Young Climate Activist – Greta Thunberg
“Build back better. Blah, blah, blah. Green economy. Blah blah blah. Net zero by 2050. Blah, blah, blah.” Says Greta Thunberg.
As perhaps the world’s most well-known young climate activist, Greta spoke at the recent Youth4Climate summit in Milan, Italy, dismissing the words of “our so called leaders” as “Words that sound great but so far have not led to action.”
Greta’s solo climate strike in 2018 generated a youth movement where millions of young climate protesters across the world began their ‘school strike’, calling for Government to listen, to halt fossil fuel extraction, reduce carbon emissions and address pollution. It was their young lives and future that was being put at risk by the inaction of our world leaders.
Do you want to be a Climate Hero? If you are between 6-15 years old you can be! AND receive a Blue Peter Green Badge which gives you FREE entry to 200 attractions!
BBC and CBBC programme Blue Peter are offering young people the chance to be Climate Heroes. If you are eligible to apply or, if you know of a young person who might like to apply here’s how…..
What do you have to do?
To apply for your Blue Peter Green Badge, you agree to carry out three pledges and keep doing them for two weeks.
1st Pledge – Power – is about ways you can reduce your use of electricity
2nd Pledge – Plastic - is about ways of reducing your use of plastic and recycling
3rd Pledge – Plants - is about planting pollinator plants and saving water
To find out more about what you can do go to this website: -
https://www.bbc.co.uk/cbbc/findoutmore/blue-peter-apply-for-a-green-badge
How to apply
When you have completed your three Power, Plastic and Plants Pledges for at least two weeks, you click on the link given on the website. Tell them what you’ve done and upload your photos and artwork to show how much you care about nature, the environment and your planet.
To apply for your green badge, you must:-
- Be between 6 – 15 years old.
- Ask your parent or guardian for permission and ask them to read the Privacy Notice.
Thousands of children will have done these activities and applied for their green badge. This means it may take a while to arrive but Blue Peter promises every applicant will get one.
Blue Peter is a children’s programme that has been running for a long time. Their Blue Peter badges have been sought after by generations of young people for over 50 years. (Ask adults in your family if they have ever received one). This time Blue Peter is helping you to save the planet by reducing our carbon emissions, recycle and reduce plastic waste and help nature and the environment.
Go on… Be A Climate Hero!
If this Covid 19 pandemic has taught us anything, it has shown us the importance of having ready access to nature and being able to breathe clean fresh air, for our health and wellbeing. It has highlighted the vulnerability of those with asthma or breathing problems due to ill health or living in an area with polluted air. Our Staffordshire Moorlands Council know this. Their website, introducing the results of a 2019 survey states that “clean air is essential for health”. It goes on to explain the main pollutant of concern in the Staffordshire Moorlands is the Greenhouse Gas Nitrogen dioxide of which emissions from road traffic was the largest contributor.
Around the same time in India, a Young Climate Activist, Licypriya Kangujam was campaigning for leaders to act, to reduce the impact of air pollution and climate change in her home city. Licypriya was just 8 years old. Climate change is a global issue and children throughout the world are raising their voices to demand action from the adults who could act, if only they had the will and courage to do so.
Do you remember the cereal packets we used to get as children, with free plastic toys or picture cards inside? Things haven’t changed much these days; these cheap plastic give-aways are everywhere. Have you noticed how many children’s magazines there are and how many of them give away free, tacky plastic toys and gifts?
In July 2019, HuffPost UK began their feature on give-away plastic by big brands, pointing out that:- ‘There are an estimated 19,500,000,000 pieces of single-use plastic inside UK homes.” They quoted Jo Ruxton, Plastic Oceans UK founder, who explained: “Children’s comics are no longer available without a plastic toy to take home ……. now it seems it’s the children, who care for the environment, who are rejecting this policy.”
When I was younger, I never thought the little stuff like sorting our rubbish into different bins or walking to school everyday was important. As I grew up, I started to ask more questions and as it turns out, I was helping the planet for all those years without even realising it. As I became more aware, I started to notice that as a family, we did things slightly differently to most families.
At about the age of seven, my sister and I became vegetarian and my mum became vegan. Over the course of the next year, we slowly transitioned to vegan, the rest of my family following suit not long after. Our dietary choices made it difficult to eat out as there wasn't a lot of choice and after looking into it more, we found that the ingredients weren't the only problem. We were shocked at how much food restaurants and fast food chains waste and as we were not in control of what was wasted we started taking packed lunches whenever we went out, it was cheaper and it was better for the environment so it was a win win for us. Becoming vegan made us more aware of what’s in our food, it made us think about where it came from and what the actual cost of our meals was.
Students hold banner at 2019 school climate strike
Demanding reform to the education system? That’s quite an ambition. We might ask, who is demanding such a thing and why?
Teach the Future are demanding this. They are an active, young UK based climate crisis campaign group, led by over 40 students from England, Scotland and Wales. They are advised by a small, multi-professional adult advisory board who offer expert advice to support the students’ decision making.
Teach the Future explains the need for reform and the inclusion of climate education as follows:-
Read more: Young Climate Activists ‘Teach the Future’ – for Climate...