children as enviro warriors

I was getting ready for work the other work when my 9 year old brother bounced into my room. Slapping his hand down on my bureau he proclaimed “YOU are the cause of global warming.” That to me, was one of the worst things he could say. “What am I doing” I asked. “You drive your car to work every day of the week,” he said “you need to not do that.” I admit it, I do. I live 20 minutes drive from work, with my parents and no public transportation available. I sat with him and described the situation and how living at home is also saving resources, and how my car is very fuel efficient, and how I will try to not drive as much on the weekends to help out. He smiled and left and hasn’t mentioned it since. But I wonder what’s going through his head…does he think I’m still a slacker? Does he think I don’t care about his generation who will inherit the earth?

Then, today I read an article about this very thing. Kids out there as the new generation of environmental warriors. I thought this was such an endearing and telling article. All about children and their interest in environmental activities. There are two sides represented, the parents that really took their kids advice to heart and acted in a manner that would make their kids proud. Then there were the parents that complained that their kids were too extreme and pesky essentially and those concerned that their kids shouldn’t be concerned about such big issues. I realize that not every family can afford a new prius or solar panels on their homes...but we can make small everyday changes that are both economical and environmental.

This piece was excellent. It gave me hope. Here is a whole generation of children that have the passion and the persistence and the drive to change the world. They are undaunted by politics, not overburdened with defeats, nor do they realize when to stop pushing...that's fantastic. These kids have the most interest of anyone here in the future of our planet, and they, whether consciously or not, are realizing it, and taking it into their own tiny, soft and yet extremely capable hands. Go kids go!

And, I hope my brother is scheming about how to make the world a better place. I’ll try my best baby brother.

Inconvenient Youths - WSJ.com