I stoop to pick out another bottle cap in the sand and hear it clatter to the bottom of my paper bag with all the other pieces of trash I had picked up. As I stand, I take in my surroundings. With the waves crashing peacefully in the background and puffy clouds dotting the sky, it would almost be a perfect scene. If only the sand were not covered in garbage. As if the lights went out in my head, I find myself back in my room a few years ago. The screen flicked to the next scene, a panoramic of the Amazon rainforest--on fire. My eyes glazed over as I turned off the documentary, which I had begun watching to investigate more of the global warming topic glossed over by my science teacher. I had to do something. It did not matter to me that I might never make a noticeable difference on my own. If I could contribute my piece of tile–however small–to the mosaic that made up a brighter future for everyone, I would be content with my life. I started small, with just my personal habits. From what I had learned from documentaries and articles, I began by bringing my lunch in reusable containers and thrifting my clothes. I even changed what I ate, opting for meals with fewer animal products. Eventually, though, I moved on to larger efforts. I joined the Youth for Environmental Action leadership group, where I could represent my school in county-wide environmental changes. I started leading beach clean-ups as vice president of Soquel High’s Cutback Cleanups Club, which works to prevent excess and pick up existing pollution. In the future, I plan to continue adding my little pieces of tile to that mosaic as an environmental engineer. To do this, however, I will need to obtain a degree in environmental engineering. Thus, university seems to be my next step in life after high school, but I will not treat it like a means to an end. I want to continue working toward my goal of helping the environment while studying for my degree. I know that I will need support for this endeavor, and I hope that I can find it. A blink later, and I am back on the beach, picking up bit after bit of trash. I know I cannot clean the entire beach, but that does nothing to deter me.

As long as I can remember, my mom has had a garden. No matter the space she had to work with, she made it work at every single house we’ve lived in. I used to just leave the icky dirt and bugs to my mom though, and I was never truly interested in gardening until just before the pandemic began, I guess you could say it ‘grew’ on me... Currently, my mom and I take care of a few different gardens, with our herb, wildflower, and vegetable gardens throughout the yard. I like to think that it was my idea to start the veggie garden, because I simply could not get the image of myself harvesting cute little veggies in a little wicker basket. Gardening ended up not being as glamorous as that idealistic daydream, however, as there were many struggles along the way. The first of which was weeds. I felt as though I was weeding the garden every day, and it still wasn’t enough to keep the dreaded plants at bay. One afternoon, my mom and I decided to rip the band-aid off and dig up the garden, adding a mesh cover on the hard ground beneath, and then finally replacing the dirt. That seemed to make the weeds sparse enough that it was manageable. The next struggle, one that we still contend with, is ants. Every time the garden is dug up to start another season of vegetables, there are always at least two ant colonies that have made themselves at home in our garden. In the interest of preserving the dirt’s integrity and not spraying the garden with ant-killers, we usually just let the ants evacuate on their own after the accidental encounter where we destroyed their home. Just like every other hobby, gardening comes with drawbacks, but I believe that the experience gained from dealing with these issues is what truly makes someone skilled, so I persevered. With these obstacles in mind, I would say that the eventual accomplishments of the garden were well worth it. For one, we had an incredible amount of success with our kale, and I found that I had an almost endless fresh supply to use in vegan snacks and meals. We were also foregoing the plastic packaging and unclear practices of store-bought kale, with the added convenience of simply stepping outdoors to grab a healthy ingredient. Another moment of fulfillment that stemmed from the garden was when I grew a sugar-pie pumpkin and was able to cook the seeds and make a pie from the rest. I was so proud that I was a part of every step in making that pie, and I think that made the end result taste all the better. Another triumph, or at least partially so, was when I was walking along our flower garden and found a peculiar-looking plant. I pulled it up, thinking it was a weed, and it ended up being an entire radish. Apparently the wildflower seed mixes we had used earlier had included some radish seeds, so we got to use the random plants in some extra-delicious salads. Unrelated to vegetables were the wildlife our gardens attracted. We ended up having tons of bees roaming around the flowers we had planted, as well as a few hummingbird families. Just getting to see those animals living their lives was an accomplishment to me. Overall, our gardens have been incredibly fulfilling, and I am glad I continued through the obstacles to reach both the sustainable and personal benefits of owning a garden.

Climate change has been all over the news for years now, and it's not by accident. The climate emergency is a huge issue, and one that will impact everyone on this planet, regardless of age, gender, or race. In fact, the effects of this climate emergency can already be seen in some of the disastrous events that have plagued the world recently, including the infamous California wildfires, the New York storms, and the especially intense Florida hurricanes. While there are many more effects of climate change to be discussed, the important fact is that the climate emergency is here. There is no more time to wait for better options to fight this emergency. This may seem like a hasty conclusion drawn from insignificant evidence, but climate scientists from around the globe have been predicting such events for decades, and most agree that with no action against it, climate change will only worsen with time. But what can be done? It is widely known that the biggest polluters that contribute to climate change are not very effected by what a few people want to better the environment, and some might think this means they will have no impact on the climate crisis with individual actions. However, with many people working on bettering their own impact on the environment, and even investing in more sustainable options, it may soon become clear to cooperations that non-sustainable products are not in demand. Additionally, the collective impact of everyone trying to lessen their environmental footprint will help the environment in the long run. While this is only one of many options in fighting the climate crisis, it seems to be one of the best to get more of the public involved in fighting this crisis.

I did not enjoy reading my favorite book. Though it may sound contradictory, reading my favorite book was like wading through concrete. Mary Wollstonecraft’s "A Vindication of the Rights of Woman" was a chore to get through--due to it being written over two hundred years ago--but nevertheless, it’s my favorite book. Of course, fictional classics such as Harry Potter or The Hunger Games made my top ten list, Wollstonecraft’s work has stuck with me over the years, and I can attribute some of my highest aspirations to her arguments for women. The most memorable aspect of Mary Wollstonecraft’s reasoning for equality was her claim that women have been conditioned by society to look and act a certain way for hundreds of years, so any arguments that women are naturally drawn to the role of supporting a husband are irrelevant. This meant two things to me: The first being that becoming a wife did not have to be my highest achievable goal in life, and secondly, if the true potential of women is unknown to society, I could accomplish anything I want if I put my mind to it. Women are not inherently worse at something when compared to men, and everything thought to be a quality of women are just the traits society has ascribed to women. In my mind, that meant I could reach towards any career field I wanted, specifically STEM, and it wouldn’t matter what others thought women were capable of in that field. Overall, Mary Wollstonecraft’s book is the reason I felt that I could excel academically and eventually become an environmental engineer, which is why "A Vindication of the Rights of Women" is my favorite book.

There is a climate emergency going on, but the destruction of the Earth is still escapable. As of right now, the global temperature is projected to rise 2°C by 2050. Extreme weather conditions would become more frequent and disastrous. We are already experiencing the catastrophic effects of climate change, from California's intense wildfires to severe hurricanes in Florida. Some regions are in droughts, while others are practically drowning in excessive rainfall. This leads me to the change I want to see in the world: actions taken to protect the planet for future generations. Specific to my community, many things could be improved. Solar panels could become more available and affordable for homeowners/renters, which would help reduce greenhouse gas emissions from our current energy system. Planting native wildflower and tree species could help tackle carbon dioxide, feed the bees, and shelter animals such as squirrels and birds. These plants could grow in some parks, road dividers, as well as in place of some grassy lawns. Rooftop gardens over businesses could make use of those flat areas in a way the benefits the environment. As for transportation, increased places to charge electric vehicles would encourage people to drive those cars, and citizens might be inspired to bike where they need to go with more bike lock areas available. A community compost bin would also help the environment because people could repurpose food and garden scraps that would otherwise decompose in a landfill somewhere. Though I have many more ideas for how my community could become more sustainable, more improvements need to happen with polluters worldwide. In the United States, more actions that I can count could help slow climate change, starting with regulating how much companies pollute the environment. In a study, the Carbon Disclosure Project found that just 100 companies were responsible for 71% of emissions causing climate change. Contrary to what these companies would like people to believe, this figure shifts most of the blame for climate change from consumers to polluting organizations. Therefore, if the US were to regulate how much each company polluted and limit each one, emissions would decrease rapidly. Another idea is more geared to help consumers in the US choose sustainable products and avoid "greenwashed" items. An organization to standardize the requirements for using certain terms, similar to B Corp or Leaping Bunny, could help consumers choose products. These terms include "biodegradable," "recyclable," and "natural," because they are often overused and lose their importance because of it. Again, though this is not all of my ideas, I believe there is importance in discussing the changes that I want to see in the world. Though local and country-wide changes are important to tackling climate change, I believe world changes are required to help the environment before it's too late. Companies worldwide could start to switch to more sustainable products and methods of creating those products. I want to see the world transition to green energy and away from gas and oil in my lifetime. Companies should also start making changes now, rather than unspecified "sustainable by 2050" claims. The world has already taken some steps to a more sustainable future, like the Paris Climate Agreement, but more should be done to prevent serious climate change effects. I try to have the best impact on the environment I can. The reason I got into sustainability was a particularly inspirational quote I heard when I was in elementary school: "leave it better than you found it." Though my teacher meant to keep the computer lab desks clean, I took it to heart and applied it to my everyday life. Since then, I have been slowly replacing the products I use and brands I support with sustainable options. For example, where I previously used bottled soaps, I now use sustainable and plastic-free alternatives such as shampoo and conditioner bars. Rather than constantly purchase new clothes and throw away old ones, I now thrift for clothes and donate when I can. In addition to the items I buy, I have also made lifestyle changes in the name of helping the environment. Upon learning about the negative impact of animal agriculture, I went vegetarian. I am always open to changing my perspectives and learning new ways that I can live sustainably. Overall, there are a lot of things that I would like to see change in my community, the US, and even worldwide that would help the environment. Though sometimes sustainability seems hopeless in the fight against climate change, I hold on to hope that one day my efforts will be worth it. Whether or not it's in my life doesn't matter, only that I will keep trying to save the planet.