this interview has been edited for clarity and length.

q: tell me about your fundraiser.

a: i originally wanted to do something that would coincide with my hiking trip because it seemed like the perfect opportunity to fundraise for something that was important to me, and i chose the sierra club because they’re one of the leading organizations that helps the environment. i also wanted to take it a step further and go with something that would help with environmental justice and fighting against environmental racism because that was really important to me, especially as we see so many instances of systemic racism. there are so many different levels on which this happens and i chose the sierra club for that reason and i’m glad i was able to do it with them and raise so much.

q: was there a specific event that made you feel like you should involve yourself in the fight against environmental racism? was there anything that inspired you to do it?

a: i don’t know. it’s a new passion of mine. i think, seeing as a lot of stuff has come up with the black lives matter movement, i was just thinking about how like the outdoors can be a very white place. on my hike, it was crazy how… i mean, vermont’s a very white state, but i really didn’t see a lot of color. not only do a lot of communities of color not have access to hiking trails and other places where they can have outdoor activities, but there are so many cases of pollution and bad water. i guess just learning about flint and other places that have these crises because of other people’s uses of pollution. i don’t know. i guess just seeing that, they weren’t the ones polluting, it was other people in like mass corporations, so i thought it didn’t seem fair that they had to suffer because of other people’s actions.

q: what do you think is the biggest issue within climate inequity?

a: hmm, that’s a tough one. i think one of the biggest problems is the fact that people of color can create change in their community and they can try to fight to fix these issues, but it’s so much harder for them to fix the overall issues of why it’s happening and the pollution and the consumerism and everything that’s leading to it. i guess the fact that it’s an inequality and the fact that not only can these communities not fix the problem, but they can’t fix what’s causing it.

q: when was the first time you found out about climate inequity? was it just generally on social media or was it elsewhere?

a: yeah, i guess. it’s kind of hard to pinpoint. also, when i was driving home and i don’t know, we drive through baltimore a lot and there are these smokestacks and it’s, it’s actually funny because it’s turning trash into energy, but it’s still a major pollutant in baltimore. i guess my dad pointed that out to me and that was really crazy to see. but mainly social media, probably. my teacher is super passionate about that. i was interviewing her last year for this program i was doing and i asked her this question, i asked her, “do you think it’s harder for people without money to be able to fight for climate change?” she was absolutely like, “no, it’s the wealthy people who are creating these issues because they can buy everything and it’s not their concern.” once she said that, like i kind of just, my whole way of thinking turned around. that was really a turning point in that.

q: would you recommend that other people do things like you did, connecting with nature through a hike, or organizing a fundraiser to contribute resources to the fight?

a: yeah, definitely. i think the hike was life-changing. not only because i just think that being able to connect with the outdoors really inspired me to continue to fight for climate change, but the connection between the two made so much more sense because when i’m sitting in my suburban home, i don’t really see why i need to be supporting these causes, but in the woods, it left me thinking that if there weren’t people fighting to keep these trails alive and to keep other things like that going then i wouldn’t be there. i think that the connection between the two is very important.

q: do you think that our generation, high schoolers, gen z, whatever you want to call us, are aware of environmental racism? do you think it gets enough general press coverage?

a: i don’t think so. i think that racism and environmental issues get a lot of coverage, but i don’t think that a lot of people necessarily combine the two. maybe that’s just in the area we live in and like around us, since there are not hurricanes and there’s no pollution as much as in other areas, but no, i don’t think the two are necessarily combined as much as they should be. i think that that’s changing, but up until a few years ago, i’d never really heard of it.

q: do you think environmental racism should figure more prominently in political campaigns and in policymaking right now?

a: yeah. i think that obviously it should. i guess what we were saying before, there are environmental issues and racism and all of that and the need to create laws to fight both of them, but i mean, there’s a definite lack in laws that link them. it would be hard to, it seems like more of a local or state thing than a federal issue, because they’re so specific to different groups i guess.

q: for teenagers who maybe don’t have the time or means to go to organize a fundraising hike like you did, what can we do to fight everyday environmental racism in our lives?

a: i think that one’s hard, because if it’s not something you see in your community, it’s a lot harder to understand it than if it is something you’re experiencing every day. i guess that’s a problem teenagers face in a lot of different areas, because i don’t know, like posting. does that really help? i don’t know. yes it awakens people, but it’s not really action. i think that research and starting to learn about it is the first step. i think that’s really important, but is spreading awareness enough? that’s a good question. i definitely want to think about that, because i don’t really have a great answer. i think that it is hard because some people think that slacktivism is pointless, but at the same time it really does spread information quickly. i also think that since older generations just don’t understand it, we definitely have a chance to make something happen and create change.

the internet is a double-sided tool in that it helps both to spread one’s message and to learn another’s. the resulting effect is that people can learn about a movement and then act on it. hence why many teenagers who use social media feel that they can make a change. 

a recent poll by the kaiser family foundation and the washington post shows that teenagers are less likely to feel helpless about the climate crisis than any other generation, and are one of the most likely to feel optimistic and motivated. in addition, around a quarter of the polled teenagers said they had participated in some form of climate activism. 

i reached out to around 30 high schoolers from all around the country to see whether i would find similar results. in some places, the outcome was as expected, and in others, quite surprising.

when asked what they believed is the most important issue we face today, nearly 40% answered either climate change or a climate-related problem. these answers were not surprising to me, as the coronavirus and racial/social justice issues are topics of extreme importance right now. while climate change was the primary answer, many people explained that they find these other issues equally important in the current world. 

notably, linnea warren, a respondent from syracuse, said, “it’s difficult to choose just one. we have climate change, police brutality and racism, ice holding children in cages, yemen going through a crisis, and the slave trade in libya. there are so many issues in the world that need to be changed, and almost all of these affect everyone.”

on a scale of zero to 100, the importance of fighting climate change scored an average of 84, and only one person gave a rating below 50. 

additionally, 68% said they had taken or were taking action to fight climate change, and 100% said that if there were simple actions they could take to fight climate change, they would do so. this surprised me because, while i had expected a significant commitment to environmental activism, i had not anticipated that the median number would be so high.

these specific results demonstrated that our generation is ultra awake to the fact that climate change is a serious problem worth fighting against. i continued the survey, asking questions geared more toward understanding where they were getting their information from, and whether social media is a large factor in their understanding of these issues.

when presented with a question about how social media informed their view on climate change, only 7% of the teenagers answered “not at all.” furthermore, 57% responded that they source their news from social media, be it all of their information or just a small amount.

these answers help paint a picture of just how impactful social media is in young activism right now. in the same poll where every single person answered that they would, if presented with the option, take action to fight climate change, a large majority finds some amount of their information on social media. 

sasha james, a rising junior from maryland stated: “climate change is the most looming issue by far and most people are either unaware of the gravity of the problem or are denying its existence because they think it is ‘years/decades away’ or because they are too scared to accept the truth and face it head on.”

gen z knows what is happening, and we understand that we must mobilize, as it baldly threatens our future. don’t worry, this generation is not wasting its time on the internet — we’re using it to change the world.

being a high school student, a gen zer, a zoomer, a kid — whatever you want to call me (though please do not call me a zoomer) — has given me perspective on the issues that we face as a nation and around the world in a rather different way. just about everyone at my school knows that they have the ability to make a difference, both in awareness and their personal lives, to combat climate change. 

less and less do i see people simply dismiss our world’s health by saying, “what i do won’t even make a dent.” instead, i see individuals posting daily on their social media, talking about it with the people around them, reducing their waste, engaging in campaigns, starting those campaigns, and many more small activities that actually make a difference. 

as kids, we all felt climate change. we felt every summer hotter than the last, we watched feet of snow (as recently as 2012!) become winters that barely dip below freezing, we saw this nation politicize climate change. this is a fight i have been fighting since i can remember, and i know it is the same for countless other members of my generation.

so why am i, a vastly underqualified, naïve, out of my place high schooler who does not even have his learner’s permit writing an article for planet forward? well, i feel that there is something a bit different about my generation. starting from how the “normal” world we grew up in is one unfathomable to those who lived before us. 

our parents have raised us in a world where we know that if we do not change, we, along with future generations, could suffer. examples of people my age fighting for social and environmental change are everywhere. sweden’s 17-year-old greta thunberg garnered international attention after her school strikes aimed at convincing the swedish government to lower carbon emissions, and reached superstar status after sailing all the way to north america to attend the un climate action summit. not to mention seattle’s jamie margolin, who started organizing lobbying efforts and protests to promote environmental change at the age of fourteen. three years later, margolin has made it onto the bbc’s 100 women of 2019 and co-founded the globally recognized, youth-led nonprofit zero hour. 

our awareness and acceptance of global warming and all of the other effects of climate change are only bolstered by our ability to use the internet. i have heard many people describe my generation as one that is and always has been hooked on the internet, and characterized it as a bad thing. 

the truth, however, is that we are not “hooked.” we have just created a strong virtual community where we can be supported and learn about our interests. the way that social media is set up allows for any person to cultivate a strong, supportive feed that focuses on the most important matters that face us today. if i open instagram right now, i will without a doubt be greeted with a bare minimum of five posts or stories about how we can change the world for the better. it is amazing what some people can do with their online platform.

it’s these characteristics of my generation that make me supremely proud of being a member of “gen z” (or whatever you want to call it). i am inspired by members of my class who, like me, are striving for positive change. in the end, that fact is what makes me want to share the stories of my generation with you. we want environmental change, and planet forward is a platform to share the inspiring stories of my generation’s leaders and movements. in the coming weeks, look for stories about how high schoolers are fighting to make a difference, and what can be learned from that.