By Erica and Karen

Are you tired of being told that using a plastic straw will doom the planet? Do you furtively take sips from your plastic water bottle? Are you ashamed of the way you live and guilty you’re not ensuring the future of the earth? No surprise, given the focus and tone of the messages. But are these the most urgent issues?    

The kids don’t think so. They think the earth is in imminent danger (a ten year window experts say) and if we don’t fix that, nothing else matters. Aren’t they right? If government does not take urgent action to stabilize the planet, how we might live going forward is irrelevant--because we won’t be around. 

So you may be annoyed by all the lecturing. And you may be frustrated because you can’t understand how losing your straws and your bottles will actually help. And you’re right. It won’t. But we can’t let that paralyze us. We can’t let it stop us from taking personal and meaningful action. 

The kids have figured it out. They know that only governments can find a solution. Only governments can stop fossil fuel production. And the world’s governments have to move fast.

How do we get government to act? Like we always have. Unite. Raise our voices. Make noise. As Senator Ed Markey counsels, raise an army. 

Greta Thunberg, the Swedish sixteen year old climate activist, and Time Magazine Person of the Year, started a movement when she said “our house is on fire.” Jane Fonda saw she was onto something and stepped up to help. They started Fire Drill Fridays. they even got climate strike named word of the year. (Yes, we know it is two words.) And Ms. Fonda, at the Ted Women Conference and in her NYT op-ed, sent us a rallying cry: Grandmas, unite!

So let’s keep our eye on the prize. Bottles and bags are important but only if we’re still here. Don’t let depression paralyze you. Join the kids. Exert your power. Make a difference.