Last updated on October 24th, 2022 at 05:25 pm
Let’s celebrate the women in our lives! March 8th is International Women’s Day 2019 and this year it’s all about ‘Balance for Better’. We need a more gender balanced world to make it better for everybody. To celebrate International Women’s Day I’d like to put some amazing young women in the spotlight.
These women are making a statement about climate change and sustainability. They are fighting as much for their own future as they are for ours. Fiercely they are taking action where many of us hesitate or doubt about what to do.
Young as they are, they are wise, intelligent and strong. I’m inspired by them and it makes me so happy to see them taking charge of their lives and the future of our planet. Let me introduce you to them and tell you where to find them online so they can inspire you too.
Greta Thunberg, Sweden
When it comes to inspiration, Greta Thunberg is at the top of my list. Born and raised in Sweden, this 16 year old teen single handed started the school strikes that became a global phenomenon. All over the world children and teenagers who are not yet old enough to vote, are skipping school once a week to demand climate action from their leaders. And from all of us.
I don’t think Greta planned to start a global movement when she decided to start her lonely strike in front of the Swedish parliament in August last year. But she sure did. It’s become massive.Thousands of youths have been marching through the streets of nearly every major city on this planet. If that’s not impressive and inspiring, I don’t know what is. Greta is wise beyond her years, honest to the bone and well with words. I love to hear her speak. And we better start listening. Or better yet, start acting.
Greta on Twitter. Greta on Instagram. Greta on Facebook. Greta’s 2018 TED Talk.
Lauren Singer, USA
When I saw Lauren Singer hold a tiny jar and heard her say it contained all the trash she had in the past three years, I was blown away. How? How on earth can anybody get to a life of zero waste? Well people, get to know Lauren, her lifestyle and her products and you’ll learn a thing or two. Not only did she teach herself what it means to live a waste free life and to make all the products you need when you can no longer buy all these packages. She quit her first job, became a young entrepreneur and has turned her zero waste lifestyle into a business.
Climate change and global warming are huge threats we are facing. For many years sustainability has been for the few, the fanatics, the soft, the elite, you name it. Today, it’s for everybody. Now, sustainability even turned into a growing industry. And I love that.
Women like Lauren show us, that we can live better and healthier lives and still make money. The economy needs to change into a zero waste economy. Everything we buy should be sustainable, reusable or circular. We shouldn’t have to make everything ourselves. We should be able to buy without hurting the planet. Enterprises, be like Lauren!
Lauren on Twitter. Lauren on Instagram. Lauren on Facebook. Lauren’s blog. Lauren’s 2015 TED Talk.
Lilly Platt, the Netherlands
You’re never too small to make an impact and Lilly Platt proves that. This Dutch girl is only 10 years old and yet she’s already shaking up the world around her. Lilly has a passion for animals. She loves to read about them and learn about them in school. And we all know, that if you care about animals, you care about their habitat. Habitats that we are messing up with our litter.
That’s why Lilly made it her business to clean up plastic rubbish. Wherever she goes, she’ll be litter picking. Or teaching others about the harmful consequences of single use plastics. No plastic straws for Lilly, she’ll bring her own bamboo ones and her spork (spoon and fork combo) too. Of course Lilly joined the school strikes to demand action on climate change. This little girl has a big heart and big plans. I’m pretty sure we’ll hear a lot from her in the years to come. This kind of passion goes a long way.
Lilly on Twitter. Lilly on Instagram.
Oladosu Adenike, Nigeria
Another young woman that inspires me is Oladosu Adenike. I love how she calls herself The Eco Feminist on Twitter and I immediately felt a connection. She’s put a name on how I feel: an eco feminist. Oladosy is part of African Youth Voices, a collective that wants to raise awareness on climate change and to mobilize people to take action.
Oladosu leads by example. Every Friday she’s out in any kind of weather with her protest signs #FridaysForFuture. For 14 weeks in a row already. She inspires people in her own and neighboring towns to take action too. Other protesters are joining her now and then or start their own climate actions. She’s spreading the word, talking to people who pass by, answering their questions on global warming and climate change. She’ll change minds, for sure.
Oladosu on Twitter. Oladosu’s blog. Oladosu on Instagram.
Very striking content. Reaching out to the world as you young women are doing, is very bold and I admire you for this. Keep up the good work. I did find myself battling the ad. tags and labels while reading your main topic. Please I am not being critical. I just wonder if you tuned down on so many splash ads, if the reading would be easier.
Lots of love
Audrey J
Thank you, Audrey, for your kind words. Like you, I admire these young women a lot. And I’m happy to see that they are slowly but surely making an impact on the world around them.
Don’t worry about criticizing. I’m happy with all feedback. I’ve been playing around with the amount of ads on my site. To see what works and what doesn’t. I’m trying to keep most of them in the sidebar to make reading easier.
My readers are important to me. I need them to have a good reading experience on Wasteless Planet. But in order to keep giving them quality articles, I’ll need to generate some income. And I hope the ads will help with that. I’ll see if I can balance things out a bit more.
Thanks again. Lots of love to you too and I hope you’ll be back 🙂