Ellie and Crystal continue the movement against climate change
By: Ellie Noh and Crystal Yeh
Hurricanes destroy town after town. Ice caps melt and flood, displacing people all around the world. The youth are the future and will stand strong together to prevent our country’s leaders from enabling climate change from destroying everything in its plan – including us. If we want to continue to have a future, we have to change our actions now before irreparable damage is done to the world around us.
Our Story:
From a Model United Nations project in 7th grade, Ellie Noh and Crystal Yeh saw the plight at hand in the US. In their research project, they found that 81% of the energy in the United States originates from oil, coal, and natural gas (The National Academies of Science Engineering Medicine). These fossil fuels are nonrenewable and harmful for the environment.
Humans have been rapidly progressing climate change, and despite these changes happening right under our noses, the support for climate action is small. From recognizing this, we started to strive to protect our planet and secure the prosperity of our future generations.
What is LEAP for Climate?
LEAP stands for “Living Environmentally Active in the Present.” LEAP for Climate is a youth organization dedicated to spreading awareness of sustainable energy within our communities through educational projects. Our board members cover various facets that help us make it possible.
Where are we now?
While LEAP for Climate is based in South Jersey, it has garnered international response from the US all the way to India. We prioritize community empowerment such as through a trail conservation event in collaboration with the Cherry Hill Environment Board. The aim of this event was to preserve the trail path to protect local wildlife. We also partnered with a high school chapter of Key Club to run a water bottle drive that redirected thrown out plastic water bottles to a recycling center. We also have been using an app called Charity Miles that raises money through movement such as walking, running, etc which has also been dedicated to fundraising money for The Nature Conservancy. Our team has collectively raised over 4,400 miles which sponsored matched to donate $1,100 to the organization. Not only do we focus on in person events, but we have maintained an online presence to reach even more people. Looking back, we would not have planned such initiatives without one factor - awareness. From this realization of the significance of advocacy, we have promoted resources and the importance of climate action through various infographics over social media and our website on topics such as the human causes of climate change, natural causes of climate change, environmental impacts of climate change, socio-economic impacts of climate change, and alternative renewable energy sources. On our website, we offer various resources to assist people looking to become more eco-friendly like children’s books, sunscreens, and search engine alternatives.
How can you help?
LEAP for Climate encourages people from all backgrounds who are currently in school to join their movement. You can follow our journey on Instagram and FaceBook and learn more about ways you can become more environmentally friendly. From participating in small conversations with peers to large city rallies, we can all do our part to spread the importance of climate action. With the growing trend of people straying away from single-use plastics for reusable or biodegradable materials, we can push our government to regulate major companies from using fossil fuels and implacing eco-friendly measures in their practices. Most of all, it is important to remember that we must work in unity to change our sustainability practices for the betterment of the generations to come.
https://leapforclimate.wixsite.com/leapforclimate
