“Eco-Anxiety” and How Much We Care in a Warming World

It usually starts with a scroll: another extreme set of heat indexes or videos of rapid flooding, reminding us that the planet is changing faster than we can fully process. You pause for a moment, maybe feel a mix of worry and guilt, then move on. But something still lingers. That quiet, persistent heaviness is what many call “eco-anxiety:” the weight of caring about the environment in a time when the problems feel too big, too constant, and too close to ignore.

When It Hits Closer to Home

Around the world, rising fuel prices and ongoing energy crises have made it clear just how fragile, albeit unsustainable, our systems can be. In this economy, talks on oil, gas, and supply chains affect how people move. 

In the Philippines, climate change feels just as immediate. It shows up in longer, hotter summers that make even ordinary days exhausting. When it isn’t hot, it’s there in flash floods, landslides, or conversations about water shortages. 

From here, “eco-anxiety” doesn’t come out of nowhere. It’s shaped by both what we see globally and what we live through locally.

The Pressure to Do Everything

Here’s where things get tricky: when everything feels urgent, it’s easy to feel like nothing we do is enough.

For some, that pressure desensitizes them. You think of cutting down your plastic usage, but your favorite bag of chips is wrapped in it. You consider living more sustainably, but social media has made it seem expensive, inconvenient, or simply out of reach. 

The ending: you get so overwhelmed by the idea of doing everything “right” that it’s easier to do nothing.

Finding Small Ways Forward

Yet, not everyone stays stuck there.

Some find ways to move through “eco-anxiety,” not by removing it, but by reshaping it. You’ll spot it in people bringing reusable tumblers to school or work. There’s the small business that uses paper/compostable packaging when shipping out their products. Or you plan an ukay-ukay date with your friends as a way to shop for secondhand items.

These are small choices, and yes, they don’t solve climate change overnight. But they do something else: make the weight a little more manageable. And maybe that’s the point.

READ: How Do Malls Celebrate Local Communities?

“Eco-anxiety” isn’t something to erase completely. It actually reminds us that we care and that caring, even when we’re overwhelmed, can still lead to action and change.