Mindfulness and Climate Change Action: A Feasibility Study

Abstract

Pro-environmental behaviors and the cultural shifts that can accompany these may offer solutions to the consequences of a changing climate. Mindfulness has been proposed as a strategy to initiate these types of behaviors. In 2017, we pilot-tested Mindful Climate Action (MCA), an eight-week adult education program that delivers energy use, climate change, and sustainability content in combination with training in mindfulness meditation, among 16 individuals living in Madison, WI. We collected participant data at baseline and at different times across the study period regarding household energy use, transportation, diet, and health and happiness. This pilot study aimed to evaluate the feasibility of the various MCA study practices including measurement tools, outcome assessment, curriculum and related educational materials, and especially the mindfulness-based climate action trainings. MCA was well-received by participants as evidenced by high adherence rate, high measures of participant satisfaction, and high participant response rate for surveys. In addition, we successfully demonstrated feasibility of the MCA program, and have estimated participant's individual carbon footprints related to diet, transportation, and household energy.

The Way Forward in Mindfulness and Sustainability: a Critical Review and Research Agenda

“…Table 1 highlights the lack of mindfulness and sustainability studies that assess the environmental impact of behaviours and illustrates the dominance of antecedent factors and self-reported behaviour scales. The only programme designed to evaluate behavioural impact via environmental impact indicators such as greenhouse gas emissions from diet, transportation and household energy is the Mindful Climate Action programme (Grabow et al 2018). However, results are limited to a pilot and feasibility study.…”

“…In a pilot study with 16 participants, the researchers confirmed the feasibility of the programme procedures. The next step is to roll it out in a larger intervention (Grabow et al 2018).…”

Resilient Learners, Learning Resilience: Contemplative Practice in the Sustainability Classroom

“…Grabow et al. (2018) demonstrate a connection between mindfulness and sustainability practices, like pro‐environmental behaviors (see also Patel and Holm 2018; Sol and Wals 2015; Wamsler et al. 2018), and this is an exciting turn.…”

Exploring Socio-Cognitive Mindfulness in the Context of Sustainable Consumption

“…Thus, a more mindful individual may be more conscious with regard to the environmental and social consequences of their consumption instead of thoughtlessly following established consumption routines or norms. This may lead to conscious engagement in ecologically and socially responsible or sustainable behaviors (sometimes also termed pro-environmental behaviors), which aim at minimizing the negative impact of consumption on the natural environment [57,58].…”

“…Mindful individuals may resist persuasion efforts, because mindfulness aids in developing defenses against undesired or unconscious influences [100] as mindful individuals exhibit stronger self-control, self-management, and self-regulation [101,102]. Insights into these phenomena would also be important when broadening the scope of investigations of mindfulness from a pro-environmental behavior perspective to one that focuses on climate change adaptation and mitigation, which still presents a blind spot in the academic debate [13,57]. In consideration of the primarily positive well-being effects of mindfulness enhancement reported over many years of observation in both medical and general populations [8,50]…”