Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg has found herself in the world’s spotlight over the past several months as her previously solitary climate strikes caught on across the globe.
The teenager is encouraging others in her generation (and beyond) to treat climate change like the crisis that it is – and some companies in Israel are hoping she can do the same for their employees.
A trend in Tel Aviv workplace cafeterias – photos of a judgemental Greta Thunberg next to disposable utensils. Here is #1: pic.twitter.com/8Zk93RfZ5s
So, while these companies still offer plastic options, they hope seeing the angry teenager’s face will encourage people to choose the recyclable options, instead.
The truth is, even if we could hide from Greta (or her image, in this case) we can’t hide from the truth that our collective choices are putting the planet on a path we soon won’t be able to correct.
If this is what it takes to make people think twice, I say it’s worth a try!
Some people believe that you have to have a lifetime of knowledge and experience to change the world, or even to try – but these 5 teenagers don’t have any time to listen to that kind of crap because they’re too busy actually changing the world.
From gun rights to climate change to terrorism, there’s no problem too daunting…and honestly maybe their lack of experience gives them just the right amount of idealism needed to actually get sh*t done.
I just wish – I truly wish – that their passion and activism hadn’t so often been sparked by personal trauma.
But if you have to go through something terrible, using your experience and pain to stop other people from going through the same thing seems like the healthiest way to deal.
Many of the teens who survived that day have gone on to support a campaign against gun violence, but 18-year-old Emma Gonzalez emerged a leader from the beginning. She co-founded the gun-control advocacy group Never Again MSD and, shortly after her classmates were buried, gave a powerful speech at the March for Our Lives rally in Washington D.C.
Since then, her work and others’ have encouraged lawmakers in Florida to pass a Public Safety Act, which raised the age to buy a firearm from 18 to 21 and instituted a three-day waiting period for most weapons. She is still working to prevent gun violence, and Never Again is going strong.
When he was only 15, Jack Andraka invented what appeared to be a new, cheap way to detect pancreatic cancer. He won $75k at the 2012 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for the test, which he created after reading free science papers on the internet.
The test is still undergoing official studies, but if it works like he imagines, it could save lives and millions of dollars.
At the tender age of 11, Malala Yousafzai wrote and published a diary about her life under Taliban rule in Pakistan. Though the diary was anonymous, she began to speak publicly at home about her passion for girls’ education.
Three years later, when she was 14, a Taliban gunman shot her in the face on a bus to put a stop to her activism.
Amazingly, Malala survived the attack, and though she can never return home, she works tirelessly on behalf of underprivileged girls around the world.
In 2014, she became the youngest person ever to win the Nobel Peace Prize, and her passionate acceptance speech is one for the ages.
“This award is not just for me. It is for those forgotten children who want education. It is for those frightened children who want peace. It is for those voiceless children who want change. I am here to stand up for their rights, to raise their voice. It is not time to pity them.”
Amika read an article about girls in the U.K. who couldn’t afford menstrual products and was astounded that there were so many in her home country living in such poverty.
When she was 17 she founded #FreePeriods, organized a protest of over 2,000, and demanded the government take appropriate action.
In response, the U.K. government announced in March of 2019 they would be funding free sanitary products in all English schools and universities.
This 16-year-old Swedish girl has dedicated her young life to being an activist for climate change activism across the world.
In 2018 she began striking – alone – on the steps of the Swedish parliament in Stockholm in an attempt to get them to take meaningful, immediate action.
Since her solitary striking began, more than 1 million teens have joined her by walking out of their classrooms around the world.
“Since our leaders are behaving like children, we will have to take the responsibility they should have taken long ago. We have to understand what the older generation has dealt to us, what mess they have created that we have to clean up and live with. We have to make our voices heard.”
She recently spoke at the UN, and it’s really worth watching:
These teens are an inspiration, for sure – they make 18-year-old me look like a lazy loafing loser.
Do you believe young people can make a real difference? How can you not?!
Many people around the world admit that human emissions are slowly killing the planet via climate change, but no one seems to do anything. Scared for their futures, young people have been pushing the people in charge to not just agree, but to at least try to save us all from a fiery death.
Enter the recent youth-led global climate strike, a movement that numbered in the millions all over the globe. Participants everywhere hope their protest were heard by the UN during their Climate Summit (Greta Thunberg, a leader of the movement, shared some amazing words that made me tear up a little), and if these 20 signs have anything to say about it, these kids will be impossible to ignore.
20. It doesn’t seem like this should be asking too much.
It’s time to make a change, y’all. If it doesn’t start from the top, we’ll start it from the bottom. Consider looking into ways you can reduce your carbon footprint.
Are you impressed by the world’s youth campaigning for change? Are you inspired? Let us know how you plan to help in the comments!
Is there anything worse than Grade A Internet trolls?
Greta Thunberg is 16 years old and has made it her life’s work (so far) to raise awareness for, and to do her best to combat, climate change around the world.
Apparently, this makes grown ass people with keyboards think it’s okay to joke about a teenaged girl drowning in a boating accident, because that’s the world we’re living in today.
Thunberg wanted to attend the United Nations climate change summits in the United States and Chile, but wanted to a find a responsible way to do it – air travel is the most carbon intensive form of transportation. So she landed on boat travel in order to minimize her carbon emissions.
The Malizia II, a racing yacht that employs solar panels to power her underwater turbines, offered her a ride, which she accepted. She and her father set out from Portsmouth (in the United Kingdom) on a two-week sail to the States.
Good for her, right?
You would think that most adults would feel that way, but, sadly, there are plenty who don’t.
you’d think a small kind child who just wants to help the environment would be one of those things where ppl are just “that’s nice” abt but nope she makes adult men shit their pants and challenge her to sword duels on cable news
It turns out that grown-ups who have dug into their (incorrect) positions about climate change being non-anthropological feel the need to attack a child in order to defend their own insecurities.
Like radio personality Julia Hartley-Brewer, who thinks being irresponsible is…funny?
Hi Greta, I’ve just booked some long haul flights for my family to enjoy some winter sun on the beach this Christmas.
Luckily, there are just as many people (if not more) ready to defend Greta and her actions.
Why do you try and be like this? You do know that Greta isn’t doing this to spoil your holiday plans? She is a young person trying to help other people have a safe future. Even if you don’t like science why do you enjoy being a wanker to a young person trying to help the world?
It always amazes me to see the levels of vitriol Greta attracts from the intellectually insecure, seemingly infuriated by a 16 year having the clout they could only dream of.
Can anybody think of a more pathetic virtue signal than constantly trying to dunk on a 16-year-old for knowing more about science than you do pic.twitter.com/ZfKZ8mRpJI
True to form, Greta seems to be soldiering on and enjoying her trip.
Day 2. 100 nautical miles west of Cape Finisterre. A very bumpy night but I slept surprisingly well. Some dolphins showed up and swam along the boat last night! pic.twitter.com/gsvs49BFJe