Greta Thunberg

 

Molly, Kaia, me, and Anna in front of Parliament where Greta held her first school strike for climate!

Greta Thunberg is a Swedish climate activist who has made big waves throughout the world. At the age of only 11, she became deeply worried and depressed about the climate after her teacher showed her a video of the negative effects of climate change. She stopped speaking and eating, but as her family began taking measures to lessen their effects on the climate - no meat, growing their own vegetables, installing solar panels, and no flying. Slowly, Greta was brought back to life. She was only 16 years old when she started her school strikes for climate, where she would skip school in order to sit outside of Stockholm's Parliament building with her sign - Skolstrek for Klimate. Since her first school strike, she has now become a worldwide phenomenon. Her strikes became bigger every week drawing more and more people, she traveled around the world meeting with dignitaries and presidents (not President Trump though...), and was even named TIME's 2019 Person of the Year. Greta has also been diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome and selective mutism.

Greta Thunberg has brought a lot of awareness to the dangers of climate change and has inspired so many people to do better. Her example has motivated students to do their own climate strikes, which is crazy, because she was just a high school student herself. At such a young age, she has so much influence for good! She has also encouraged so many people that hear her message to be more conscious about their effect on the climate. Everybody can make a difference, and we need to make a difference. Learning more about her and what she has done has inspired me to be more conscious of my impact on the environment, so I think that goes to show just how much of a difference she can make even just with individuals.

I don't know if we can really talk about the commemoration of Greta Thunberg yet because she is still alive and still changing the world around her! I do think that we can acknowledge that we see her impact and the legacy that she has left so far and will continue to leave. She has changed the mindsets of so many already. Greta has publicly stated that she only speaks when she feels it is important, and she continues to speak often about the climate. This reaches people worldwide, not just in Sweden. With her influence, and her continued activism, I think that we will see a lot more of Greta Thunberg and how she changes the world around her.

Comments

  1. I adore this post Lilly! Greta is seriously so inspiring. I can't imagine how difficult it would be to face so much criticism and threat at a young age like that, I admire deeply how she's pushed through anyway. I think so much of the hate she's received is due in many ways to her gender. We've become less sexist as a society, but the effects of sexism are still so real and apparent.

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  2. Such a good post!! It is seriously so cool how such a young girl has created and initiated so much change in our world! I also think it is amazing for Stockholm, that such an inspiring woman originated here. I believe that Greta Thunberg's presence in Stockholm and the fact that change first started here, contributes to Stockholm's status as a cultural capital.

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