Talking about your carbon footprint is so last year, says Kate Yoder.
Modern life is obsessively optimized: Gym bunnies are gymmaxxing, the over-worked are chillaxxing and the well rested are sleepmaxxing. You might say that in an increasingly chaotic world, maxxing is about asserting control. And matters don’t get much more chaotic than what’s happening to the climate.
So Kate Yoder, a senior writer at the environment-focused magazine Grist, wants us all to consider what it would look like to engage in climatemaxxing.
“Climatemaxxing would be an optimization challenge, finding the biggest ways to tackle climate change at home, at work, and in your community,” she writes. “Sure, you could climatemaxx your commute by biking, but achieving maxximum impact might mean joining a committee to make your town more bike-friendly for everyone.”
In a way, she argues, it’s the opposite of thinking about your own carbon footprint - which was once cunningly promoted by BP to make it seem like individuals, not oil companies, are the ones responsible for climate change. This encourages despair, critics argue, whereas climatemaxxing imagines what’s possible. It’s about embracing small solutions, but also thinking bigger.