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WASHINGTON – Some of them met on Instagram. Others coordinated during the lunch conference calls. Most of them have not even completed high school.
Teens behind Zero Hour – an environmentally conscious, creative and technologically savvy national coalition – are trying to build a youth-led movement to sound the alarm and call for action on climate change and environmental justice.
For a year, a core group covering both coasts has been organizing on social media. The teenagers began their campaign by demonstrating Saturday at the National Mall in Washington, as well as twin marches across the country.
As sea levels rise, ice caps melt and weather conditions affect communities around the world. missing to cope with climate change. The main organizing group of about 20 people met Thursday about 40 federal lawmakers about their platforms, and hope to inspire other teens to step up their efforts and demand change.
"Walking is a pitch." It's not: "It's over, we're done," said Jamie Margolin, founder of Zero Hour. "That means it does not give them not an excuse to say, "I do not know what kids want." It's like "Yes, you do."
They try to prove that adults are wrong, to show that people their age consider what they consider to be the greatest crisis that threatens their generation.
"In our generation, when we talk about climate change, they say," Ha ha, it's so funny. This is not something we will have to face, "said Nadia Nazar, artistic director of Zero Hour. "Oh, yeah, the polar bears are just going to die, the seas are just going to go up." They do not understand the true caliber of destruction. "
The group builds on the momentum of other recent youth-led movements "
" Nobody gives you an organizing guide on how to ambad thousands dollars, to mobilize people, to mobilize. " Margolin said. "There was no help." I'm just swimming, "she says, referring to the Disney movie" Finding Nemo. "
At the Sierra Club headquarters in Washington, DC, As members of Zero Hour, six leaders and founding members of the coalition discussed how they got involved in the group and why they think it's one of the best ways for young people to create a healthy and sustainable environment.
"We are on the point"
Jamie Margolin, 16, Seattle
"I have always planned my future in ifs, said Ms. Margolin: If climate change has not destroyed that, if the environment has not become that.
Thus, in recent years, Ms. Margolin has worked to educate people to climate justice issues, a pbadionate writer who has gone through a "phase of opinion" by submitting essays to publications, such as It is titled "An Open Letter to Climate Change Whistleblowers" published in the monthly magazine Teen Ink
. she and other young people could – and should – do more.
"I had this idea since January, since the March of Women," Ms. Margolin said. "The kind of idea that was pestering me and that you are trying to ignore, but it's an idea that stings you."
At the summer program of Princeton University last year, she met with other teens interested in acting on climate change. . They started planning a big demonstration in the national capital. On social media, Ms. Margolin married facts and reached out to other young activists
. A lawyer of the climate justice professed, Ms. Margolin has maintained the inclusive movement, putting the stories and concerns of those directly affected by environmental issues. heart of Zero Hour's mission. Young people from the Standing Rock Preserve talked about Saturday and others drew attention to those who were killed during Hurricane Maria and threatened by the death. sea level rise in the Marshall Islands
. She said that she had been overwhelmed by the reaction of people of all ages. Dozens of environmental groups and not-for-profit organizations have approached the coalition, seeking to donate or sponsor it.
"We reversed the scenario as an underdog, we have proven ourselves," she said. "We are on the verge of something incredible.We will change the story."
Show the artistic side of a movement
Kallan Benson, 14, Crownsville, Md.
When Mrs. Benson was planning a trip to ] The People's Climate Last March, with her family, she knew that she wanted to make a statement
. Not considered an artist, but a 24-foot wide parachute that she covered with a gigantic monarch butterfly pattern and hundreds of children's signatures from her community became a canvas. to show her the terrible future she and future generations might face.
A chance meeting with the son of the founder of the Mother Earth non-profit project led Ms. Benson to encourage children around the world to create their own parachutes made from recycled sheets (to be "s "From the Environment,"
Inspired by the commemorative AIDS quilt that was deployed on the National Mall a few years ago, some of these parachutes, sent from all continents to the exception from Antarctica, were spread on the grbad during Saturday 's march
. The original idea was, "We have to get them into the National Mall," but then we thought, "Well, that should not be our first exposure; it's a bit ambitious, "Ms. Benson said.
"Then we talked to Zero Hour and they asked," Hey, why do not you get them out? "I would never have imagined it would go that far."
Where Business and the Environment Meets
Madelaine Tew, 15, Teaneck, NJ [19659002] As Chief Financial Officer of Zero Hour, Ms. Tew
The day of the deadline for a major grant – $ 16,000 from the Common Sense Fund – Mrs. Tew's school was the host of An event where seniors made presentations on their internships. But she knew the grant would be a huge boost for Zero Hour.
"Then I went to see the nurse and said," Oh, I have cramps. Can I lie down with my computer? "," She said, "then I went in and wrote all the grant."
Her hit paid off, Zero Hour got the grant, and now, the l '. Ms. Tew's finance team, made up of students like her, raised about $ 70,000 for the coalition.
Tew, who attends a loving high school where she takes clbades in business and finance, was involved in clubs to get the school and local businesses to adopt more renewable practices.But before meeting Ms. Margolin at the Princeton summer program last year, she thought that these local efforts were "as far as you can go" for someone of his age.
"He went from the limit of youth to" Mrs. Tew said:
Although the practices of large corporations may sometimes irritate the environmentalists, for Mrs. Tew, combine "my love of business and my care, my concern for air conditioning at "is entirely logical.
"In many cases, you can see how the environmental movement can be rooted in the way we do business," she said.
This could take the form of encouraging companies to disengage from fossil industries. "We're not just talking about building more co-operative farms," said Tew, "but also about how to integrate ethical and sustainable environmental policies into business, so that" we can continue America. " the future of the economy. "[1 9659041]" Repping the Young Generation "
Iris Fen Gillingham, 18, Livingston Mansion, NY
When Three Floods in the Middle in the Late 2000s Swept the Iris Family Farm Fen Gillingham in the Catskill Mountains, the topsoil was washed away and their material was submerged, eliminating their main source of income.
The floods devastated Mrs. Gillingham's family who has always lived "very conscientiously with the land and the nature. "Even his name, Iris Fen, like the swampy flower and swamps behind his house, alludes to this attachment.
" I have a pair of mittens made from one of our Icelandic sheep, Rosalie, "says Mrs. Gillingham." My brother named her, I remember she was born and I saw her to grow up and my mother twisting and spinning wool. "
So when the earthlings the possibility of hydraulic fracturing. Ms. Gillingham joins her father, an advocate for the environment, to speak at local meetings, often as the youngest in the room.
"It was always me. repping the younger generation, "said Ms. Gillingham. "In part, my brother and I were saying," We do not want to play on contaminated soil "(The Environmental Protection Agency concluded that fracking may contaminate drinking water under certain circumstances.)
Part of that was also to know how a sustainable lifestyle – growing food at home, spending conscientiously, building greener homes – will be for his generation.
"We put aside our differences and build a family and a family. community using our skills and creativity, "said Ms. Gillingham of the movement. "We enjoy ourselves, we laugh with each other, but we also talk about serious problems and injustices in this country."
Linking Animal Rights and Environmentalism
Nadia Nazar, age 16, Baltimore
Before joining Zero Hour, Nadia Nazar considered herself an animal rights activist. When she was 12, she saw a PETA video about slaughterhouses and immediately became a vegetarian.
"I had just had a cat," Ms. Nazar said. "What if my cat was this cow?"
She began her career as an activist trying to persuade people in her neighborhood not to go to SeaWorld, which was criticized for her treatment of animals. ("I had some success there.")
Then she deepens the root causes of animal suffering and death.
"I have discovered how many species are threatened by climate change and how many die and go to extinction that we have caused ourselves," said Ms. Nazar.
During a During the course, she came across Ms. Margolin's Teen Ink trial and followed her on Instagram, and a little over a year ago, when Ms. Nazar saw a message from Ms. Margolin. Calling for action, she knew that it was her chance to put her artistic skills to good use.As artistic director, she helped organize a smaller arts festival on Friday, and has created the majority of the graphic elements of the coalition.
"His story said," I will do it.Who wants to join me? ", said Ms. Nazar. She immediately sent a message to Mrs. Margolin.
Zanagee Artis, 18, Clinton, Connecticut
The path of Zanagee Artis as an ecologist began at the same place where many other grbadroots activists found themselves.
During his junior year, he had great ambitions for his school: the department of building facilities would finally start recycling white paper, students would start composting their food waste and the dining room would be free to
"I'm going to do all these things and I'm going to go to the administration and tell them," Stuff needs to change, "said Artis
. Mr. Artis said the problem was clear: without hiring other students who might be interested, it was unlikely that the change would occur.
So he created a sustainable development committee within the National Honor Society of the school. the results speak for themselves. The group was able to purchase from the school an aquaponic system – a tank culture system that combines hydroponics (water-based planting) and aquaculture (fish farming) – and raise $ 700 to install filling stations of water bottles.
"So we did all these things because we worked together as a community, and that's what I think of the climate movement," he said.
Yet, Mr. Artis said that he really did not think he could do much. beyond his local community until he meets Ms. Margolin and Ms. Tew last summer in Princeton. Inspired by Ms. Margolin's enthusiasm to do "a great thing," Mr. Artis became the logistics manager of Zero Hour, tasked with submitting the permits for Saturday's walk, to estimate the number of attendees , to check the counterprotestations and to help the sisters godmothers. 19659002] "I was like," Yes! " He said with a satisfactory applause. "& # 39; Let's do it & # 39;."
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