This week on Sustainability Now!, your host, Justin Mog, fills the studio with Green for a discussion about parenting in the age of climate chaos! Our guests this week are Megan Green, a Licensed Clinical Social Worker at Woven Nest Counseling and Coaching; and longtime local sustainability advocate, Jackie Green. Though unrelated, they are co-facilitators of a new free monthly workshop series coming up called “The Parent, Child and Climate Change.” It kicks off this weekend and will be held on third Saturdays, beginning February 21, 2026 from 2pm til 3pm at Highlands Community Ministries, 1228 E Breckinridge St (at Barret). Earth Home 40202, an initiative you heard about on this program back in October, is launching this supportive, empowering, health based, community building program for parents and older children. The program is free, but please let us know if you plan to attend by emailing earth.home.40202@gmail.com. Learn more about Earth Home 40202 at https://www.bikecourier.org/earth-home-40202/ or Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/people/Deep-Ecology-Louisville/61581836699217/ Parenting today happens in the context of constant uncertainty—climate change, social instability, economic stress—and our nervous systems are taking that in whether we name it or not. Climate anxiety isn’t a disorder; it’s a nervous system response to ongoing, unresolved threat. Our bodies are designed to detect danger, and climate change is a chronic, future-oriented stressor. Many parents are quietly carrying fear and grief about the world their children are inheriting. That often shows up as burnout, urgency, irritability, or feeling like they’re never doing enough. Children sense the state of the adults around them. They don’t need all the information, but they feel the regulation—or dysregulation—of the nervous systems caring for them. From a nervous-system lens, anxiety and behavioral struggles aren’t signs of weakness or bad parenting; they’re signals that the system is overwhelmed. Our mental and emotional health are deeply connected to our environment. Humans regulate better with access to nature, sunlight, rhythm, and sensory safety—we are not separate from the natural world. Environmental degradation impacts mental health not just psychologically, but physiologically. When the environment feels unsafe, nervous systems stay on high alert. A nervous-system perspective shifts the question from “What’s wrong with parents or kids?” to “What has their nervous system been asked to carry?” Regulation and connection are foundational—not luxuries. When nervous systems are supported, people have more capacity for hope, care, and meaningful action. Slowing down, repairing relationships, and spending time in nature are not passive responses; they are stabilizing acts that support both individual well-being and collective resilience. Hope doesn’t come from denying reality. It comes from feeling safe enough to face hard truths while staying connected to one another. Supporting parents’ nervous systems is a form of future care—for children, communities, and the planet. Learn more about Megan at https://www.wovennest.net/woven-nest-therapy-team-louisville/megan-green-meyerhoffer As always, our feature is followed by your community action calendar for the week, so get your calendars out and get ready to take action for sustainability NOW! Sustainability Now! is hosted by Dr. Justin Mog and airs on Forward Radio, 106.5fm, WFMP-LP Louisville, every Monday at 6pm and repeats Tuesdays at 12am and 10am. Find us at https://forwardradio.org The music in this podcast is courtesy of the local band Appalatin and is used by permission. Explore their delightful music at https://appalatin.com
