Think back to what you were doing when you were twelve years old... chances are, unless you're Severn Cullis-Suzuki, you weren't lobbying for a cleaner environment or starting your own environmental organization...
In 1992, at the age of 12, Cullis-Suzuki raised money with members of ECO, the Environmental Children's Organization (a group she founded) to attend the Earth Summit in Rio De Janeiro. Along with group members Michelle Quigg, Vanessa Suttie, and Morgan Geisler, Severn presented environmental issues from a youth perspective at the Summit, where she received a standing ovation for a speech to the delegates. The group also addressed delegates at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (source: wikipedia).see the moving speech she gave when she was twelve!! how sad is it that the world has only gotten worse???
here's a quote from Cullis-Suzuki from a 2002 article in TIME:
"...In the 10 years since Rio, I have learned that addressing our leaders is not enough. As Gandhi said many years ago, "We must become the change we want to see." I know change is possible, because I am changing, still figuring out what I think. I am still deciding how to live my life. The challenges are great, but if we accept individual responsibility and make sustainable choices, we will rise to the challenges, and we will become part of the positive tide of change.But in the 10 years since Rio, I have learned that addressing our leaders is not enough. As Gandhi said many years ago, "We must become the change we want to see." I know change is possible, because I am changing, still figuring out what I think. I am still deciding how to live my life. The challenges are great, but if we accept individual responsibility and make sustainable choices, we will rise to the challenges, and we will become part of the positive tide of change.But in the 10 years since Rio, I have learned that addressing our leaders is not enough. As Gandhi said many years ago, "We must become the change we want to see." I know change is possible, because I am changing, still figuring out what I think. I am still deciding how to live my life. The challenges are great, but if we accept individual responsibility and make sustainable choices, we will rise to the challenges, and we will become part of the positive tide of change."
Severn Cullis-Suzuki now:
Cullis-Suzuki is still an environmental activist. She earned Bachelor of Science degree in biology from Yale University and continues to promote sustainable living.here are some words of wisdom from her father, fellow activist David Suzuki:
"If we don't see that everything is interconnected, then any action has no consequences or responsibility. Most of us live in cities, in a human created environment, and many people ask me: "well, who needs nature?" So, people tell me they care about the environment, yet they drive huge SUVs and never reflect on their impact on climate or weather. We buy fresh fruits and vegetables in Canada in the middle of winter, but we never reflect on the Earth cost of shipping them from halfway around the world. So the challenge is to reconnect ourselves to the world. Everything is connected to everything else." ~taken from SASS magazine fall 2004
Want to improve your sustainable living??? Take David Suzuki's Nature Challenge.
Further proof that one person CAN make a difference by impacting social change. What have you done for the earth lately???
