Blog

I arrived at Week Zero in Seattle half packed, exhausted, and a little bit run down from my summer thus far. I had been working an internship with Greenpeace at the San Francisco office, where I had also been the previous semester while attending the Greenpeace Organizing Term. I decided to stay on as an intern for the summer to gain some sort of direction as to where exactly I can fit into this movement. I'd been working a couple of jobs outside of my internship in order to pay the bills, and I was having a hard time seeing whether or not I was making any sort of difference.

I had never been to a Change It prior to this one, so I was very unsure as to what to expect. To say the very least, I was blown away by all the passion and drive that surrounded me in the forms of staff members, speakers, trainers, student trainers, and students. The entire experience was so inspiring and renewed my energy towards the grassroots environmental movement. Throughout the entirety of Week Zero and Change It, I met a great group of students and I also got to reconnect with students I had met prior to the conference.

(in order of appearance)

Sophia Rabiauskas
Sophia was the winner of the 2007 Goldman Environmental prize. The Prize recognizes individuals for sustained and significant efforts to protect and enhance the natural environment, often at great personal risk. Each winner receives an award of $150,000, the largest award in the world for grassroots environmentalists.

Recognizing her efforts as a leader of her Poplar River First Nation in the boreal region of Manitoba, Canada, the Goldman prize enabled Sophia to continue her work to protect the land of the Poplar First River Nation.

(in order of appearance)

Bill McKibben

I asked Kate Rooth, one of the speakers lined up for Change It Seattle, to tell us. Here's what she said:

"These days, green is the new black. Corporations are falling all over themselves to demonstrate to customers that they are not only ecologically conscious, but also environmentally correct.

And to their credit some are genuinely committed to making this world a better, greener place, others however consider environmentalism little more than a convenient slogan.

Connor Gibson
U Vermont

Laughlin Barker
Santa Clara University
I will Change It by applying and sharing skills that I have now with other activists and people who want to make a difference, and continue to develop these tools in a way that is going to make a difference.

David Garman
Ohio State University

The time has come and 2008 Change It Conference has met its application deadline and is no longer accepting applicants. For those of you that have applied thank you for wanting to step up and become the next generation of leaders in the global movement for environmental change. We received hundreds of applications and were impressed with each and every one. Unfortunately, we could only accept 70 students per city. For those accepted, congratulations and we look forward to meeting you in July!

Ah, summer--everything is so warm, vibrant, and so green. Truly, summer is my favorite time of year along with almost everyone else. Every year when Memorial Day, the “unofficial” first weekend of summer, approaches I try to set aside from time to think about how I can make this the best summer ever. My typical brain storm consists of lists of concerts, joining a kick ball league, and going to barbecues, but this summer I decided to do something different: work. I know, I know, working in the summer--just thinking about it makes many people cringe. But, for me, this is different.

I walked into a coffee shop on Earth Day and overheard an interesting exchange between the barista and a regular customer.

The barista said to the regular, “Where’s your cup today? You usually bring one, and it’s Earth Day.” He replied, “I forgot it this morning, and besides, every day is Earth Day to me.”