all that shopping!
• Next, I followed up Alison’s eye-opening post on shopping with a look at the environmental cost of experiences in 6 ways to reduce the environmental cost of experiences.
• How you can reduce your energy consumption and save money by saving the planet from Cristiana at Crisbie Coach shared ways to reduce energy consumption.
• In 2019, Krista from A Sustainably Simple Life installed solar panels on her home. Residential solar panels: 2022 year in review is a recap of the savings her family has realized from this change.

The natural environment

Although we often take it for granted, nature plays an important role in our wellbeing. The last group of posts considers the impact of climate change on the natural environment.

• Caroline from Enviroline Blog recently completed a degree in Environmental Science. In How climate change impacts animals, she discussed the impact of climate change on the animal world.
• In How green spaces help our planet, Alison from A Sustainably Simple Life outlined the impact of limited green spaces in urban areas.
• After hearing of a local microforest initiative, I got involved and shared my experience in Microforests – A tiny idea with big potential.
• In Reconnecting with nature and self by disconnecting from the world, Alison from A Sustainably Simple Life shares her experience getting away from it all and enjoying the healing power of nature.

Let’s keep in touch! Join my mailing list and I’ll email you when I add a new post.

What’s next?

It has been an impressive first two years. Our small but mighty group is excited to carry our message of sustainability into year three and beyond. If you care about our planet and would like to join our collective, please get in touch. More voices joining the conversation means more attention to the problems plaguing our planet!

Which of the Climate Change Collective series posts is your favourite? Drop a comment below to let me know.