Climate Activist Interviews #6: Sophia Geiger

This is the sixth week of a series on this blog where I interview other climate and environmental activists. I hope these interviews help connect climate activists around the world, boost the good work they're doing, and give potential activists ideas and encouragement for action they could take to fight the climate crisis!

Today's interviewee is Sophia Geiger, weekly climate striker and organizer with Fridays For Future USA. You can follow her on Twitter at @sphiamia.

Tell me a bit about you - where are you from, what age are you, and what do you do (climate-related and otherwise)?

I’m from right outside DC in Silver Spring MD [Maryland, USA]. I’m 17 in 11th grade at Northwood High School. I’m a weekly striker, climate activist and organizer with Fridays for Future USA and our local chapter Fridays for Future DC. This basically amounts to spending my Fridays silent striking in school and then hitting the streets (or sidewalks as it were) with my friends, and spending the rest of the week organizing through sending emails, hours on conference calls, and lots and lots of slack messages. I also run the instagram for FFFUSA (@fridaysforfutureusa), the instagram for our silent strike campaign (@fffsilentstrike), the twitter for the silent strike campaign (@fffsilent), the twitter for FFFDC (@fridaysfuturedc) and I help run the instagram for FFFDC (@fridaysforfuture.dc). As you can probably tell I don’t have time for much outside of all that, and school on top of that, as well as trying my best to still be a teenager (chores, friends, etc.). 

How did you get into climate activism?

I had been looking for a way to get involved for a while. I’ve always known about the climate crisis but until the 2018 IPCC report I, and I think a lot of other people, had no idea, or didn’t want to really understand the reality of its severity. One of my friends became active and I got involved through her, and within a few months my life had totally changed.

What's your role with FFF USA?

The thing that makes FFF and FFFUSA specifically really unique is that unlike a lot of other climate groups we are not an organization, we are a movement. This means that although we have a structure with working groups and an email, social media etc, we don’t have a bank account or paid staff or titles or a lot of the things people might expect from us. Our movement’s focus is distributed, consistent action so our structure is very decentralized. We also are very committed to building a community with as much of a lack of hierarchy as possible so we mainly have two levels, local and national. On the local level they have a lot of freedom and autonomy, and on the national level we are a community, open to anyone who wants to participate in whatever capacity they can. I’m one of the more involved people, and I’ve been around since a few months after FFFUSA’s start in December of 2018 when Zayne Cowie in NYC and Kallan Benson in DC started striking.

What are some highlights of what you’ve done so far? 

March 15th was my first deep strike [when many countries strike together], so that was definitely a landmark point for me, as well as a moment to learn a lot from and apply to future deep strikes. On September 13th we struck with Greta, and I got to meet her and talk to her which was super crazy for me. September 20th was also a huge deep strike, even bigger than March 15th. For the 20th I participated in months of planning and work on national, local and international levels, and had many setbacks and frustrations, so it was amazing to see all that work culminate with thousands of people mobilized in DC and millions world wide. There was a moment on the 20th when me and Kallan were leading the march toward the Capitol and we looked back and could see for the first time how big the crowd was with people still flowing out of John Marshall Park. That was one of the most memorable moments for me because we had been striking for months with our actions turning out anywhere from 2 to 30 people so it was incredible and shocking to see such a huge crowd.

Have you found community with other environmental activists? 

The FFFUSA community is an incredible group to be a part of. More than any other group I’ve been with I really feel like the people in FFFUSA are dedicated to the cause and each other. Like any group and especially any group of teenagers collaboration is tough, especially when so much of what we do needs to be based in trust and most of us have never met in person. But I think we are really building a community that is committed to changing the world and being set up in a way that works for the people in it and that’s beautiful to see. We also have an awesome community internationally with so many kind, inspiring activists and that too I feel so lucky to be a part of. It’s amazing to walk out the door Friday morning knowing that thousands of other activists are also walking out their doors that day to strike for climate justice, and to stand alongside people who take the climate crisis as seriously as I do.

Tell me about the holiday cards project.

That was a project with a few main goals: help bring the community together and mobilize people to take action, use the proximity of our DC chapter to amplify voices around the country, and give our movement more presence on Capitol Hill, and I think we accomplished all of those. We wanted to have people around the country write a message to their Congress people, which the DC chapter would then hand deliver to Congress. We think hand delivering makes them that little bit more impactful and was also a chance for us to be in Congressional offices, talking to the aides, making our movement more visible. We also sang Christmas carols but with altered lyrics to talk about the climate crisis which definitely made us more memorable to the offices. It was also somewhat of an experiment in how well this kind of action would work and whether people would be into it, and I think it went really well. I personally made cards for and wrote out the around 100 responses we got from our online form, so this project has a special place in my heart and is something we are thinking about doing again for Valentine's Day.

What have you learned through your activism?

Being a climate activist has taught me so much about myself, about interpersonal relationships, about the human psyche, about our political and societal structure and its many flaws, among other things. Although I still have a long way to go as a person I think the past year has made me more empathetic, more willing and able to critically examine myself and the world around me, more appreciative of the work that I and others can do and more understanding of the immense impact that pure people power can have.

What are your goals for 2020 for climate action in the US?

In 2020 I hope the climate movement will better strengthen its collaboration between the different groups involved and be able to create a more united front. I hope FFF will become more diverse and better able to support and work for the actions and needs of frontline and marginalized communities. I hope that we will become even more connected globally. I hope that we will elect a president with a focus on climate action and put in place legislation that will move us into a just transition to a greener America and world as a whole. I hope that our society will wake up and start making the changes that it needs to, from reducing consumerism and individualistic mindsets to starting to address this crisis on a united level similar to how we came together around wars in the past. I hope that we will see leadership from frontline communities and scientists in how best to address the crisis and provide solutions for it.

What’s something or someone you think more people should know about? 

More people need to understand the reality of the crisis and the need to mobilize. Australia has shown us that even in the face of real and severe danger to lives and ecosystems, world leaders will dig themselves deeper into lies and denial and continue to fuel the literal fires of the climate crisis. We cannot expect change simply from asking for it, or hoping that they will do the right thing, we must demand the world that we deserve. We will not see change with the scale and urgency needed until we have millions in the streets and organizing and thinking about and prioritizing the climate crisis. In the face of this threat not much else matters.

What frustrates you?

I see a lot of opportunities for collaboration within the climate movement and ways that our actions could be even better and stronger. Unfortunately a lot of times egos and personalities get in the way. We are definitely making progress and friction is a part of working together—it’s just frustrating to see all that could be possible and that I want to be possible not come to fruition because of the complexities of movement politics.

What gives you hope and keeps you going?

The amazing people I see fighting alongside me as well as a fair amount of naive optimism. I can’t allow myself to believe for a second that we will not succeed, that things will not get better, that we will not create the world we are fighting so hard for. I’m just committed to giving this cause everything I have for the people and animals and life forms of the world, and those still to come. In my mind, there’s no other option.

How can people join or support your activism? 

Follow us on social media. Come out on Fridays. If you can’t take to the streets then silent strike or digital strike. You can always do something. Go to fridaysforfututureusa.org to find a strike near you or to start organizing with us, everyone is welcome, everyone is needed. Spread the word. Do some research, read the reports. Make the climate crisis a priority in all decision making you do whether that’s the choices you make in what to buy, where to travel, how you are going to spend your Friday, etc. 

Do you have any advice for fellow or potential climate activists?

Join FFF. We love you and we need you and there is always work to be done. Straight A’s or a good college won’t matter on a dead planet. Listen to the scientists and the voices of frontline communities. Start a strike near you. It’s really as easy as grabbing a sign and finding a street corner, no excessive planning needed. Make sure to let FFFUSA know you want to strike by sending us an email or DM so we can support you. Your voice matters.

Thank you so much, Sophia, for your time and your action!

And to those reading this: Happy #FridaysForFuture! For next Friday, find your local strike point, or start one, and join us!

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Answers in these interviews are lightly edited for formatting/grammar/spelling and clarity.

Climate Activist Interviews #5: Edgar McGregor

This is the fifth week of a series on this blog where I interview other climate activists. I hope these interviews help connect climate activists around the world, boost the good work they're doing, and give potential activists ideas and encouragement for action they could take to fight the climate crisis!

Today's interviewee is Edgar McGregor, climate activist and amateur climatologist in California. You can follow him on Twitter at @edgarrmcgregor.

Tell me a bit about you - where are you from, what age are you, and what do you do (climate-related and otherwise)? 

My name is Edgar McGregor and I live in Pasadena, California. I am currently a student at Pasadena City College, and I am a climate activist. I have been striking outside Pasadena City Hall every Friday since March 8, 2019 to demand action on the climate crisis from my local politicians. I have been cleaning up trash every single day at my local park since May 29, 2019, collecting over 1 ton of trash across a single park. 

You’re an amateur climatologist. What does that involve, and what are some interesting or important things you’ve studied so far? 

I am currently a geography student at my local community college and self-proclaimed amatuer climatologist. I have done extensive research on studying how climate change is affecting the weather here in southern California. I have discovered that my city is 6.5F warmer than it was 112 years ago, has doubled the average number of extreme heat days per year in that time, and has also become far more susceptible to drought. Using deposited tree logs, I also have studied historic high-flow flood events in local canyons in recent decades to figure out the maximum water discharge of local rivers. Hopefully my findings will one day help my city prepare for the flood we are susceptible to. 

How did you get into climate activism? 

Long ago, I was once much more interested in Meteorology, the study of weather. I watched the weather very closely, from the temperature outside to amount of rainfall each storm gave us. When I turned 15, I began noticing our weather was steadily warmer than I remembered it being as a kid, and I began to wonder how climate change was affecting my city. Heavy rain was falling in months where it doesn’t normally every rain, heatwaves were occurring in months were they shouldn’t, and wildfires kept ravaging nearby towns. I quickly realized that the climate crisis was significantly altering the weather in my region, and the rest is history. 
 
What are some highlights of what you’ve done so far? 

Honestly, I feel like I haven't done enough. Even though I strike every Friday alongside thousands of other teenagers across the world, organize global climate strikes in Los Angeles, and clean up m[y] park daily, I still don’t feel like I have done enough. Every year, I continue to watch our species carbon emissions rise, and I know we have more work to do. My greatest accomplishments are the days of my trash clean ups when it was really inconvenient for me to go out there. I have cleaned up trash in the pouring rain, during extreme windstorms, after 12 hour shifts at work, during finals week, and even during extreme heat waves. I want to send a message to those around me that I really care about this planet; because I do. Saying it in words isn’t quite enough. To me, individual climate action isn’t just about reducing emissions, it is about sending a message. I need people to know that I will not stop fighting for future generations, so that maybe, just maybe, they will feel obligated to join me. 

Have you found community with other environmental activists?

I definitely have found community with other climate activists, especially here in Los Angeles. 

Tell me about the Earth CleanUp project. 

After I began climate striking for a couple hours every Friday in March, I really felt like I wasn’t doing enough. Walking away at the end of my strike didn’t feel right, and I knew I needed to do more. Since I love nature, I decided to spend a few hours every Saturday cleaning up trash at my local park. After 2 or 3 weeks, I quickly found that it wasn’t going to help the situation at my park. I needed to clean up every day instead. Beginning on May 29th, 2019, I did just that. My park is the mouth of a very large canyon that stretches from just a few blocks from my house to about 2 miles into the mountain range nearby. There are trails that criss-crossing the canyon floor, and a river that flows through it, but only when it is raining. While most trails end within the park, some trails stretch into the mountain range above and connect with the Pacific Crest trail that stretches 1,200 miles away! There really isn’t an end to my park! At first, I truly believed it would only take me roughly 10 days to have the entire park cleaned up. Today was day 203 of my cleanup, and I am not yet done. I have found trash in every single portion of the park, from the parking lot at the main entrance to the most distant shrub clearings. I have found trash across the entire portion of the river, inside tree trunks, in animals mouths, and even atop the tallest canyon walls. I have found phones, wallets, shoes, money, car keys, and even furniture. One of the most difficult things about the daily clean ups is how inconvenient they can be for me. It is a 4 hour walk from my home to the very popular waterfall and back. If I want to drive to the entrance of the park near the waterfall, this means leaving my house before 7 AM so that I can bring the car back to my family member who has work, as I don’t have a car. Cleaning up trash every day also means I have hiked in all sorts of weather. For the first 150 days of my trash clean up, it did not rain a single time in my city. By the end of the 150 days, everything in the park was dead save the largest plants and trees. Temperatures in summer exceeded 95F, or 35C, nearly every single day, and this was a cool summer. A summer without a drop of rain is normal here. Since summer has ended, I have hiked in the pouring rain on multiple occasions. I have also hiked during some extreme windstorms, two of which on November 26th, 2019 and December 17th, 2019 delivered gusts of 65 MPH. I have heard and seen more than enough trees fall down for one life. I also worked an eight hour physical labor job six days a week during the entire summer, which made cleaning up trash every day even more difficult. Some days, I worked 12 hours shifts and still cleaned up trash. Being out there in nature every day is important to me. I have learned so much and accomplished even more. I have learned much about my local ecology, met some great people, forced myself to exercise every day, forced myself to get out in nature every day, cleaned up trash, and send a message to the world that nothing is going to stop this generation from preserving this planet for future generations. As a first step for entering the climate movement, I urge all who read this to do as I do and care for your local park. 

Like me, Greta Thunberg, and many other climate activists, you’re autistic. Do you have any thoughts on whether/why autistic people tend to care more about the environment? 

Nature, for many people on the spectrum, is very important to our mental health. Nature makes a lot of sense to us, and we can often easily spend hours upon hours in nature alone and not get bored.  Most of us can stare at a stream for hours on end and not get bored. One reason why I chose cleaning up trash every day as my individual action is because I get to be in nature every single day for at least an hour. Autistic people tend to care more about the climate crisis than our neurotypical counterparts because we see the natural areas we love so much changing. It is not supposed to rain in my region in summer at all, and yet here comes flash floods rolling down my wash in August. It is not supposed to be hot in October, and yet there are the pre-dawn hours on late October mornings that fail to get cooler than the average summertime afternoon. Animals are fleeing my park in droves, finding their only refuge is in peoples neighborhoods drinking sprinkler water. Heavy rains followed by long droughts are the perfect conditions for wildfires. I know that on any given day, my entire park could be leveled by a devastating wildfire. Autistic people care about the climate crisis so much because we on average watch and value nature more than others, and we are watching nature crumble. 

What have you learned through your activism?

I have learned quite a lot about both myself and the world. My activism has shown me all the different ways people are being affected by social justice issues. It has taught me a lot about how the world works, and how my little corner of the world compares to others. I have learned what part of this movement I can contribute to, and I learned about which parts I can’t. 

What are your goals for 2020 for climate action in the US?

My main goal for climate action in 2020 is to double the size of our community. We need more people speaking up about this issue, demanding politicians to do something about, and recognizing the crisis we are in. During our September global climate strike, the U.S. didn’t even have a million participants, despite having a population of well over 300 million people. Other nations with much smaller populations did, and so there is clear room for improvement. We need more people to not just listen to the science, but to understand it and to act on it. 

What’s something or someone you think more people should know about?

I think one point people should realize is that far too many people seem to be waiting for a hero or a miracle technology that is going to come in and save us all from ourselves. We have the opportunity right now to provide to future generation a guide on how to get our act together as a species and solve an existential crisis. That will be incredibly valuable to them. We can’t rely on a miracle or a hero to save us, because one isn’t coming. We all have to do the hard work.

Both of us have experienced people thanking us for our activism but not participating - what would you like to say to those people?

I would say that the point of my daily trash cleanups, my weekly climate strikes, and my occasional major climate strike organizing is useful is because it gets people who support me to help actually help me. We teenagers cannot solve the climate crisis alone. We need your help, and our actions are often a masked cry for help. 

How can people join or support your work?

People can support my work by joining me from wherever they are. Whether it is talking about climate change, climate striking, organizing global climate strikes, picking up trash, or planting trees, it all helps both myself and future generations. 

Do you have any advice for fellow or potential climate activists? 

To future climate activists, I would say please forgive yourself. Previous generations have built this society that doesn’t allow you to not emit fossil fuels. Do what you can to fight for this planet, but above all, make sure you are comfortable. We need as many people in this movement as possible. There is still so much of Earth left to save. 

Thank you so much, Edgar, for your time and your action!

And to those reading this: Happy #FridaysForFuture! For next Friday, find your local strike point, or start one, and join us!

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Answers in these interviews are lightly edited for formatting/grammar/spelling and clarity.

Climate Activist Interviews #4: Cerys Gough

This is the fourth week of a series on this blog where I interview other climate activists. I hope these interviews help connect climate activists around the world, boost the good work they're doing, and give potential activists ideas and encouragement for action they could take to fight the climate crisis!

Today's interviewee is Cerys Gough, a Scottish climate activist and wildlife campaigner.

1. Tell me a bit about you - where are you from, what age are you, and what do you do (climate-related and otherwise)?

I’m from Dumfriesshire in the South West of Scotland and I’m 16 years old. In my town, I helped set up my school’s eco-group and I am a coordinator for strikes here, I also volunteer for a local wildlife organisation aiming to engage people of the town with the surrounding nature. I am a member of SYCS [Scottish Youth Climate Strike] and Extinction Rebellion too.

2. How did you get into environmental activism?

I first became interested in nature at age 4 when I moved out of the city and into the countryside where for the first time, I could see wild animals and roam across beautiful landscapes, even getting a dog made me interested in animals. At the age of 7 I started watching David Attenborough wildlife documentaries with my Dad and was introduced to what seemed like a whole new world, I had never seen such incredible creatures and habitats before, soon I fell in love with Mother Earth and all her wonders. At the age of 8 I started to learn that all these amazing animals were threatened, I learned that some were murdered and parts of their bodies sold, I learned that forests were cut down so their homes were destroyed, I learned that humans were hurting nature. I also began to question why I was eating animals when I loved them so much, it simply didn’t make sense, so I became pescatarian and a few months later, vegetarian. At age 9 I decided I wanted to help these animals, I went on litter picks with my Scout group and asked for my birthday money to be donated to charities. Me and my childhood friends, with the help of my parents, organised a fundraiser for WWF and Shelter too. In school I discovered for the first time what global warming was, we were told we should turn of lights and use less paper to help save the polar bears. I didn’t really understand at the time but gradually my knowledge of the issue grew. At age 11 I started volunteering for a wildlife charity based my town, with them I would help ring birds, go to meetings, carry out surveys on the wildlife in the area and work with groups of school kids to teach them about the outdoors and nature. I still work for this organisation today. For a couple of years, I became more focused other issues instead like poverty, educational barriers and gender equality, I briefly worked with the WE Movement then soon began to focus more on bullying and its serious impacts. I wanted to raise awareness of the issue and this led to me winning a competition to attend a high-profile charity event where I got to meet the wonderful Michelle Obama in the summer of 2018. In December of 2018 my Dad showed me a video of a girl my age speaking at a UN conference, she was fierce and wasn’t afraid to tell world leaders what they were doing wrong, I was inspired. I began to research more on the issue she talked about, it was strange, I had first learned about this serious issue when I was 9 and now 6 years later, it’s still a serious issue, no one had done anything about it. I studied climate change more and began to come active on social media, posting about it, sharing videos and trying make the few people who followed me more aware, it was the least I could do. 

Throughout 2019 I followed the climate movement as it grew and grew and I began to feel a hope I hadn’t felt before, I joined organisations online and watched everything they did. I wanted to join in, but I decided to remain focused on preparing for my school exams instead. During the summer I heard Ban Ki-moon, former Secretary-General of the United Nations, giving an inspiring speech where he asked young people to help tackle climate change. This was when I decided I wanted to dedicate my life to solving the issue. I talked to some friends and together we set up an Extinction Rebellion Youth group for all of Scotland as one did not exist yet. I also helped set up an eco-group in my school, our main aim is to get our regional council to cut plastic completely in the school canteen. I went to my first climate strike on the 20th of September in Edinburgh then organised my first one on the 29th of November. I had planned to attend the Global Rebellion in October and was about to book my train tickets when something came up so sadly, I could not make it. I have now joined the Save Congo Rainforest online strike in solidarity with Vanessa Nakate and I’m always on Twitter annoying people with science and facts. 

3. What are some highlights of what you’ve done so far? 

The Global Climate Strike in September was incredible, I was so excited for the event and I was so proud of how it turned out, definitely a highlight. My main highlight though has to be volunteering, the organisation I have worked with for the past 5 years is amazing. The people are so nice, and I’ve been able to get really close to some of the wildlife that’s always intrigued me as well as find new opportunities and confidence through my work. It’s been a learning opportunity for me and one which has really changed my life. 

4. Can you introduce me to what Extinction Rebellion do and your involvement with them?

Extinction Rebellion is an organisation aiming to create radical and necessary change to our societies and laws that will prevent climate breakdown, it intends to do this by pressuring the Government to act through mass non-violent civil disobedience. I am a member of Extinction Rebellion Youth, I helped set up the group for Scotland and co-ordinate the social media. I was intending to join the Global Rebellion in October and was about to book train tickets when something came up and unfortunately, I couldn’t attend. 

5. What have you learned through your activism?

One of the most important things I have learned is that politicians can be bad people. When I first started learning about politics I assumed that world leaders would be generally good people and even if they made mistakes, they still deserved respect as their main intention is still to do good. I couldn’t have been more wrong. Activism has taught me to look at the world in a new perspective, it taught me that evil people aren’t just in fairy tales but can actually be the leaders of a nation. It taught me that I should be angry, and I should voice that rage at the people who have caused it. I learned that most politicians don’t even deserve the smallest amount of respect. I have also learned the importance of climate justice when it comes to creating change and the importance of listening to the voices of Indigenous communities as their voices matter the most and need to be heard if we’re going to tackle this crisis.  

6. The UK has just had an election that ended up revolving around Brexit. How do you think we can encourage a focus on the need for climate action?

I think we need to ramp up the pressure, we need more and bigger strikes. We need to also start doing other things too, not just strikes. We need to support grassroots organisations and local projects that help make change, even if it's small. We need people to campaign locally and nationally for change. We need to engage more with small, rural communities to see what changed can be made that is still good for them. We also need to be determined, unforgiving and angry. Politicians can’t ignore us forever and so many people across the UK have already woken up to the crisis yet there are so many people who still haven’t, we need to make sure that everyone is aware and then change will follow. 

7. What are your goals for 2020 for climate action in Scotland and the UK?

I aim to school strike more throughout the year and do digital strikes too. I am also helping launch a new project called ‘SOS Saturdays’ which will hopefully be a success. The idea is that people demonstrate every Saturday by the sea, loch or river then share it online, it’s sort of like the Digital Strikes but focuses on the oceans and marine life. Our aim is then put pressure on the Scottish Government to take real action to protect our waters and the life within it. This year COP26 will be held in Glasgow in Scotland so that will definitely be the most important thing that happens this year. It will require a lot of work and time but hopefully it won’t be a failure like the other COPs and real change can be made. I also hope to attend to next Global Rebellion but maybe not get arrested.

8. What’s something or someone you think more people should know about? 

I think people sometimes don’t realise the power our oceans have when it comes to tackling climate change. The world’s oceans suck in huge amounts of CO2 and help regulate global temperatures, if the oceans were protected, its habitats restored, and marine life given a chance to recover it would help fight climate change as effectively as all the world’s rainforests would. We need to reduce carbon emissions and plant more trees, but we also need save the seas, it is necessary to fight this crisis. 

9. What frustrates you?

Zoos. I don’t like them at all. I understand if animals are kept in captivity for breeding programs to save the species, that I can support, but animals being kept in cages for entertainment is wrong. Nature does not belong to us; it should be free. Keeping these creatures in cages just so we can look at them should be a crime. It takes all the life out of the animals, they just become animated puppets, they should be wild. 

Politicians also frustrate me because they say they care then set stupid targets with no plans, they lie and it costs lives. A lot of things frustrate me actually, the broken electorate system, racists, society in general, a lot else too.

10. What gives you hope and keeps you going?

Seeing millions of people take to the streets gives me hope that change will be made, it shows that the world is waking up and soon there will simply be too many of us marching to ignore. Also, if all these millions of people changed their lifestyle to be more environmentally friendly and reduce their carbon footprint it could have a huge impact, so I hope they do. Seeing how important the climate was in the recent election, even though it wasn’t important enough, gives me hope that people genuinely do care and will vote for change eventually even though it’s needed sooner than that.

11. How can people join or support your work? 

People can follow me on social media if they want however, I’m not the one that needs supporting. People should support Indigenous activists and listen to their voices because theirs matter the most. I’m a white and middle-class, if you are going to support anyone it should be the people who are usually ignored and forgotten, the people who really need their work to be supported.

12. Do you have any advice for fellow or potential climate activists?

If you want to join in then just go for it, don’t wait. If it gets to stressful then it’s okay to take a step back and relax, your mental health is still really important. Be angry, you have every reason to be and you should be apologetic for your emotions.

Thank you so much, Cerys, for your time and your action!

And to those reading this: Happy #FridaysForFuture! For next Friday, find your local strike point, or start one, and join us!

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Answers in these interviews are lightly edited for formatting/grammar/spelling and clarity.

Climate Activist Interviews #3: Flossie Donnelly

This is the third week of a series on this blog where I interview other climate activists. I hope these interviews help connect climate activists around the world, boost the good work they're doing, and give potential activists ideas and encouragement for action they could take to fight the climate crisis!

Today's interviewee is Flossie Donnelly, who runs Flossie and the Beach Cleaners to deal with plastic pollution and has been climate striking at the Dail in Ireland every week for over a year. 

Week 1 and week 52!! It’s Flossie’s 1 year anniversary of striking !!! Still positive that #wecandothis 💚🌎 #week52 #FridaysForFurture #climatecrisis #istandwithgreta pic.twitter.com/SgxWiULV4C

— flossieandthebeachcleaners (@flossiebeachcl1) December 20, 2019

Tell me a bit about you - where are you from, what age are you, and what do you do (climate-related and otherwise)?

I am from Sandycove [Dublin], I am 12 years old and I clean the beaches weekly to try and help towards climate and change which is plastic related as well [as] climate striking weekly for over a year and talking in public about why we need to take action against plastic pollution and climate change.

How did you get into environmental activism?

I got into environmental activism because of the amount of plastic and rubbish I saw floating in the sea when I was 9.

Tell me about Flossie and the Beach Cleaners.

Flossie and The Beach Cleaners is a marine environmental charity that highlights the extreme problems we are facing with plastic pollution in our oceans and climate change. The charity cleans the beaches locally weekly, and gives plastic pollution and stress-free climate change workshops to junior schools around Ireland, as well as working with TY students. The charity visits a country with a plastic river once a year to connect with the countries that are suffering the most with plastic pollution and to help educate children in Ireland and on the other side of the world. 

What are some highlights of what you’ve done so far?I was very proud to be the first person in Ireland to get the first 2 Seabins! I spoke at International Woman’s Day on behalf of Accenture at the National Convention Centre when I was 10 - this was my first public speaking [experience] and there were 1700 people in the audience. I gave a Ted Talk when I was 11 on plastic pollution and how I feel about [it]. When I was 11 I spoke in front of 11,000 children at the first ever children’s strike for the climate on 11th March. A 2 part documentary was made about me by RTÉ  in 2019 about why I do what I do. I have won a few awards but the award I was blown away by was the Irish Independent  award last year. There have been an awful lot of other things but these are in the top 10!

Have you found community with other environmental activists? 

Yes, Greta has been very supportive towards me as well as other activists around the world, and within Ireland Saoi and Soirse are amazing!

What are your goals for 2020 for climate action in Ireland?

I am going to keep up my weekly climate strike and then when someone requests they need my help in any way I will do whatever I can within my power to help! I will be visiting India to work with conservation societies who are fighting plastic pollution and climate change. There will be more mass relay beach cleans to keep highlighting our problem with plastic pollution. And who knows what else!

What’s something or someone you think more people should know about?

A simple thing is that plastic bags do not go into the re-cycling bin! Someone amazing that people should be listening to is: Gili Eco Trust on Gili T Island...they are AMAZING and do so much to combat climate change and educate in very difficult circumstances as well as re-build coral that is constantly being killed due to climate change. 

What frustrates you?

People who don’t re-cycle properly and people who don’t listen to simple things you can do to combat climate change 

What gives you hope and keeps you going?

Knowing that as long as work together we can solve this problem, negativity gets you nowhere! 

How can people join or support your work?

They can follow me on all social media under: Flossie and The Beach Cleaners or look up our website and send a direct message. I also write a bi-weekly blog that people can follow and contact me!

Do you have any advice for fellow or potential climate activists?

Yes, stop thinking about it and do it!

Thank you so much, Flossie, for your time and your action!

And to those reading this: Happy #FridaysForFuture! For next Friday, find your local strike point, or start one, and join us!

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Answers in these interviews are lightly edited for formatting/grammar/spelling and clarity.

Climate Activist Interviews #2: Grace Maddrell

This is the second week of a series on this blog where I interview other climate activists. I hope these interviews help connect climate activists around the world, boost the good work they're doing, and give potential activists ideas and encouragement for action they could take to fight the climate crisis!

Today's interviewee is Grace Maddrell, a weekly climate striker and Extinction Rebellion activist in Frome, England. She strikes on weekdays for the burning Congo rainforest, and on weekends with Fridays For Future. You can follow her on Twitter at @GraceElm and join her strikes at the Frome Town Hall in Somerset!

Tell me a bit about you - where are you from, what age are you, and what do you do (climate-related and otherwise)?

I'm from England. I was born in Somerset and have lived in the South West of England my whole life. I'm 14 years and 3 months old. 

What has your experience of climate activism been like so far?

Most of the actions I have done have helped to give me hope and make me see that I'm not alone. Being an activist can be hard and stressful and I often feel under acknowledged but I also feel that I am part of this amazing activist family. 

How did you get into environmental activism?

Now that's a boring story! I just heard through classmates the idea that we might go on a school strike back in March, started to think about it more, and emotionally woke up, especially after watching videos of Greta Thunberg. 

What have you learned through your activism?

I've learnt some climate science and stuff about the power of a movement. I've learnt how people working for the same goals feel like family. I've learnt chants and slogans and how to be confident speaking in public. I've done media training and heard scientists talk. A whole bunch of stuff really! 

What are your goals for 2020 for climate action in the UK?

I want our Govt to tell the truth to the people, and commit to carbon zero by 2025. To

consider the aspect of equity in decision making and to form a citizen's assembly and be led by their decisions. Fracking needs to be totally banned, and many things need to be reformed.  I don't have all the answers, so mostly I want the government to listen to the scientists and act on what they say.

What’s something or someone you think more people should know about? 

The carbon budget. We have less than 350 gigatonnes left to emit to have a 67% chance of staying below 1.5°C, the best odds given by the IPCC. With current emissions levels, this will be gone in under 8.5 years. Most people don't even know this exists. 

Also that the people in the global south are already massively suffering the effects of climate breakdown. 

What frustrates you?

Lack of action. Period. Just lack of action and pig-headed denial by many politicians.

What gives you hope and keeps you going?

The amount of people who have joined this movement in such a short time. More than 7 million people joined the strikes on September 20th and 27th.

How can people join or support your activism? 

They can join strikes and XR actions. They can join me outside Frome Town Hall, Somerset, between Monday and Thursday each week to strike for the Congo rainforest, and on Fridays in Bath or Bristol to strike for Fridays For Future. They can join me at weekends in other parts of Frome. They can join XR and other climate action groups, donate, sign petitions, share this stuff on social media and educate others about it. They can use their talents for the cause, e.g. by making a film or writing an article about it. There are so many things. 

Anything coming up we should know about?

Well, the strikes I mentioned on my previous answer aren't gonna stop anytime soon. And In late 2020 the climate summit COP26 will be held in Glasgow.

Do you have any advice for fellow or potential climate activists?

Stay strong. We are with you. Stay non violent. 

It can be hard, but remember that you can tell the coming generations that you did everything you could for them. 

Is there anything you’d like to add that I haven’t mentioned? 

Africa is suffering, as is much of the global south. We need to talk about this and not just about disasters in more privileged places. And we need to platform indigenous voices and the voices of people of colour in this fight, and be led by them to a better world. 

Thank you so much, Grace, for your time and your action!

And to those reading this: Happy #FridaysForFuture! For next Friday, find your local strike point, or start one, and join us!

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Answers in these interviews are edited for formatting/grammar/spelling and clarity.