Resolution Drafted by Alma Bielenberg
Artwork by Elson Bankoff
Climate change presents itself as a dominating, difficult, and stressful issue in the lives of the youth. The crisis is incredibly broad and can seem unsolvable at times. But the voice of youth is becoming louder as we continue to think globally and act locally. Professor Dan Schrag, Director of the Harvard University Center for the Environment, emphasizes the importance of young adults’ demands. Schrag admits that the topic of climate change can be intimidating and “depressing.” He finds that “the challenge is for each of our generations to try to make it better.” By uniting students in our respective communities, we are not only making change, but doing exactly what Schrag recognizes as effective action: “giving hope to future generations.”
Establishing an Environmental Action Club at your school encourages students to self-educate, practice advocacy and activism, and maximize your collective impact in the face of today’s environmental crises. We encourage all readers to start some sort of environmental action club if your school lacks one. Here is how to do it:
Steps to Form a Club:
- Generate interest among students and gather some dedicated members to act as leaders
- Find a teacher or adult who might act as an advisor to guide the club
- Reach out to the principal, grade dean, academic dean, etc. to propose your club and get it established
- The administrator in charge of registering new clubs is different at each school. Email a faculty member to find out who to contact or approach!
- Publicize the club!
- Send emails, make flyers, tell people that if they come, they can eat the freshly baked cookies you made the night prior etc. Get creative and get people involved!
- Set goals for your club/create an agenda
- Gather ideas from club members. What are people interested in? SEASN is always a great place to brainstorm action ideas and activities. We encourage you all to come to our meetings to get inspired by what other club heads are doing!
- Plan club meetings and activities to accomplish your goals *
* Tip – Sidwell Friends Environmental Action Club Head, Elson Bankoff, stresses the importance of interactive club meetings: “There could be a game, activity, discussion, or presentation. Anything works as long as you are providing a space for people to engage with the topic.”
How an Environmental Club Functions:
*You are encouraged to use parts of the following in your club proposal. We are trying to help you out here! With that being said, here is the mission of environmental clubs:
Although your specific goals will differ by school, the general purpose of an Environmental Action Club is to better local and worldwide ecosystems and communities while integrating members of your community into a larger activist network. A club is also a place for students to apply themselves to a topic they care about and meet others with similar interests.
When founding a club, it is important to consider the different levels of impact you’ll have and scale you will function at. There are personal, local (schoolwide or in your community), and national or worldwide impacts. You may attempt to tackle problems on any level. For example, an Environmental Action Club can encourage community members to make a pledge to eat less meat (personal), draft a proposal to implement composting in the cafeteria (local), or write to a representative (national).
Unfortunately, it becomes difficult to achieve meaningful impact and appreciate the change you may accomplish when trying to tackle a huge issue like climate change. Schrag references the activism of Greta Thunberg to establish that you don’t need to be doing everything to have an impact: “[Greta Thunberg] doesn’t claim to have the answers. She says, ‘I’m 18 years old, I don’t know what to do. But you, [those with authority], do, and you’ve got to do it.’ And that’s exactly right.” At its core, a student Action Club must demand change. It must then explain the gravity of the issues it seeks to resolve and convince others of the importance of direct and indirect action.
Environmental Activism is an Opportunity for Students
SEASN and Ecosytemic create an incredible opportunity to participate in environmental activism, as they connect passionate student advocates. Bankoff explains, “SEASN exists to provide a network of other high school clubs and environmental leaders. Furthermore, through sharing ideas, we are aiming to maximize our impact by proposing environmental improvement not just within our own community, but throughout the whole network and nation. Gotta be ambitious!”
An Environmental Action club allows students to apply themselves to something they care about and feel optimistic doing so. In terms of climate change, Schrag challenges us to work on the tone and rhetoric in which we discuss it. “We never go over a cliff and say ‘oh ok, end of the world’. We’re done.” He reassures us that “it’s never too late to intervene,” and that “climate change is going to require global collective action like nothing we’ve ever seen, but that doesn’t mean it can’t happen, we just need to work on it. That’s what’s really important.” An environmental club will provide the forum to “work on it.” Start one! Let it be your first step toward inspiring others and making a difference.
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