Quiet Activism

Introduction

"Quiet activism raises questions around what it means to be an activist, or to “do activism”.


While loud, attention-grabbing and disruptive protests are important, local-scale activities are also challenging the “business as usual” model. These quiet approaches highlight how ordinary citizens can take action every day to generate transformative change.


There is a tendency within climate activism to dismiss “quiet” activities as merely a precursor to bigger, more effective (that is, “louder”) political action. 


Everyday local-scale activities are sometimes seen as disempowering or conservative; they’re sometimes cast as privileging individual roles and responsibility over collective action. 


However, a growing range of voices draws attention to the transformative potential of small, purposeful everyday action.


UK-based researcher Laura Pottinger emphasizes that these everyday practices are acts of care and kindness to community — both human and non-human.


Her interest is a “dirt under the fingernails” kind of activism, which gains strength from a quiet commitment to practical action.


The climate crisis has arrived and urgent action is required.



By creatively participating in local climate action, we can collectively reimagine our experience of, and responses to, the climate emergency.


In doing so, we lay the foundation for new possibilities.


Quiet activism is not a panacea. Like any other form of activism, it can be ineffective or, worse, damaging. Without an ethical framework, it risks enabling only short-lived action, or leading to only small pockets of localized activity.


But when done ethically and sustainably — with long-term impact in mind — quiet activism can make a profound difference to lives and communities." - https://theconversation.com/ordinary-people-extraordinary-change-addressing-the-climate-emergency-through-quiet-activism-160548

Examples of Quiet Activism

Financial Activism

Financial Activism can come in many forms. You can donate to your favorite charities, buy stocks or shares, buy carbon credits, give financial or physical gifts such as expensive equipment or even land. 

Carbon Offsets

Lately there has been growing awareness of the many flaws in carbon offset projects, such as:

Such serious ethical and practical problems with carbon offset programs may make you feel like the idea is totally hopeless, and worry about being scammed.

Poorly executed carbon offset programs can do more harm than good, so with that in mind any carbon offset programs listed here focus on helping schools and communities get carbon cutting upgrades that they would otherwise struggle to afford.

Donations

These can be done sporadically, or you may want to set up a small but frequent payment to organizations you trust.

End of Life Planning

Since we can't take anything of value when we die, one of the best things we can do is to include one or more charities in our final will or even set up a trust.

Click the Financial button and scroll down to see the section on banking, carbon offsetting, wills and more. You can also scroll down on this page for some international and regional programs/organizations which didn't make it to the Financial page.

International

Europe

UK

North America

USA

Oceana

New Zealand

3rd Party Charity Reviews & Ratings

International

North America

USA

Further Reading

Maps

International

Europe

UK

Grants

International