Plastic Soup Foundation
  • The issue
      • Plastic Soup
      • What is plastic?
      • Plastic in the environment
      • Harm to animals
      • Health effects
      • Regulations
      • Bogus solutions
      • Responsibilities
      • Sustainable development
      • Facts & Figures
  • What we do
      • Health
      • Microplastics
      • Education
      • Plastic Waste
  • How you can help
      • Consumer
      • Business
      • Community
      • Kids
      • At school
  • Solutions
  • News
  • Donate
  • NL
  • EN
  • Search
  • Menu Menu
You are here: News On eco-anxiety and the usefulness of fear

On eco-anxiety and the usefulness of fear

4 October 2021

Recently I received a message from a former colleague. His 12-year-old son Mo Schulte Nordholt had written an eleven-page paper on the problem of the plastic soup and, according to him, had become “very gloomy” about it. He sent along this photo of a few lines from the epilogue:

‘I hope the reader learns something from it, too. It’s quite a terrible subject. Fortunately, there are also solutions. I think it’s very important that this problem be solved’

Mo

Mo represents an entire generation that is far too young to worry about the future. When he had approached me in preparation for his paper, I mainly pointed out to him the possible solutions. I didn’t write to him about the ever-closer tipping point after which the consequences of plastic pollution will be irreversible, but instead tried to give him hope and show him that it might not yet be too late to find a solution for the plastic problem.

Greta

As a matter of fact, this is how we do it in all our communication from Plastic Soup Foundation. We try – inspired by the principles of constructive journalism – not to be exclusively the messenger of bad news, but also to inspire people and give them hope.

But not everyone is in favor of that. Greta Thunberg, for example, believes that you should sugarcoat the truth. Rather than giving hope, she believes that people should be confronted hard with the coming apocalypse.

‘I don’t want your hope, I want your panic.’

Greta Thunberg

Eco-anxiety

And who among us does not feel that panic? About the speed at which our climate is changing, the lack of attention for the plastic problem, the link between the two, and the possible connection with an increased risk of pandemics?

There is a term for this in English: eco-anxiety. In 2017, the American Psychiatric Association (APA) described eco-anxiety as “a chronic fear of environmental doom”. British-Australian psychoanalyst and writer Anouchka Grose, who has been working on the topic for several years has written a book about it: A Guide to Eco-Anxiety: How to Protect the Planet and Your Mental Health.

In her foreword, she writes, “If people come to my office and describe staying awake all night worrying about burning forests and melting ice caps, I’m not going to tell them to stop. They’re right: it’s the people who aren’t worried who are crazy.”

Interview with Anouchka Grose

Anouchka Grose agrees with what Thunberg says. Grose: ‘ Being upset is OK. Being upset is actually part of the solution.’

‘Anxious people unite!’

Anouchka Grose

Grose: Maybe we can’t, or shouldn’t, expect to feel happy, safe and well all the time, because that’s just delusional: a fantasy fed by the irresponsible socio-economic ideologies that got us into this whole mess in the first place.’

But fortunately, Grose – as the subtitle suggests – thinks it’s important not only to save the planet, but also our sleep. That’s why, as part of World Mental Health Day, 10th October, we reached out to her for an interview.

October 8 at 12 noon – Instagram Live

I’m definitely going to watch, I’ll see you on Instagram!

Elles Tukker

Communications Manager Plastic Soup Foundation

Search

Categories

  • Junior (1)
  • No category (1)
  • News (540)
  • What can you do? (13)
  • Health Files (39)
  • Clean rivers (24)
  • Plastic soupermarket (2)
  • Trash hunters (49)
  • What is plastic soup? (12)
  • What to do with plastic waste? (12)
  • Types of plastic (3)
  • Press releases (16)
  • Beat the microbead (18)
  • Solutions (11)
  • Don't use balloons (3)
  • Gezondheidseffecten (57)
  • Animal cruelty (13)
  • sponsoring campaign (1)
  • Microbeads (27)
  • Sponsor actions (3)
  • Ocean Clean Wash (12)
  • About us (1)
  • Plastic Urban Mining (4)
  • Blogs (16)
  • My little plastic footprint (5)
  • Plastic Soup Awards (3)
  • Synthetic fibers (19)
  • Political plume (3)
  • actions frontpage (1)
  • nurdles (5)
  • Pressreleases (2)
  • Microplastics in cosmetics (2)

Subscribe to our newsletter

and stay informed about our activities!

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Donate now and contribute

I'll donate € 5I'll donate € 10I'll donate € 15Other amount

More news

Glitter = Litter 

Glitter seems fun and harmless, but these microplastics will remain in the environment forever.

Read more

Beat the Microbead. A provisional review of our campaign

After a decade of battle and debate, a European ban on intentionally added microplastics is forthcoming. A reflection on our campaign.

Read more

PLASTIC HEALTH SYMPOSIUM 2023 

We eat, drink and breathe microplastics, nanoplastics and their additives and are thus exposed to the risks of these materials on a daily basis. Let’s make a wave!

Read more

Is there a relationship between dramatic insect mortality and microplastics? 

Insect numbers are dramatically decreasing. Yet, microplastic pollution is rarely mentioned as a possible cause.

Read more

About us

  • Frontrunners
  • Mission & Vision
  • Working with Us
  • Annual Reports
  • Inquiries Press
  • Newsletter

Our approach

  • Business Community
  • Funds & Partners
  • Ambassadors
  • Plastic Soup Awards
  • Plastic Soup Atlas
  • Facts & Figures
DONATE
  • Facebook

  • Twitter

  • Instagram

  • LinkedIn

  • YouTube

  • Contact

 

© Copyright - Plastic Soup Foundation
  • Contact
  • Privacy policy
  • GDPR Consent Settings
Chemours to the European Court for hazardous GenXIs Coca-Cola ambitious enough about bottles of recycled plastic?
Scroll to top

GDPR settings

This website uses some cookies which are placed on your device. Your web browser stores these cookies when you visit our Website: www.plasticsoupfoundation.org. These cookies will be retrieved when you visit or use our Website again. This allows us to recognise you as a previous visitor/user.

x
Settings

Your privacy and this website...

This website uses some cookies which are placed on your device. Your web browser stores these cookies when you visit our Website: www.plasticsoupfoundation.org. These cookies will be retrieved when you visit or use our Website again. This allows us to recognise you as a previous visitor/user.

Functional technology enables a website to remember information that changes the way the website behaves or looks, like your preferred language or the region that you are in. No personalised information is collected.

See details

This consent is used to track visitors across websites. The intention is to display ads that are relevant and engaging for the individual user and thereby more valuable for publishers and third party advertisers.

See details

This consent helps website owners to understand how visitors interact with websites by collecting and reporting.

See details
Forget my settings Settings have been forgotten