5 Practical Ways to Prepare for Climate Change

Rachel Bailleau
May 27
6 min read

Climate change can feel like a looming, unstoppable force. When the headlines are full of fires, floods, and food shortages, it’s easy to feel helpless, as if all we can do is wait and see how bad things might get. But what if I told you that preparing for Climate Change is an act of love?

Preparing for climate change isn’t selfish, paranoid, or extreme. It is an act of love for yourself, your family, and your community.

If you’re reading this, you already know the world is changing. That can feel scary. But what if that discomfort is useful? What if it’s a signal that we’re not yet prepared, and that we have the power to do something about it?

There are plenty of simple and affordable things you can do to feel more ready. You don’t need to spend much money or give up your quality of life. In fact, since making small changes in my home, I’ve felt calmer, healthier, and more joyful. I know that my family is more prepared for whatever the future brings. Below, I’ll share five practical ways to build climate resilience in your daily life. These steps can help you feel more grounded, more secure, and more connected to the people and places around you.

community gardeners work together to grow food

Prepare for Climate Change with Practical Action

One of the strange things about climate grief and eco-anxiety is how our minds try to protect us. We worry about what might happen, but then reassure ourselves by saying, “It’s not happening yet.”

However, recent events have shown how quickly things can change. During COVID-19, supermarket shelves emptied almost overnight when our food systems were disrupted. As climate-related events like floods, droughts, and wildfires become more common, it's reasonable to expect that food supply chains may not always be as stable as they used to be.

That doesn’t mean we are all going to starve. But it does mean that relying entirely on supermarkets, without any backup, isn’t the most resilient choice. We can continue to use and appreciate supermarkets, but it’s also wise to have a simple contingency plan for times when shelves aren’t as well-stocked as usual.

The good news? You don’t need to panic, spend loads of money, or go full doomsday. Small, thoughtful steps can help keep you and your loved ones safer, calmer, and well fed. At the same time, you’ll also be building strength within your wider community.

Here are five low-cost, practical ways to prepare for climate change. Each one supports your food security, water access, and everyday resilience.

1. Keep Some Emergency Food (It Doesn’t Have to Be Doomsday Style)

Creating a backup food stash is one of the easiest and most empowering things you can do. And no, it doesn’t mean panic buying or filling your shed with powdered soup.

Start simple:

I keep a box of emergency rations in the attic. These are ready-to-eat meals with a twenty five year shelf life.I personally keep enough for us to survive for 2 weeks with no other food, but you can decide if you want to buy more or less. If we ever get close to the expiry date, I can take them on a camping trip or feed them to my chickens!
We also reserve one kitchen shelf for emergency tins, such as lentils, beans, and ravioli. These can be eaten straight from the can, and we don’t touch them unless we’re rotating stock. As items get closer to expiry, we either eat them or donate them to a food bank with time to spare. But we have to put a can in, before we take one out.

💡 Tip: Chickens are surprisingly easy to keep and give you fresh eggs in exchange for your food scraps. If you have an outdoor space, you could even see if your neighbours are interested in a shared chicken coop to halve the price and the work. Just avoid getting a rooster if you want to stay on good terms with your community, as they can be very noisy.

2. Make Sure You Can Access Safe Drinking Water

Clean water is essential. In any kind of disruption, from storm damage to infrastructure failure, having a way to purify water is a life-line. The good news is that it's simple to prepare in advance.

Water filter systems: A Berkey filter is a big upfront investment, but it uses carbon filters to make almost any water safe to drink, including rainwater, river water, or tap water from an unreliable source. Even today, it means you can filter out any pollutants from your tap water to support your overall health. It's a win-win!

Budget option: A packet of water purification tablets is much cheaper, lasts for years, and takes up hardly any space. You can shove them in a bathroom draw and forget about them until you need them. Sure, I wouldn't particularly enjoy the taste or chemicals in this water day to day. But it's that or drinking dangerous untreated water, I know which I would choose!

💡Tip: If you have space to grow food, consider setting up a rainwater collection system in your garden or on your balcony to water your plants. It can reduce your gardenwater use now and come in handy during a shortage.

3. Learn a Bit of Basic Foraging

Knowing which wild plants are safe to eat in your local area is a simple and empowering skill. You don’t need to be an expert. Just recognising four or five common edible plants could be incredibly useful in a pinch. Foraging connects you to nature, builds confidence, and provides free, nutritious additions to your meals.

Start with what’s local: In much of Europe, wild garlic, nettles, dandelions, and blackberries are easy to identify and abundant. I love making nettle tea because it's rich in iron and always so easy to find.

Use a local guidebook or a trusted app, and always cross-reference your findings until you are completely confident. It's important to always look up any dangerous look a likes. Better still, take a local foraging walk or course. (Here's the foraging book that got me started! It's totally battered and falling apart after years of love.)

💡Tip: Learning a few gardening basics can be just as helpful. You can grow herbs and greens in pots on a balcony or windowsill, or get involved in a community garden. This gives you fresh food now and boosts your skills for the future. Plus, it's a great way to meet like-minded people.

4. Learn Basic Self-Defence and First Aid

Being prepared also means feeling physically and emotionally equipped to handle emergencies. These life skills help in all sorts of situations, not just climate-related ones.

Self-defence: Look for low-cost or donation-based classes in your area. Learning just a few simple techniques can make you feel safer and more confident, especially when walking alone.

First aid: A basic course can teach you how to treat cuts, burns, allergic reactions, and other common injuries. These skills are empowering, and in a crisis, they could save a life.

💡Tip: Keep a small, well-stocked first aid kit at home and in your car or bag. Make sure it includes plasters, antiseptic wipes, bandages, pain relief, and any personal medications. Since I started doing that, I've helped strangers in the street, like a man who fell off his bike in my village and needed a bandage to stop the bleeding. It feels so good to help your community today while preparing for the future.

5. Prepare for Climate Change with Others in Mind

Community is one of the strongest tools we have. Not everyone can stock up or take classes. But if those who can prepare a little extra do, it strengthens the whole network. In an emergency, it's important to be around neighbours you can trust. But that's hard if you don't even know each other. Let's change that!

What you can do:

Learn to be the kind of neighbour that you would like to have in a crisis
Get involved in community events, even if they aren't directly related to climate change. It's a chance to get to know people.
Knock on the door of people when they move into your community to say hello and welcome them.
Organise a street party once a year where everyone comes together to eat lunch.
Set up a small project like a community bookshelf where people can swap books they've finished reading.

💡Mindset shift: Preparing for climate impacts is not about fear. It’s about care, connection, and responsibility. It’s about saying, “I’ve got this,” and also, “I’ve got you.” And it's about trusting that your neighbours have got you, too!

Final Thought

The most powerful part of preparing for climate change isn’t the tins of food or packets of tablets. It’s the feeling of calm and clarity that comes from taking action. These small, thoughtful steps help you feel safer today and help build a more resilient, compassionate future for everyone.

This is not about panic or isolation. It’s about creating the kind of world we want to live in. One that is kind, connected, and ready.

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