1. assess what your college is already doing. 

i so was disappointed in my college’s lack of focus on what i perceived as sustainability or environmental ethics, in both the administration and the student body, that i did not even look at what it was doing. upon further research, i learned that the franklin & marshall college sustainability master plan was established in 2015 after several years of deliberation and drafting between the administration, faculty, and students—a product of collaboration between multiple constituencies working towards common objectives. nonetheless, i was dissatisfied with the limited role the center played at f&m, so i began pursuing other avenues to influence sustainability on campus. this includes collaboration with local csa farms, including homefields, inc where students can volunteer some of their time each week in exchange for a farm share. passionate about sustainable agriculture, waste management, energy consumption/use, upcycling, or another eco-topic? find an ally, be it faculty or administration staff, to be both a soundboard for your ideas and a support mechanism to get matters moving.

2. communication is key.

communication can go a long way in trying to plan events or start new initiatives on campus. while keeping up with numerous contacts is not my strong suit, it has pushed me to have better organization, time management and transparency with both my peers and superiors. many environmental groups and organizations love free help and are often open to volunteers. sometimes that volunteer work can turn into an internship or job. the former was the case for me with the alliance for the chesapeake bay and with citizens’ climate lobby, where i became a project intern and social media coordinator, respectively. did you do a community service event with an environmental group? introduce yourself to that group’s representative, ask for a meeting to brainstorm and share your vision for environmental ethics or sustainability on and off your campus. who knows? their projects or partner organizations may be working towards the same end.

3. expand the scope of what “environment” means to you.

the environment is traditionally viewed as a single issue, which is inherently misrepresentative of what it should be. as jim sandoe of citizens’ climate lobby lancaster put it in a workshop, in order to pass legislation like the green new deal or the carbon fee and dividend act, there needs to be a coalition of organizations pushing for change. climate change, pollution, and lack of access to healthy food or clean water are environmental issues that disproportionately affect communities of color and working-class neighborhoods. when planning events on campus or looking for collaboration from off-campus organizations, do not limit yourself to just conservation or sustainability. in order to holistically solve systemic issues and institutional failings, we as a society need to focus on environmental justice and how policy can change behavior and restore faith to all groups, placing emphasis on marginalized, working-class and minority communities. talk to the members and/or leadership of an organization that is not environmental-centric, and discuss ways that it can be run sustainably or if particular goals/events align with environmental agendas. you don’t have to be green to be green, if you know what i mean.

4. collaboration, not isolation.

you may be surprised by the volume and intensity of environmental organizations in your community. at least, i know i was. lancaster city is a town of around 60,000 people, not including college students and commuters. yet, i have been able to coordinate with multiple groups and their initiatives, including the alliance for the chesapeake bay and their riparian rangers program, which is a volunteer-led group that monitors the health of riparian buffers throughout the county. there is a hunger for finding solutions to big issues like climate change at franklin & marshall college, just like there may be at your school as well, and all it takes is one person to begin a culture shift if there isn’t. mention your name, your interests and why you want to work with that organization, and that is usually enough to spark a new dialogue.

5. get off campus!

when i was a freshman, there were few organized volunteer events or activities that my college would provide for students. i found this all-the-more troubling when i began reaching out to numerous environmental groups in the area who were ecstatic that f&m students were interested in green activism, such as tree planting or invasive species removal. while it is important to educate students and provide workshops on campus, nothing is more important than immersion and community service. getting off campus offers the educational experience for students while assisting environmental and conservation ngos with their own initiatives, which usually lack the manpower. support local green organizations by inviting them to campus to showcase their products, services, and background in the green economy. talk to a local florist about showcasing/selling their greenery in your dormitory. talk to your local congressperson or government about what their stances are on issues you care about or ways to get your student body involved. 

a majority of americans (62 percent), regardless of political leanings, believe that climate change is an urgent threat requiring immediate and drastic action, according to a 2014 study by yale university. but there is much less of a consensus when looking at it from a partisan perspective. a 2015 pew research center poll found that 71 percent of democrats and independents who lean to the democratic party say the planet is warming due to human activity, compared with only 27 percent among republicans — a difference of 44 percentage points.

with climate change’s adverse impacts already manifesting themselves around the world through extreme weather events, rising sea levels and more, we’re well past the stage to be debating about whether all of this is happening — we need to be debating what the best course of action is to solve this existential threat to our continued survival as a species.

frustrating as it may be to deal with those who have drunk the climate denial kool-aid, convincing these people to rethink their position on climate change is going to be an important step to building the political will to take meaningful action.

here are 7 tips on how to talk to a climate change denier:

1. put yourself in your audience’s shoes

strategic communicators must be skilled at identifying and appealing to different audiences’ specific worldviews. social science research shows that people tend to interpret new information through the lens of past experiences, knowledge and social context. this is doubly true when it comes to complex scientific and societal issues such as climate change, where objective facts about the state of the world are not the only factors that influence what people believe and how they respond.

someone who values prosperity, for example, might be motivated by a message that emphasizes how clean energy solutions can unlock new economic opportunities for american families.

2. emphasize solutions and benefits

climate change is a huge threat to everything we know and love, but do your best not to be too much of a downer. instead, it’s better to lead with solutions rather than the problem. this makes it easier for people to accept that climate change exists because solutions imply action and opportunity. rather than talking about the end of the world, communicators should work to build confidence that climate change can and will be addressed; highlight the benefits of taking action and align solutions with your audience’s values and priorities.

3. channel the power of groups

climate communicators can harness the influence of groups by helping people view their actions and responses to climate change as part of a larger group effort, whether it is a neighborhood, a company or a faith-based organization. humans inherently are social animals and often think and behave differently when they’re physically part of a group or reminded of their membership in a group. one effective way to keep people engaged in the long run is to weave climate change into the activities of existing social groups and networks, such as neighborhood associations, religious groups, clubs, parent–teacher associations or company departments.

4. bring climate impacts close to home

most people have a hard time thinking about, or acting on, problems that are perceived as far in the future, physically distant, happening to other people or involving uncertainty. to help overcome this psychological distance, communicators can use vivid imagery and messages to help people identify the locally relevant, personally experienced consequences and impacts that climate change is already causing. this could mean something as simple as talking about the loss of property from intensified extreme weather events and the greater spread of infectious diseases. but remember to tread carefully; making the issue “too real and too scary” can lead to denial of the problem.

5. connect climate change to issues that matter to your audience

climate communicators are more successful when they show how climate change connects to issues or concerns that their audiences care about. the most effective communicators know when and how to make use of content frames, which might highlight public health implications of climate change, the relationship between climate change and national security, or how climate change (and climate solutions) affects personal health and family well-being. many city leaders have found success in reframing the climate conversation to be more about resilience than climate change itself. likewise, communicators can use structure frames to shape how an audience relates to a message by emphasizing “when,” “where” and “how many.”

6. use images and stories to make climate change real

making use of images that inspire and empower can be useful in attracting audiences’ attention or helping empower audiences to act. it also may help to employ cultural archetypes or icons to help audiences relate to climate change more effectively. although data can be helpful, research shows that visualizations such as bar charts, pie charts and scatter plots are among the least memorable of all images. rather, images of people or groups, faces and common household items are the most powerful.

7. make behavior change easy

communicators should strive to create a decision-making environment that makes positive action easier and more automatic. research shows that people tend to stick with the option, choice or behavior that is preselected for them or selected automatically — this is called the default effect. communicators can make climate-friendly behavior easier for people by presenting the climate-friendly option as the default. they also can help facilitate behavior change by highlighting social norms surrounding climate-friendly behavior, when they exist. for example, in our app-crazed world it could be effective to highlight eco-friendly actions people can take using their smartphones.