Articles

Apr. 25, 2020

11 years. That’s all we have left. 11 years. By 2030, we will have failed our planet. Hundreds of thousands of people will be dead. Yet, we sit at home. And we wait. We wait for someone else to take action. We wait on our world leaders, our Presidents and Prime Ministers to take action, whilst they relax and do nothing. We wait for students, children barely the age of 18 to stand up and take the action that we should have taken years ago. We had the facts. We knew that we didn’t have time left, and we knew that we needed to do something soon. We are diminishing at a rapid pace, for we have missed our deadline. And this time, we can’t be saved.

In 2019, young adults around the world went on strike every week to oppose the oncoming climate crisis. Finally, after months of urging, we had adults join us. Jane Fonda, Ted Danson, Leonardo DiCaprio, and many more celebrities joined in the climate strikes on October 11th, and once again on October 26th. On April 22-24th 2020, launching on the 50th anniversary of Earth Day, student activists and adult allies are leading the Earth Day Live, a 72-hour live stream that strives to engage people across the nation and the globe in shared action to defend our communities. As mentioned by the Guardian, unless nations dramatically enhance their vows to cut emissions, we will remain on course for a terrifying 3-4 C of heating. Analysis in the past few years strengthens the idea that some of the climate tipping points have already been reached.

Global strike day is us ensuring that we are heard. We have been patient, silent, waiting for someone to do something for too long. Enough is enough. We need our voices heard and we need it now. We have run out of time. Action to prevent the worst should have begun in the last week, the last year, even the last decade. We have been tolerant long enough. Adults say that we aren’t old enough to understand the situation, but we are old enough to ‘stand up’ and ‘work harder’? As the youth, we shouldn’t be expected to fix this. And yet, we are. We work harder than anyone else to do the best we can. We are protesting, arranging cleanups, striking, speaking up. We are doing all the work that should have begun by the generations before us.

We are young, we shouldn’t weigh the world on our shoulders. We should be concerned with our grades and our lives, and we shouldn’t worry about whether we will make it to 45. This is no longer a crisis, this is an emergency. We aren’t waiting anymore. We are taking our futures back. And this time, no one can stop us.

Written by: Janya

Apr. 21, 2020

Based on the TED talk by Hindou Oumarou Ibrahim

Over the past 60 years, Lake Chad has shrunk 95% due to climate change. In the 1960’s, Lake Chad covered about 25000 km². 30 years ago it had gone down to 10000 km². Today that number is at around 1200 km² with 40 million people depending on that little amount of water.

The 40 million indigenous and nomadic people around Lake Chad depend on the water and natural resources because they are pastoralists, farmers and fisherman. The indigenous peoples around the world have the ability to connect with their environment and use environmental indicators to predict changes in weather patterns and climatic conditions. Old women from nomadic tribes in Africa can tell whether it will rain based on the behaviour of the insects and cattle. In another article, a Maasai woman talks about how an old woman taught her that nature has the answers to all the questions we ask. She says, “One woman told me: ‘Nature speaks to us. It’s just for us to listen.’ If the morning and evening stars are just above the horizon, the rainy season is coming and everything will be fine. But when the stars are near the middle of the sky, it means drought.” Another Shipibo-Conibo man from Peru in the same article says that the members of his community grow dense bushes and other plants on the edges of their farms to prevent overflooding during the flood season. With climate change wiping out nature and different species, it is hard for the indigenous to tell these things and sustain their way of life.

Indigenous knowledge has been around for thousands of years. Compared to that, modern science and technology are very new having only been around for 200 years. All indigenous communities depend on the environment for food, water, medicine and especially knowledge. Indigenous communities around the world are saving 80% of the world’s biodiversity with the knowledge passed down generations. Combining modern science, technology and indigenous knowledge would help people from all around the world battle not just climate change, but also physical ailments and other illnesses, making the world healthier.

Sources:

- https://www.ted.com/talks/hindou_oumarou_ibrahim_indigenous_knowledge_meets_science_to_solve_climate_change

- https://www.conservation.org/blog/indigenous-leaders-traditional-knowledge-can-save-the-planet

Written by: Venya

Apr. 21, 2020

Many people around the world use Earth Day as a chance to step up for their planet, and with the 50th anniversary of Earth Day coming up tomorrow, they continue to take a stand despite our current circumstances. With such an important milestone coming up, it’s important to acknowledge where Earth Day began and what it has accomplished. The first Earth Day took place in 1970, and at this time there was not much awareness for our planet’s situation. It all started with Senator Gaylord Nelson, from Wisconsin. After the enormous Santa Barbara oil spill in 1969, Nelson was inspired by the student anti-war protests to take action. Alongside Pete McCloskey, he reached out to Denis Hayes, who organized a teach-in on college campuses. They chose April 22nd, as it fell on a weekday between spring break and final exams, and would hopefully maximize student participation. Hayes then brought together 85 people to promote the events across the country. Soon, many organizations and groups became involved as well. The event was renamed to Earth Day. Though it started in 1970, Earth Day went global in 1990 with digital aid. The campaign ended up reaching 200 million people in 141 countries. In 2000, Hayes organized another campaign, this time reaching 184 countries. Today, Earth Day is known as a day of impact, reaching 193 countries and over 1 billion people every year. Tomorrow, celebrate 50 years of action with the world, and take a stand for your planet.

Written by: Nawal

Mar. 8, 2020

Climate change, habitat loss, the melting of ice sheets, and more. As the youth, we often feel helpless, even ambushed by the seemingly endless issues in the world. People tell us that we are too young, that we don't know anything. And yet, they expect us to inherit this ravaged life after they depart. Unfortunately, the harsh reality here is; we don't have enough time left.

The Generation Green Youth-Un Conference is an event that took place last November, which aims to get students involved and put up an initiative to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions. The president of our Eco-Club had gone to the Un-Conference and was inspired to put up her own initiative as well.

It was once said that when we, the youth get angry, it is a beautiful thing. We use that anger to fuel our passion to stay longer, to object against the fraudulent laws that have been built. This is our world, and we intend on staying here.

From White Oaks Secondary School, we propose to fight climate change with a modest 2-step plan that is our project for Generation Green. We will raise funds by auctioning baked goods and donate that money to the One Tree Planted Organization. The One Tree Planted Organization is, in layman's terms, a non-profit organization that plants one tree for every dollar donated. Thus far, they have planted 4,010,962 trees, having collected over $5,000,000 and that is just in the year 2019. We aim to raise $125 through our fundraiser. We intend on reducing carbon emissions by donating that money to the organization, which will then plant trees on our behalf. For every tree planted, we are also calculating the amount of carbon we reduce.

On March 20th, a few members of the Eco Club will be attending the Generation Green Wrap -Up Meeting and will be presenting this project and representing our school as well.

We don't have much time left, and we must use what we have to fight. Fight against everything pushing us to give up. Fight against the adults who say "You're too young." Fight against the people who created this mayhem. We must fight back, if not for us then for the children that came after us, for our families, for our future. Fight back.

Written by: Janya

Apr. 13, 2020

The White Oaks Secondary School’s Eco Club is participating in We The Planet’s Earth Day Campaign. We The Planet is a youth-led Earth Day Campaign created by two very successful entrepreneurs wishing the world to be a better place. They want us as humans to go beyond “We The People” and focus on something bigger than ourselves: “We The Planet”. Their mission is to keep the conversations about climate alive. They believe that although we are in this big crisis of the pandemic, the climate crisis is still there and it's bigger than ever. They are a diverse team of people spanning 6 continents and over 30 countries.

This year, on April 22, youth around the world (including our very own Eco Club!) will be participating in this campaign, outlining one systematic and one individual action that they will take to protect our beautiful planet. You can too! On April 22nd, post a video on your social media explaining one individual and one systematic action you are going to commit to for the rest of the year. Help the planet with us!

Written by: Venya

Apr. 15, 2020

In a time where the youth must take initiative to correct the mistakes of the previous generations, the Polluters Out movement is doing just that. Pollute Out is a youth-led, global coalition aiming to keep polluters and their influence out of universities, banks, governments, indigenous lands, and more. It formed due to the failure of COP 25 in January earlier this year, with only 150 members coming for 40 countries, but has since spread across the world. They fight to make sure that the UNFCCC, as well as all governments, reject funding from major polluters. They also want to reject false climate solutions, and advocate for solutions that respect the practices and land of indigenous peoples and local communities. Not only is what they’re doing admirable, but urgent, as the impending danger to our planet seems to increase by the second. To help this incredible movement, you can use the hashtag, #pollutersout, or sign their petition, donate, and join the movement, which can all be accessed on their website, pollutersout.org.

Written by: Nawal

Coming Soon!