Last week, I was lucky enough to be part of an “Eco-Hero” roundtable with David Suzuki as part of the Planet In Focus Film Festival. There were 10 of us, all under 25 years old, Dr. David Suzuki and Adria Vasil as moderator. What an inspiring afternoon it was.
Each of us got to ask Dr. Suzuki one question, which he would answer and then the other participants would have a chance to weigh in and discuss. I listened much more than I spoke, although I suspect we all had much more to say than we had time to vocalize. It was so refreshing to be in agreement with everyone and appreciate what they had to say. I learned a lot, including how hard so many are working on SO many different issues that affect the same thing – our world and our future. It was incredible to meet these other kids who had the same kind of passion for a kinder world, issues and their solutions, and our future. I hope that we can find ourselves in a room again, and support each other, in life and online.
My question was “If there was one thing you would urge every high school student to do in order to bring about positive change, what would it be?”, Interestingly, Suzuki’s answer was that we need to get involved in politics and that we all need to get our parents involved as well (especially if we aren’t allowed to vote yet). Suzuki made a great point that the minute a politician is elected they only care about getting re-elected, but during the campaign they will address and include things in their platform if they think the public is demanding it or interested. If we all go to town hall meetings, and get involved in asking questions publicly, politicians will realize that these are issues that we need addressed, and will hopefully do something about them! He said that anything that we want to advocate for should be shared through our parents so they can help us achieve our goals. During the roundtable, Suzuki made multiple references to having the generations ahead supporting their kids, and kids’ kids, and ultimately change.
Overall, one thing that I know for sure is the more we get involved, and the more we get others involved and spread awareness, the more real change can happen, and we REALLY need that.
Special thanks to Pure + Simple for giving me the opportunity to be part of this event, and to Planet in Focus for everything.
