An interview with our president

Question: Were you interested in the environment before joining the MEGA club? If not, what motivated you to join?

Answer: When I was joining the MEGA club at our school I was definitely going through a phase in my life when I started to be more aware of the current environmental issues. It was also a great opportunity to meet new people and I'm really glad that I did that. If anyone has a similar club at their school I definitely encourage them to join it. They won't regret it.

Q: In your opinion, which environmental issue should be our biggest priority right now?

A: Tackling climate change is a complex issue and I don't think I can name one specific problem that is currently the most acute one. Our biggest concern should, of course, be climate change and all the other problems that come with it, such as greenhouses gas emissions, heat waves or even wildfires. I think the best thing we can do right now, besides changing our lifestyles a bit, is spreading awareness about these issues because I refuse to believe that people know about all of this and just chose to let it be ignored.

Q: How do you help the environment yourself?

A: I believe that every individual matter and it is about the small things we can change in our everyday lives. I was, for example, big meat and fashion lover, but when I found out what's at stake, I wanted to change all of that. I'm a vegetarian for more than a year now, and I'm trying to buy as many clothes in second hands as I possibly can. I'm not saying right now that everyone should be vegetarians or vegans; I think that making small steps is the best way to do it. Little things such as meatless days throughout the week or two shirts from a slow fashion brand or a local clothes swap are great ways to start.

Q: How could bigger groups such as classes, schools or even towns also help to tackle the problems of climate change? Do you have any ideas?

A: Even though we can start from ourselves and do something as individuals, working as groups is obviously more effective. I like that our town for example made "virtual" bus tickets cheaper to prevent the amount of paper that is wasted on that.

Q: What would be your message to the next generation to avoid the same mistakes?

A: I think the important thing that people should do is to start solving the problems as soon as possible and not wait until the last moment or in this case when it is already late.

Klára Holičová & Barbora Hýblová, MEGA Club Slovakia