lily muhlbaum is a rising junior at holton-arms high school in bethesda, maryland. she, like many american teenagers, was faced with a summer of canceled plans due to the covid-19 pandemic. the only salvageable portion was a solo 23-day hike, rich in sludge and mosquitos, which miraculously complied with cdc guidelines. muhlbaum found a way to maximize the impact of her trek: raising more than $10,000 for the sierra club and spreading awareness around environmental issues with each muddy footstep. soon after her return from this adventure, i sat down with her to discuss.<\/p>\n

this interview has been edited for clarity and length.<\/em><\/p>\n

q: tell me about your fundraiser<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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\u2019re 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\u2019m glad i was able to do it with them and raise so much.<\/p>\n

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?<\/strong><\/p>\n

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\u2019s actions.<\/p>\n

q: what do you think is the biggest issue within climate inequity?<\/strong><\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

q: when was the first time you found out about climate inequity? was it just generally on social media or was it elsewhere?<\/strong><\/p>\n

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\u2019s, it\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n