From AlterNet:

Last week in our nation's capital, the National Council for Science and the Environment (NCSE) held a climate change conference focused on solutions to the problem of human-induced climate change. And in Paris the head of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which is sharing the Nobel Peace Prize with Al Gore, held a press conference to discuss to discuss "the importance of lifestyle choices" in combating global warming.

Notably, all food at the NCSE conference was vegan, and there were table-top brochures with quotes from the U.N. report on the meat industry, discussed more below. And the IPCC head, Dr. Rajendra Pachauri declared, as the AFP sums it up, "Don't eat meat, ride a bike, and be a frugal shopper."

When people are overwhelmed by the idea of changing a lifestyle, or even a single habit, defensiveness and even denial can be the result. How would you help a friend learn to change the habits that are so ingrained in our culture...meat consumption, driving personal vehicles, consumerism...in a way that would seem less overwhelming and be less likely to produce a defensive response?

My take:

Personally, I think defensiveness can be the first step in growing toward acceptance of the need for change. If I'm feeling defensive, I've acknowledged that something needs my attention and it's an indicator that I've broken through denial and no longer ignorant of the issue at hand. So I see defensiveness as a healthy first step. For instance, I recently got out of the habit of carrying my canvas bag and had started to accumulate more shopping bags than I could re-use and when I was prompted to re-assess by a challenge from a friend, the things that went through my mind were "shopkeepers look at me with suspicion when I carry a tote" and "as a pedestrian, it's so inconvenient to carry the tote with me all the time." I resolved this by getting into the habit of carrying a larger shoulder bag and wadding up the tote to put in there on errand days.

I think that I would suggest to a friend to start with substitutions when possible. If you really like to shop...go garage saling, antiquing, frequent thrift stores and the free-store at the Westside Olympia Food Coop. It's a great shopping fix but you're re-using items.

Another suggestion would be to use the three step approach to transition to vegetarianism as suggested by the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine. I would also suggest that my friend resolve to continue to frequent a favorite restaurant but order a vegetarian meal as a healthy step toward reducing carbon footprint.

Lastly, I would inform my friend of the wonderful transportation resource of Intercity Transit that we have here in Olympia. If my friend chose this option, I would offer enthusiastic thanks for making my daily walk much more pleasant by reducing traffic fumes as well as reducing carbon footprint.

Are there resources in Olympia and elsewhere or ideas that you'd like to share which might ease the transition for those who might want to change habits as suggested by the IPCC in the article above but might be a bit on the overwhelmed side?