Living your best climate guilt-free life

Annalise Kerr
2 min readOct 23, 2020

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I’ve felt for years that the climate crisis is the defining challenge of our generation. My journey of environmental awakening has predominantly consisted of trying to make sustainable consumer choices and starting to build a career around climate resilience and sustainability.

The more I’ve sought to understand the climate crisis, the more I realise that we no longer have the luxury to just focus on personal behaviour change. We must switch our attention to collective efforts and systematic change. It’s been completely anxiety-inducing and is a direct trigger to make anyone go hide under a weighted blanket.

source: https://superfamous.com/Images

If this sounds like a relatable vibe, you too may also feel this tension between #LivingYourBestLife and the perceived lifestyle sacrifices needed to build a better world. A privilege itself which further amplifies the so-called ‘climate guilt’ bubbling between our synapses! But before despair settles itself in for the evening, consider this:

What if instead of seeing ourselves as consumers, focused on what to consume last or consume better, we consider ourselves citizens? Global citizens focused on what we can do to create laws so that we have better choices to make in the first place.

It’s about reframing the approach from “Should I buy these new jeans because they’re made with recycled fabric?” to “What is this company doing to disclose their supply chain emissions and can they ensure all workers have equal rights?”

By seeing ourselves as citizens rather than consumers we reclaim our definition of our best life. We no longer base our identity on what we own, but instead on the impact of our choices.

A big ol’ commitment, I know. But it’s better than carrying around this anxiety and guilt.

We must switch our approach from individual and incremental action to systemic and transformative action.

We have to be strategic about our efforts, come together and engage at every level to make the shift from consumers to global citizens.

This is why I’ve created Peekoeco.

Peekoeco is the catalyst of change. Through relatable content delivered as short punchy peeks, the platform sets an example for its followers. We seek to inspire conversations in our community and manifest a better world.

A world of global citizens supporting brands that do well by doing good. People are liberated by transparency in sustainable value chains and part of a community of conscious environmental stewards. This is a big vision, but we only have one planet. And we only have one life. So, take a peek at @peekoeco.

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Annalise Kerr

Exploring all things sustainability and enjoying life’s adventures along the way!