Young people for the world
By: Valentina Gomez 10A
I've been alive for almost sixteen years (I know, not so much). However, throughout my whole life, there has been a huge problem that comes from the oldest generations: The Global Warming. It is awful to hear that people are killing our only home, the one place that has given us everything we need and more; but apparently, nobody cares about it. Every single day I listen to catastrophic news such as glaciers that are melting, animals hunted to extinction, completely burned forests, and many other atrocious reports. However, we still have a chance since a lot of young people are starting to realize that we must change some things in order to save the Earth. They are creating amazing things that are improving the world, but none of their efforts will work unless we all start helping.
Are you aware of what young people are doing? You have probably heard a thing or two, but if you truly have the intention of doing something for our planet, you need to know what is going on. For this reason, I’m going to tell you some of the most awesome things I’ve seen. For instance, Alex Lin, Teen Activist, Adeline Tiffanie Suwana, Environmental Educator, Merit Leighton and Marlowe Peyton, The Plastic Patrol, or Xiuhtezcatl Tonatiuh, Environmental Activist, are the most famous ones. There are also many projects that are being developed around the world like the Bamboo Bicycle Project in Ghana, Tree Planting in Ethiopia, Production of Biodiesel from Used Vegetable Oil in Barbados, ChepeCletas in Costa Rica, Youth Participation in REDD+ in Congo, Rainforest Protection and Disaster Risk Reduction in Guyana, Investigative Journalists in the United Kingdom, and Project Jatropha in India.
Alex Lin has created a team to collect and recycle e-waste form Rhode Island, and due to his effort, his ideas have spread around the world. Adeline Tiffanie is just twelve-years-old and has already formed a community called Sahabat Alam, which means “Friends of Nature”; with her team, she has planted coral reefs, protected sea turtles, planted mangrove trees, among so many other things. Merit Leighton and Marlowe Peyton are wonderful examples of kids saving the world, they are five and six years old, and they decided to create the plastic patrol;
this consists of raising awareness that the smallest actions can make a big difference. Xiuhtezcatl Tonatiuh, a fifteen-year-old teenager, is suing the United States Government over the issue of climate change with other 21 kids. As you can see, all of these young people started with a small idea that turned into an admirable solution.
Now it’s time to do something for our planet, and I’m going to tell you some tips that were provided by the National Geographic magazine form May 2016. It all starts with each one of you and the little things you can do at your homes like not using your car two days per week, using cold water to wash the dirty clothes, eradicating meat from your daily diet, and unplugging the electronic devices that are not in use. In school, we could have intelligent lightbulbs. In the city, we could use public transport or bikes, have sustainable water management by recollecting rainwater, and use renewable energies. As nations, we could stop using fossil fuels, recycle all the e-waste, reduce the food waste and implement reforestation. Finally, for the planet there are some ideas like shooting a space parasol, having stratospheric aerosols or inseminating marine clouds. Although it might seem difficult to help with these projects, you can also help by recollecting and recycling things that could be used in this kind of things.
Now you have no excuse, you must help the planet, no matter how insignificant you might feel, you can help a lot. After reading this I hope you share all the ideas we discussed because if more people know about this, a huge impact on the climate change will happen. Furthermore, remember to keep thinking of extraordinary things you can do to help save our planet. For example, you can start in the school by filling plastic bottles with any other type of plastic, and then when you are done, you can give them to special institutions that build houses with these “Eco Bricks”. As you can see there are many things to do for our planet, so please start helping so that we can make sure the world survives for us and the next generations.
