The alarm goes off. It was another morning and I just needed a break. But as a single dad, that just wasn’t possible.

I rolled out of bed, took 3 pills out of their childproof containers and rustled my kids up out of bed. I gave my oldest his meds in hopes that we could delay his seizures for another day, or maybe meet the magical two year period where doctors might consider him “seizure free.”

We all take our showers, eat and get ready for school and work. I no longer track my footprint, but try to be thoughtful in what I buy. I think I bought organic almond milk, but damn it is in a plastic container and I don’t even know if it will get recycled. The shower soap looks okay. It only have four or five ingredients but I didn’t get a chance to look them up.

The worst part is about to begin. We leave for school where we battle the soul sucking traffic and arrive over an hour later to one school, then another 15 minutes later to the next school. Not only does the traffic take away any energy I have for the day, but the over 200,000 cars that drive on it daily are sending hazardous pollution into the air finds its way into my car and our lungs. Would I like to use public transit or bike? Yes, I would and this was my dream, but sadly there isn’t any public transit to their schools, and my son’s disabilities have limited other modes of transportation. Just like these thousands of other Bay area commuters, many of us cannot afford to live places that would reduce our commute.

Sadly, the way home is not any better. After work, I pick my kids up and we trudge to sixty to ninety minutes home, where I am too exhausted to think or plan a fun activity, much less care about what my footprint might be.

Sadly, this is not just my life, but the life of many. When we are in survival mode, we focus on what we need to survive, and because it’s not very convenient, sustainability actions fall to the wayside.

In fact, the 2024 results of the American Psychiatric Association’s annual mental health poll show that U.S. adults are feeling increasingly anxious. In 2024, 43% of adults say they feel more anxious than they did the previous year, up from 37% in 2023 and 32% in 2022. When asked about a list of lifestyle factors potentially impacting mental health, adults most commonly say stress (53%) and sleep (40%) have the biggest impact on their mental health.

How Does Stress Affect Our Behavior?

Stress Affects the Ability to Make New Decisions

One way that stress can affect decision making is by limiting the ability to make novel decisions and adapt to change. Faced with less familiar conditions for which our tried-and-true approaches won’t work, we reflexively counter our natural anxiety by narrowing and simplifying our options. As research on decision making shows, our brains are wired to be more reactionary under stress.

“the brain resorts to habitual decision making because it exerts less demands on our cognitive resources.” - The Decision Lab

Chronic Stress Leads to Poor Decision Making

Just as stress affects our ability to make new decisions, stress also affects brain chemistry, making it difficult to assess benefits and costs. This can lead to poor decision making where the risks are as great as the rewards. The result is often riskier choices in pursuit of immediate stress relief.

The process of poor or risky decision making can become so ingrained that it becomes habit, overriding the brain’s ability for rational decision making. Some research has also shown chronic stress biases choices towards habits rather than goals because it requires fewer cognitive resources.

In fact, it all stems from our brains sensing anxiety, leading the brain to prepare for survival mode and enter what is called a positive stress state, where an increase in blood flow and oxygen to the brain leads to greater cognitive performance. When we’re stressed and perceive a threat, a part of the brain called the limbic system takes over. It controls behavioural and emotional responses related to our survival, including the fight-or-flight response. As a result, the prefrontal cortex, which looks after complex cognitive tasks like reasoning and decision making, is pushed aside.

However, when anxiety is not managed, the body shifts to a negative stress—or toxic stress—state, which has the opposite effect. There is a decrease in blood flow and oxygen to the brain, which promotes lower cognitive functioning and sends the brain into a chaotic state. In this state, the brain is unable to access the information it needs to make logical decisions. When stressed, we may be more likely to react based on emotions rather than logic, leading to impulsive choices or decisions that are not aligned with our usual judgment.

Stressful Situations Make Daily Decision Making Difficult

When the brain is under stress, everyday decisions prove to be more difficult. Amid the coronavirus pandemic, the Harris Poll conducted a survey of American adults that found that people felt less stress regarding the future and more stress in making everyday decisions. One-third of adults surveyed said that the stress they felt from the pandemic made it more difficult to make everyday decisions, such as determining what to wear and what to eat. Stress can cause us to rely more on familiar routines and automatic behaviors instead of considering alternative options, which can lead to suboptimal decision-making.

Decision Making Makes Us Even More Exhausted

The more decisions we make in a day, the more stressed out we become. The phenomenon of decision-making fatigue states that the more decisions we make in a day, the harder it will be to make additional clear-headed decisions. Also referred to as ego depletion, it’s as if the brain has only a limited capacity to make decisions, and once this capacity is depleted, there’s little left. Parents of young children surveyed said that the additional decisions brought on by parenting during the pandemic resulted in even greater stress and decision-making fatigue.

So What Does This Have To Do With Sustainability?

Our current way of life was built around convenience. Everything is disposable from paper towels, to cups, even to our phones which perople get rid of in about three years on average. This means that these are all easy decisions to make every day, which means we are likely to default to them under stress. Companies like disposable because it means more profit for them.

Now take a look at reducing your footprint. Nearly every decision becomes five decisions. Should I buy this milk or that milk? Should it be organic or from an animal? Can I trust the label? can I afford it this week? Because companies and their marketers are good at tricking us, known as greenwashing, we don’t know the truth about any one product until we do our own research. When we have a million other things to do or have kids asking when we can leave, we then default to the standard choice.

The other big issue is time. Often the sustainable solution requires more time, which people who are already stressed do not have. For example, I entered my morning commute into google maps and found it would take 2.5 hours and four transfers to do my commute. As a parent and full time employee, that’s just not possible.

Managing Stress Can Decrease Our Environmental Footprint

So, oddly enough, if we find ways to manage our stress, we can be more sustainable. Part of managing stress can also include meal planning, where you could look into ecofriendly solutions while you are looking up recipes. Taking little steps can then create habits, which means that even during stressful times, sustainability becomes a default decision.

Examples for stress reduction:

Get regular physical activity on most days of the week.
Practice relaxation techniques. Try deep breathing, meditation, yoga, tai chi or massage.
Keep a sense of humor.
Spend time with family and friends.
Set aside time for hobbies. Read a book, listen to music or go for a walk. Schedule time for your passions.
Write in a journal.
Get enough sleep.
Eat a healthy, balanced diet.

Can Reducing Your Stress Reduce Your Carbon Footprint?