Videos
Teenager Maya Ayres, 14 at the time of this TEDx Talk, describes how a 5th grade school project involving bluebird observation led her to consider the effect of our society’s plastic usage on nature. She became an advocate for recycling plastic correctly and more effectively so it would not end up as litter or going to a landfill. She believes living this way helps her fulfill the Jewish concept of Tikkun Olam, or repair the world.
Ayres is a role model for any young teen who wants to make a difference in the world and is a good example of one person taking small, manageable steps to do so. However, video is light on concrete steps she has taken and that others could replicate and does not explain plans she has for her future.
TEDx Talks. (2021, December 13). [Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/kufhML6cy4U?si=r6tOIBiZSU7kTidn
Two Teens Start Business to Combat Climate Change with Compost
Two teenage girls describe how they work on a student run compost bin at their Lake Placid, NY school, twhich has become a student-run non-profit that also takes in food waste from the larger community. They explain how older students started the bin and they helped take it over when those students graduated. The video includes an explanation of how composting food waste, rather than sending it to the landfill, avoids methane production and helps create a cyclical food cycle. The teens show that their individual hard work (including shoveling and mixing the compost, and selling it to gardeners and farmers) and commitment have helped their local environment.
Mountain Lake PBS. (2022, September 6). Two teens start business to combat climate change with compost [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w2Q638MCwq8
Young climate activists demand action and inspire hope.
Young environmentalists from around the world are showcased in this video series available from the Unicef website or YouTube. In partnership with Greta Thunberg’s organization, Fridays for Future, Unicef shares interviews with climate activists about issues affecting their homelands, such as both droughts and flooding in Mexico, and hurricanes in the Phillipines. Written articles about their stories and work are linked. These very personal accounts are moving and bring home the reality of climate change as it affects these young but smart and thoughtful activists.
Unicef. Young climate activists demand action and inspire hope. https://www.unicef.org/stories/young-climate-activists-demand-action-inspire-hope