The beautiful blue-sky, crystal-clear waters, spotless beaches, and pristine hilltops look absolutely unreal in the movies. Maybe because they are actually not real. Hollywood movies do amaze us with their bird-eye views captured by drones. But have you ever asked yourself, where are there untouched lands? Diving into the “crystal-clear” water would probably take you to a plastic dumpster. It is shocking to see how few people are aware of the threats of climate change. However, we are lucky to have the following environmentalists who are trying to save the planet, or at least trying to bring a change:
Jamie Margolin
During her early teens, Jamie along with other environmental activists, co-founded Zero Hour. This was a youth climate action organization and movement that garnered a lot of recognition and attention. Jamie is a Colombian-American who experienced the effects of wildfires in her home state of Washington. This was a turning point for Margolin which led to the foundation of the Zero Hour organization. Jamie, with 12 other youth environmentalists, sued the state over those fires in 2018. Although they did not win, this made a huge impact and led to dozens of youth climate marches.
Winona LaDuke
Winona LaDuke is another personality who has dedicated her life to Native American land rights, environmental justice solving, and climate change. As a Harvard-educated Ojibwe Tribe member, Winona has helped found the Indigenous Women’s Network and Honor the Earth. This played a major role in the 2016 Dakota Access Pipeline protests as well. Winona also founded the White Earth Land Recovery Project, which aims to buy back indigenous land from non-Natives, create employment opportunities for First Nations peoples, and grow wild rice – authentic Ojibwe food.
Greta Thunberg
You would have probably heard about the young Swedish environmental activist Greta Thunberg, at 16 years old she made headlines and gathered a lot of fame through her Fridays for Future movement. Now 19, she is globally recognized for her courage when speaking for the environment, even challenging world leaders for the climate change menace they have created and criticizing them for their failures and poor decisions.
Greta was very young when her activism started. In the initial period, she convinced her parents to make some lifestyle changes, such as using sustainable products like reusable bags and eco-friendly trash bags. All of this was done in an attempt to decrease their carbon footprint.
Julia Hill
Julia is yet another environmentalist who dedicated her life to environmental causes after suffering from an almost fatal auto accident in 1996. She lived in the branches of an old 200-foot-tall redwood tree in northern California for two years to save it from being cut down. She named the tree Luna and vacated it only after striking a deal with the Pacific Lumber Company. The deal stated that Luna, along with all other trees within a 200-foot buffer zone, would be preserved. The $50,000 raised by Julia’s supporters was eventually donated to Humboldt State University, which was then used for sustainable forestry research.
These are some of the many people who were able to look beyond the movies that depict Oceans Plastic Free, which caused a major impact and helped us understand the impacts of climate change.
