What does a Fruitful Community mean to you?
A fruitful community, in my opinion, comes together; it is synonymous with being a collaborative community. Everyone has a specific role and task that they can input into the community while receiving aid or resources from others. We cannot do anything in this life alone. Having the support, guidance, and expertise of others while providing what you can, fosters these relationships that allow communities to thrive. Think of a wicker basket full of all the roles, tasks, trades, resources, and support everyone has to offer in a community. This open access to these various sectors by community individuals allows us to continue to grow and inform others of the ultimate goals of said community. A fruitful community is a thriving community. A fruitful community creates change.
Tell us your story or why you want to help fight climate change.
Whenever climate change is discussed among Americans who are the age of my grandparents, they always seem to have this attitude that they have done all that they could’ve done to mitigate climate change…followed by stressing that our generation must be the ones to save Earth! I believe that at any age, we all play a role in the Earth and ensuring that it will be inhabitable in the next 100 years. I help fight climate change for a few reasons.
Growing up, my brother and I were the only members of our family who had asthma. We attended a school system where a large majority of the students who had asthma also identified as being a minority. Terms such as air pollution and climate change were foreign to me from a young age. It was not until I attended Emory University that I learned about climate change, environmental health, top polluting bodies and activities, and much more. I mention this because as seen in many situations, yes, it is true we must start with the youth to implement change. However, without the proper tools or resources to create that change, the foundation to make this change is cracked and jeopardizes us from reaching the ultimate goal.
(For context, I have my Bachelor of Science in environmental science (and dance and movement studies) and am currently an MPH candidate in environmental health. Studying climate and the impacts it has on health is my field of passion.)
I believe that the impacts and solutions to climate change are not well communicated among most of the general public. Many times, climate change is deemed as a myth or termed in a way that only privileged or elite individuals can understand. Common and standard language must be utilized when speaking about this crisis. The individuals impacted the most aren’t even the ones the most well-versed or informed about the impacts they feel daily. Terminology is critical to proper communications and education and should be accessible to all! This is where I find myself placed in the climate change fight.
I want this notion of climate change being all “doom and gloom” to cease. Of course, many profound events have occurred as a result of climate change BUT having a pessimistic attitude that there is not much more we can do reinforces this cycle that our elders have fallen victim to.
We need to talk about climate change. We need to tell our stories. We need to hold corporations accountable. We need to recognize and counteract instances of environmental injustices. We need to all continue to do our part while recognizing that being reprimanded for using a plastic straw should not have a louder uproar compared to corporations that are responsible for over 70% of excessive pollution, thus causing climate change. However, this tactic isn’t new. It is in place to keep those profiting off fossil fuels for over 100 years wealthy while those who suffer the most have the least impact on rising emissions.