#march25strikes – Ecosystemic Magazine

16Apr

By Sofia CalderonNo Comments

How to Lead a Strike at Your School

By Sofia Calderon On March 25, 2022, students around the world struck school to demand climate action through the international strike group Fridays for Future. With the help of a teacher and other students at school, I was able to organize a demonstration on school grounds for Global Climate Strike Day. Striking is a very effective way to bring awareness to your school and call for more environmentally-conscious practices. Here is how you bring your strike from an idea in your head to an event that will change your community and your life forever. Graphic by Elson Bankoff Find a trusted adult to help and support you! This is really important. Having an adult who cares about this issue can be a game changer. I received support from the sustainability science teacher who als...

The Media Snubs the Youth Climate Movement

16Apr

By Quinn PatwardhanNo Comments

Pop Culture

The Media Snubs the Youth Climate Movement

By Quinn Patatwardhan On March 25, 2022, Fridays For Future staged hundreds of rallies around the world to protest the wealth disparity surrounding greenhouse gas emissions. Despite attendance from thousands across the world, the media largely snubbed the event. Large outlets published very few articles covering the strike, and those that were written were mostly allocated to each paper’s “local” section. One of the few exceptions was an article published in the New York Times, which highlighted why coverage of the strikes is vital. According to a New York Times project that surveyed 10,000 people between the ages of 16 and 25, 75% of respondents said they thought that the “the future is frightening.” Strikers at the March 25 events were mostly within this age demographi...

16Apr

By William AshfordNo Comments

Global News & Policy

Corporate Lobbying Kills the Earth

By William Ashford Political lobbies are deeply ingrained in the American political system. From technology to pharmaceuticals, corporations and political action committees (PACs) strategically fund policymakers to bend their will into opposing progressive legislation, and in doing so, fighting public opinion. Despite overwhelming public support for policies included in legislation like Build Back Better, corporate bribing blocks favorable clean energy bills (Center for American Progress, 2021). In 2021, a staggering 60% of American voters supported the Green New Deal, and a mere 29% opposed it (Deiseroth and Blank, 2021). Despite this, the Senate defeated the bill, as all Republican senators voted in opposition along with Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin and Sen. Kyrsten Sinema. This op...

Be an Activist, Not a Celebrity: The Problem With Social Media-Based Activism

16Apr

By Leia NeilsonNo Comments

Activism & Social Change, Pop Culture

Be an Activist, Not a Celebrity: The Problem With Social Media-Based Activism

By Leia Neilson At a climate strike in 2018, I saw a woman stiffly posing in front of the United States Capitol building, holding a sign inscribed with a catchy message about climate change and beaming into the camera. An hour later, I noticed her scrolling through her phone in the middle of a speech meant to encourage action to combat climate change. Though inattentive and seemingly uninterested, she had created the illusion that she was committed to fighting climate change, which her Instagram followers surely believed. Political Cartoon by Elson Bankoff This facade of caring about global movements is not uncommon, and has attracted lots of negative attention since the Black Lives Matter protests of the summer of 2020. Many so-called activists at these protests posed in f...

16Apr

By Helen ManciniNo Comments

Activism & Social Change

The Youth of NYC Demand the Following

By Helen Mancini Drawing by Elson Bankoff New York City's climate justice demands exist on three scales: national, state, and city. At the National Level, we are demanding for Congress to pass the Green New Deal for Public Schools, a 1.4 trillion dollar investment in removing toxic materials from schools and cutting down carbon emissions by 78 million metric tons. This deal will also be an important step toward dismantling systemic racism in education with targeted funding to create a healthy learning environment for all. At the State Level, we are fighting for the Climate Can't Wait Package which contains twelve urgently needed climate bills. Included in this package is the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA) that will jump-start the transition to an 100%...

16Apr

By Ariana ThorntonNo Comments

Art & Multimedia

Failings of the Media

Political Cartoon by Ariana Thornton The youth climate movement has been a torrential surge in recent years. One of the largest global climate strikes in history has received limited coverage in mainstream media. The media's current coverage of the climate must undergo rapid change.

16Apr

By May ChanNo Comments

Art & Multimedia

A Heart With Green

By May Chan Economic activities that harm the environment and yield profit, neglecting their impact on people, are not strides of development, but destruction.

My Speech on a GreenSteps School Program and a Green New Deal

16Apr

By Curran NeelyNo Comments

Global News & Policy

My Speech on a GreenSteps School Program and a Green New Deal

By Curran Neely With catastrophic, human-caused climate change looming, we must invest in every way possible to mitigate its effects. The Minnesota GreenStep schools program offers a framework for educators, community members, non-profits, and government agencies to collaborate to combat the climate crisis, and promote healthy communities and sustainable economies. They provide a set of “best practices” for schools to follow and recognize schools that succeed in implementing environmentally-friendly changes. This program could help us significantly on our path to environmental and community sustainability, and has already been endorsed by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, the Minnesota Department of Education, both the Minnesota Design Center and the Institute on the Environment ...

Roseville Area High School’s List of Demands

16Apr

By Niamh MeeNo Comments

Community News & Policy, Resolutions

Roseville Area High School’s List of Demands

By Niamh Mee AS THE STUDENTS OF RAHS, WE WANT: The City of Roseville to declare a climate emergency. Though this is a largely symbolic action, declaring a climate emergency shows that the City of Roseville cares about climate change, and will take future action on climate-related items. Roseville Area Schools to join the Minnesota GreenStep Schools. This is a program that provides a framework to allow schools and districts to reduce their environmental impacts and costs, and provide effective environmental and sustainability education for students and staff. Find more information about joining the program here. Organic waste disposal at RAHS. Similarly to the elementary and middle schools, the students of RAHS want organic waste disposal at all lunches. A ...

We Need Action From Maryland to India: My Speech at the D.C. Climate Strike

15Apr

By Shriya ReddyNo Comments

Activism & Social Change, Community News & Policy

We Need Action From Maryland to India: My Speech at the D.C. Climate Strike

By Shriya Reddy I have lived in Maryland for nearly 12 years of my life. I have grown up here seeing the floods that have decimated Old Ellicott City where I live, seeing my friends in Baltimore sent home from school due to the exceptionally high temperatures in the summer, seeing the Chesapeake Bay face warming temperatures, and witnessing the area face long periods of extreme weather conditions. I have grown up seeing my friends seek shelter in 2018 when heavy floods destroyed houses, restaurants, antique shops, and many more in the historical area. I have grown up watching students take action, cleaning up trash around local parks, organizing strikes, and participating in conferences and committees for their counties in an attempt to improve the quality of life. I have grown up with...