Greta Thunberg: A Voice of Hope

Sometimes caring about the climate crisis feels like being a small wimpy hobbit fighting a gigantic greedy dragon. When so many world leaders, including the U.S. president, so adamantly deny climate change, it's hard to imagine that the individual efforts of people can make a difference. There's plenty of proof, though, that these individual efforts are making an impact and inspiring others to take action.

Please allow me to introduce Greta Thunberg. Though she is only 16 years old, she has been steadily rising as a prominent voice for climate action. She gained media attention in August 2018 for starting a strike outside of the Swedish Parliament that has since become the Fridays for Future movement. She was protesting the Parliament's lack of action on the climate crisis. Now, a little over a year later, she's taking on the world and urging people to pay attention.

She recently sailed to the U.S. from Sweden to take part in a protest outside of the White House. Her reason for sailing and not flying? She doesn't believe in the negative effects of air travel on the environment. She, a 16-year-old girl, is so firm in her beliefs that she spent a couple weeks on a boat (instead of a few hours on a plane) to minimize her carbon footprint. Imagine what the rest of the world can--and hopefully will--do. She is just one of so many people that give me hope for a sustainable future.

So what if I'm just a little hobbit? There's an entire book series about why that might not be such a bad thing. Especially when there's a bunch of hobbits and dwarves and elves and maybe even a wizard fighting with you. One thing is for sure, I'm happy that Greta Thunberg and so many other innovative, caring, intelligent hobbit and dwarf and elf people around the world are fighting this gigantic greedy dragon with me.