The role of climate change education on individual lifetime carbon emissions

Participant comments demonstrate that environmental actions are not just because of sacri- fice but that people feel good about taking action. Lolitta explained, “So when we started the global climate change class, for a week we had to do something eco-friendly. I’m like okay, I’m gonna be a vegan. And I did it totally wrong. I just ate vegetables and fruits all day, and I was starving. But it got me to become vegan, and for a couple years I was. Now I’m a vegetarian, and I’ve stuck to it. I feel good about how I’m living my life, and I’m excited by all the changes that I’m making, and I will continue making these changes because they make me feel great.” Billy noted proudly that he acts because “it’s like a moral obligation.” Ultimately, participants concurred that daily actions matter, and they cited this belief as the reason they continue to take actions. Their comments suggest they are empowered to act because they see themselves as part of the solution. 4.2.2. Community engagement through communication. Overall, focus group partici- pants noted that this course helped them develop experience communicating with other peo- ple about their actions and why they are taking them. Participants cited the community action class project as a key element in their understanding of the impact of community engagement. Billy described the lasting impact of “the hands-on approach” of the project: “Those experi- ences, I think for me, I carry those longer than / more than being in the classroom. . .. Being

with people, doing something that’s going to translate into what I have to do work-wise in the future, [the project was a] translatable experience to the workforce.” Melissa described the last- ing impression of the project as a crucial aspect to seeing the impact of action: “It actually bridged the gap between the course and what the community itself is doing.” Participants noted the impact of the course on life beyond the home. One focus group par- ticipant, Elaine, is a manager at Walmart, and she credited the course for her “awareness in an industry with high consumption. . .. It’s so interesting how much I’ve been able to use just from this course.” She noted her focus as a manager is how to “reduce your inventory, reduce the waste, sell what you need to.” Elaine views Walmart’s waste issues both as a climate issue and a management problem: “I see the huge amounts that they’re throwing away because they’re not managing their business correctly, because they’re not managing their production versus what they need, what they don’t. So that’s one of the things that I work on.” Elaine’s comments exemplify how many graduates of COMM 168 viewed the importance of taking action. Billy noted the course explained how to make “big issues” like climate change “resonate with your audience. . . That’s what I do now.” He explains that in his job at the utility company, Pacific Gas and Electric, one of his roles is communicating about energy issues, “That’s my big- gest takeaway from this class: messaging. [I now understand] the importance of communicat-

ing about climate change in a way where people who don’t have a background in that subject can understand.” Other participants concurred that the course made them experts in climate change, and they now have to think about how to communicate with people who don’t have such extensive knowledge. Participants also noted the importance of communicating with others about the actions they take. Tara noted: “It doesn’t really help unless you try to bring it out there. If I only ever walk places, no one will ever know unless I try to let them know why I walk places. . .. If you’re going to make a point by breaking the rules, you first have to know the rules because otherwise it doesn’t mean anything. If I want to rebel by not using a car, I first have to know that every- one thinks using a car is a normal thing to do.” Participants agreed that talking about their own actions helped in discussing climate change issues with others. The community action project was a key part of the course in giving students experience outside of class in creating change. It also gave them some agency over this issue. Participants described their attempts to make a difference, both in their personal and professional lives. Participants noted the community action project allowed them to see the importance of The role of climate change education on individual lifetime carbon emissions PLOS ONE | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0206266 February 4, 2020 12 / 23