Small Actions. Real Momentum. Why Collective Climate Action Actually Works

Climate action is often framed as a personal responsibility. Fly less. Eat differently. Buy better.
Important, yes, but incomplete.

What actually moves the needle is collective action. Not abstract mass movements, but something far more human: people acting together, sharing what they do, and seeing that others are doing it too.

A large new behavioral megastudy published in PNAS Nexus confirms this at scale. Researchers tested 17 different ways to motivate climate action among more than 30,000 people. One approach consistently outperformed all others: showing real collective wins and the emotional benefits of acting together.

In short:
When people see that collective efforts work, and feel connected through them, they are far more likely to join in.

That insight sits right at the heart of Terry.

Collective efficacy beats individual pressure

The strongest driver of climate engagement in the study was something called collective efficacy.
Not guilt. Not fear. Not perfect individual behavior.

People became more willing to:

• donate to climate organizations,

• support policy change,

• talk to others about climate,

• and engage financially,

when they were shown real examples of people acting together and succeeding.

Even more striking: these messages worked across political identities. The effect wasn’t limited to people who already consider themselves “climate active”.

The takeaway is clear:
Climate action scales when it feels shared, visible, and meaningful.

This is exactly how Terry works

Terry was built on a simple idea:
Make climate action collective by default.

Every time someone shops through Terry:

• a small contribution flows to a verified project,

• that action is aggregated with many otters,

• and together, those micro-decisions become real funding for regeneration, biodiversity, and social resilience.

One purchase does not change the world.
Ten thousand do.

And when people see that, when they share it, talk about it, invite others, the impact compounds.

The study confirms something we’ve seen in practice:

People don’t just want to act. They want to know they’re not acting alone.

Sharing is not signaling: it’s infrastructure

The research highlights another crucial point:
Sharing climate actions builds momentum.

Not performative posts.
Not virtue signaling.
But simple visibility:

• “This is what I support.”

• “This is where my money goes.”

• “This is something we’re doing together.”

That visibility changes norms. It lowers friction. It makes participation feel natural.

When Terry users share:

• the projects they support,

• the donations generated through everyday shopping,

• or simply the idea behind Terry,

they’re not promoting a brand.
They’re strengthening a collective signal: this is normal, and it works.

From isolated effort to shared progress

One of the most important findings in the study is what doesn’t work well:
Framing climate action as a lonely individual burden.

When people feel the problem is too big for them alone, they disengage.
When they see others contributing, even in small ways, they lean in.

That’s why Terry focuses on:

• everyday actions instead of heroic sacrifice,

• participation over perfection,

• and systems that make collective impact unavoidable.

You don’t need to overhaul your life.
You just need to be part of something larger.

The real win: connection

The study also highlights something often overlooked in climate conversations: positive emotion.

People who engage in collective action don’t just feel responsible — they feel:

• connected,

• hopeful,

• and motivated to keep going.

That’s not a soft outcome.
It’s a structural one.

Sustainable change depends on people staying engaged over time. And that only happens when action feels human.

Where Terry fits in

Terry doesn’t ask people to do more.
It helps them do things together.

By turning everyday spending into shared climate action, Terry creates:

• visible collective impact,

• low-friction participation,

• and a reason to talk about climate in a way that invites others in.

Small actions.
Shared systems.
Real momentum.

And now, we have the science to back it up.

Source
Goldwert et al. (2026). A megastudy of behavioral interventions to catalyze public, political, and financial climate advocacy. PNAS Nexus.