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Earth Friends Everywhere
a first of its kind community of practice
for people working on
environmental education for young children
Learn together and from each other through webinars, community labs, discussions, partnerships, peer mentoring, and up-to-date resources WITH a national network of teachers, directors, decision-makers, parents, and changemakers.
Every month we’ll have an offering for our community and a chance to engage. Some months we’ll host a Community of Practice online event over Zoom (like next month!). Through our community, we welcome environmental educators, parents, children, change-makers, nonprofits, authors, thought leaders, sustainable companies, school directors, and decision-makers to share their experiences and expertise, stories and successes through live conversations, workshops, and presentations.
Anyone can sign up! All Earth Friends community offerings and events are free.
THANK YOU to
The Climate Optimist
April 18
7:30 p.m.
Anne Therese Gennari
TEDx speaker, educator & author of The Climate Optimist Handbook
Anne shared her message of climate optimism with us. Which is not about taking a step back and hoping for the best to happen, but about diving into awareness and choosing a path of resilience, action, and hope. She believes that this practice can, not just change the world, but lives, families, and organizations. It’s an act of healing and self-empowerment that opens up for curiosity and solutions-thinking; a driver for positive change, innovation, and growth.
Instagram: @annetheresegennari
LinkedIn: Anne Therese Gennari
Website: www.theclimateoptimist.com
Buy her book here.
Listen to kids.
Because kids care.
Children everywhere are wishing for different futures, asking for changes in lifestyle, encouraging adults to learn about the world around, and hoping adults will put measures in place to reduce our negative human impact. Older children want environmental awareness yesterday. Younger children want environmental awareness for our future. Earth Friends is what we can do today.
We have compiled hundreds of quotes from children all over the world. Children of all ages, from all backgrounds, with all different kinds of wishes and worries. It’s time for us to meet our children where they are and travel with them to where they want to go.
What Children Are Saying
“I like the chestnuts and pretty leaves. I like the glittering frost on grass. I feel like a tree is a friend in a different shape.”
— Lydia, 6, US
“The environment is definitely very special, because if we get rid of it, there's nowhere else we can go. It's a very one in a million planet.”
— Milly, 11, England
“There should be climate clubs and centres everywhere, at a local level, so people can get educated – so we can fight this together.”
— Yusuf, 17, Pakistan
“Climate change can be incredibly overwhelming at times, and that's totally OK. It's OK to feel anxious about your future because it is a real threat. But also don't let that stop you from trying to make a change and instead kind of use that as motivation to make the change that we need.”
— Gabriel, 17, US
“There is not enough fresh air.”
— Guao, 12, China
“Adapt the education system to teach about these problems and create spaces for innovation. Young people are not given the tools or the guidance to think big and create new systems.”
— Metali, 18, Bali
“I still can't believe people don't realize that [climate change] is a real thing."
— Xiao, 12, US
“You don't have to have a fancy degree or something to really speak out about the planet. The world is everybody's home. It's everybody's future. And it's something everybody can really stand up for and speak out about."
— Sabal, 15, US
“I don't remember when I first became aware about climate change. I don't remember a time where I didn't know what it was. It feels like it's always been there.”
— Ester, 16, UK
“We live in an environment that’s always filled with smoke.”
— Lesly, 15, Peru
“Humans might go extinct at one point because people are looking at fake news, or believing it, or producing it.”
— April, 13, US
"We can stop fossil fuels and automobiles, like planes and cars. So that we can stop climate change."
— Elia, 10, US
"I just want them to realize it's something that's kind of unethical, and there's no turning point. We can't go back in time and fix what we should have done right. Acknowledge the fact that we have to take action now ... Rather than wait for people that we elect to take action, show people that don't believe that this is really happening, and that we actually can do something about it."
— Kristine, 17, US
"The world is slowly dying, and this is the only world that we have, so we have to take care of it."
— Alem, 14, US
"Earth need to be safe. It’s our home Everybody live here. ”
— Cameron, 4, US
"I’ve said it once, and I’ll say it again: We can’t eat money, or drink oil.”
— Autumn, 15, Canada
"The sea is swallowing villages, eating away at shorelines, withering crops. Relocation of people ... cries over loved ones, dying of hunger and thirst. It's catastrophic. It's sad ... but it's real.”
— Timoci, 14, Fiji
"There are so, so many young people that don't really know what's happening to our planet. I quickly found out just how serious the lack of climate education was."
— Alexandria, 15, US
“I’m truly mad. It’s not like ‘oh, I’m sad.’ I’m angry! We [the children] are alone here and there aren’t a lot of people that will take action. I’m mad.”
— Chiarra, 17, Argentina
“It is our duty as children to do anything no matter the cost to save our planet and to live in a safer world.”
— Raslene, 17, Tunisia
“We all have the right to enjoy our planet and we should all protect that right. Our generation is trying to prevent climate change for future generations.”
— Carlos, 17, Palau
“Is money more important than the environment?”
— Esmerelda, 16, Peru
“Children of the world are calling for action and we demand that governments address the climate crisis now.”
— Anita, 17, Pacific Islands
"Being included means really being listened to. I believe youth should have possibility to directly participate in climate decision-making...It means that someone who will live with the decisions being made is represented."
— Penelope, 17, Norway
“If climate change were an animal or plant, I think it would be some sort of parasite, because it's the only thing that's actually growing and getting bigger, while everything else starts dying off.”
— Immie, 14, United Kingdom
“Teach people that a tree has value when it’s standing tall, when it’s anchored in the ground as it should be.”
— Melisa, 17, Zimbabwe
“I started Earth Day clean up because there is a lot of trash on the road and by our house. That is not good for the animals and environment. I care about the Earth and a lot of people don’t.”
— Evelyn, 12, US
“Teach children, the young, adults and senior citizens what awaits us in the future if we continue living the way we are now. The climate plays a role in every aspect of our lives; our money, our health, agriculture, our flora and fauna. With education, people can take small steps to improve the relationship between humans and nature.”
— José, 16, Peru
“Our great-great-great grandchildren, or something like that, might not be a thing because of global warming and fossil fuels."
— Duilin, 11, US
“Glaciers are disappearing.”
— Camilla, 14, Paraguay
"Our situation right now is really dire. It's a big crisis and we can't just let it off the hook for a long time. It's affecting our life now and it's going to increasingly affect it in the future, so I need them to take action with the power that they do have."
— Claudia, 14, US
"Use education worldwide to instil a real sense of climate responsibility in the next generation.”
— Iris, 18, France
"We have people cutting down trees everyday!”
— Pride, 17, Zimbabwe
"I think, we see these things on the news and we do small things because they're easier. Like when the whole plastic straw thing became really popular. Like, metal straw [in a] plastic cup. That's so symbolic of our national attitude toward climate change, like I'm doing this because it's easy and convenient, or nothing at all. But when it comes to real change, that's too hard ...”
— Eva, 16, US
"Because if people don't start acting now, then in a couple years it'll be so bad that even if you act it will be a lot harder to fix it than it is now.”
— Emmy, 11, US
"I just want them to know there's no time left. I mean I'm being real honest right here, we're going to die, we need to do something about it, we need to fight. As young people, we have a voice and we need to use our voices. We're really strong as young people, and we can actually change the world, and we have to do it right now.”
— Janine, 15, US
"We only have a few more years left if we don't take care of [the planet]. And some people are still really young, so that kind of sucks.”
— Ella, 14, US
"I want to make the world a better place by stopping climate change and pollution. I am a climate activist.”
— Maya, 7, US
"We can’t leave youth out of the conversation any longer.”
— Ayakha, 17, South Africa
"You might think that we are too young to know about the risks and realities of climate change. But we see its effects in our daily lives.”
— Gertrude, 16, Tanzania
"If the world leaders listen to us, children can make a difference in this world, because we’re the ones that are going to be affected.”
— Carl, 17, US
"I want you to act as if the house is on fire, because it is."
— Greta, 16, Sweden
“I will tell our world leaders to pay attention to the cries of their citizens about the effect of this climate change…”
— Debby, 12, Nigeria
“[Climate change] is the first thing you see when you go outside. It is happening a lot more, a lot more… you cannot ignore it.”
— Litokne, 16, Marshall Islands
“The clock is not merely ticking; it is sounding a clarion call for immediate, resolute action.”
— Kartik, 17, India
“And in all of this, who is more affected? It is the children. If children can be given a platform to speak and educate people on the effects of cutting of trees for charcoal use in my country, it will help us live for a better future.”
— Justina, 15, Zambia
"At a young age, you should let children know [about the climate crisis]; it's real. And have them, if possible, get a firm grip on the reality of the situation. Then maybe as the child is growing up, they can become more active in trying to curb climate change."
— Russel, 18, Dominica
“I”m a bit nervous that the world is getting destroyed.”
— Solan, 9, South Africa
“I care about the planet because I wanna stay alive. I wanna save the environment.” Milo age 6
— Milo, 6, US
“Mommy, this car is polluting our air. It is very bad.”
— Gavin, 4, US
“I think that if we are taking care of the environment, we can reverse change and go back to how it was before.”
— Gabriella, 11, Peru
“This is not the time to talk and talk but to put action into our countries, into our societies, and look for ways that are going to sustain our lives.”
— Beatrice, 16, Zimbabwe
“It's such an easy fix, and people just need to prioritize people and our planet over money."
— Jackson, 16, US
“I honestly just want them [adults] to be supportive ... We are literally the future, and if we don't solve this climate problem then not only my life but all of our lives are actually affected."
— Viloa, 16, US
“We're starting younger than [our parents] ever knew they could, so they aren't used to people standing up like this. We want to show them that kids in our generation can do this now."
— Molly, 13, US
“Spend a week on the land and in a community that can’t drink water and live in the houses that need repairing. Have the ones in power experience what we are fighting for and why we do this advocacy work."
— Autumn, 17, Canada
“Everyone is the source of climate change. There will be deserts everywhere and that’s my worst fear."
— Tantaswa, 15, Zimbabwe
“I think it's very important that we save the Earth, that we cut down on a lot of waste, because at the end of the day we all live here. If we don't take care of it, then we're not going to be here for that much longer."
— Chris, 17, US
“But how the climate is now, if we all go extinct, we're not going to have any education. So we need to stick up now before things actually do go under."
— Lycianne, 14, US
“If [our parents] don't make a change, we will. We'll make a future for our kids, and our kid's kids."
— Leslie, 13, US
“We really didn't ask for this. We didn't cause it, we're trying to solve it. One of my motivating factors is, if I ever have children I want them to see nature and beauty. I don't want them to have to do what we're doing right now."
— Elena, 15, US
“We haven't lived our lives yet, we haven't gotten our jobs yet, we haven't financially thrived yet, we haven't changed the world yet. So we need a world to actually change. We need a world to actually thrive in, so we can keep on enjoying all the things we need to enjoy. Even the basics, like music. That's what we're here for, to keep our planet alive and to keep it beautiful.”
— Johann, 14, US
“I wish that the environment would have less pollution and garbage around the world. I hope that we can change that. Also, animals in the water are being harmed by all of the plastic and waste that going into the water each and every day. I hate that animals are being harmed.”
— Riley, 11, US
“It is our future and world leaders should hear us. If they don’t act to stop the climate crisis it is our future that will be affected.”
— Catrina, 15, Brazil
“[The adults] didn’t really have to face all these problems and issues that we have to face now because in their childhood they didn’t have to think about these consequences.”
— Raina, 15, Germany
“I want a better future. I want to save my future. I want to save our future. I want to save the future of all the children and all people of future generations.”
— Ridhima, 13, India
“I don’t want to be underwater. I want future generations to experience what I experience, I want them to experience living on Ebeye. It still saddens me – I want them to experience the same things I did.”
— Ranton, 17, Marshall Islands
“We don’t even know if we have a future. What will happen in 10 years if we don’t achieve the goals we set for 2030?”
— Sheen, 16, India
"The planet is gonna be wrecked," Henry says between sobs. "People are just being rude to it."
— Henry, 6, US
“Climate politics needs new supporters. You, the companies.”
— Jana, 12, Germany
Make a donation.
Our mission is to bring Earth Friends to young children everywhere, through schools, centers, and communities. Right now we’re continuing to cover our start up costs, but soon we’ll have some exciting ways to directly sponsor schools and communities with your dollars.
