In 2016, Claire Wayner and Mercedes Thompson co-founded Baltimore Beyond Plastic (BBP), a youth-led organization dedicated to reducing plastic pollution in Baltimore. Inspired by the public health impacts of plastic waste, including toxic incinerator emissions and carcinogens leaching from school lunch styrofoam, they sought to address local environmental inequities.

BBP actively combats pollution through school visits, educational workshops, rallies, and legislative advocacy. Having successfully campaigned for a statewide styrofoam ban last year, Wayner and Thompson are now pushing for bans on both styrofoam and plastic bags in Baltimore. They are sharing an award this year for their impactful work.

In late 2016, concerned about the incoming administration's commitment to the Paris Climate Accord, Anne Lee and students in Sammamish, WA, co-founded Schools Under 2C. This student-led organization aims to raise climate change awareness among students globally.

Schools Under 2C, with 80 members, has significantly reduced Tesla STEM high school's monthly carbon footprint by over two tons. Lee implemented composting, lighting reduction, and a transportation incentive app. Now, 30 schools worldwide have pledged to join the "Under 2C challenge," replicating these efforts.

Last year, Dejah Powell founded Get Them to the Green (G2G) to foster environmental passion among Chicago youth, especially youth of color. G2G's first initiative was a summer camp, engaging 14 young people in environmental justice, sustainability, and food agriculture.

G2G has since partnered with Gardenneers to build a school garden at Powell’s elementary school, providing hands-on outdoor education. The organization also conducts environmental education workshops throughout the city.

Now a Cornell senior, Powell believes understanding environmental problems is key to solving them. She hopes urban environmental education will improve eco-literacy and help under-resourced communities access vital local and global conversations.

After organizing for fossil fuel divestment and environmental justice at Stanford, Charlie Jiang co-founded the DC ReInvest Coalition in Washington, DC. This coalition, part of the global #DefundPipelines movement, pressures the DC government to divest from banks linked to fossil fuel pipelines, private prisons, and predatory lending practices.

Instead, the Coalition advocates for reinvesting District funds into community-led solutions for DC's most under-resourced residents. Jiang provides strategic and narrative direction, helping organize advocacy efforts against fossil fuel extraction's environmental and community damage, including past support for the #NoDAPL movement.

Anthony Torres is a Washington, DC-based community organizer who mobilizes thousands of volunteers to advocate for climate justice, fossil fuel resistance, and environmental protection. He has organized diverse actions, from a dance party protest outside Ivanka Trump's home to a vigil for Hurricane Harvey victims and a sit-in at Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer's office. Torres strives to build accessible narratives that highlight shared humanity while addressing race, class, and gender disparities.

Additionally, Torres serves as the campaign representative for the Sierra Club’s Responsible Trade Program, advocating for an equitable NAFTA agreement that benefits the environment, workers, and communities. He is also a trustee for the Progressive Workers Union, representing Sierra Club employees.

Water.org co-founder Matt Damon shares inspiring thoughts and anecdotes with World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim. They discuss strategies for making water accessible to the world's poorest communities.

Damon also recounts a humbling experience with a smart Haitian pre-teen, highlighting how even a mega-star can learn from unexpected sources.

Esau Sinnok, an emerging climate leader from Shishmaref, Northwest Alaska, is fighting to protect his community's centuries-old way of life. As essential ice melts and his home faces threats, he refuses to stand by. Join Esau in the fight to keep dirty fuels in the ground.

For more insights, watch NASA's video, The Greening of Arctic, on EarthSayers.tv, Voices of Sustainability.

Environmental protection agencies, created to regulate polluting industries, have been compromised. These bodies, meant to safeguard our environment, have been "hijacked" by the very industries they were designed to oversee.

Legal scholar Mary Christina Wood tells Bill Moyers that our judicial system, along with future generations, may ultimately be our best hope. She suggests they will save us from ourselves.

Eighteen-year-old activist Kelsey Juliana is actively fighting climate change. She is pursuing legal action in the courts to address global warming.

Additionally, Juliana is undertaking a cross-country walk to raise public awareness. This information was published on September 19, 2014.

Lizzy Clark of the UK Youth Climate Coalition discusses her participation at COP19, a climate change conference held in Warsaw, Poland. She shares insights from her involvement at this significant event.

Clark specifically highlights the work of various groups striving to engage the fossil fuel industry. Their aim is to ensure these companies hear and respond to their perspectives on climate action.

This report was published on November 14, 2013.

Hal Wallis, a UK native, traveled 6,000 miles to Thailand to explore its threatened mangroves. He discovered their vital environmental role and ongoing preservation efforts. Wallis interviewed Udo Gattenlohner of the Global Nature Fund, which coordinates a German-funded international project to restore Asia's lost mangroves.

Learn more about the Mangrove Restoration Project in Asia and watch a related video on EarthSayers. This initiative emphasizes sustainability, forest management, biodiversity, and conservation.

UC Merced student Martin Figueroa spearheaded a campus movement to reduce water use. In 2011, he organized the "UC Merced Water Battle," a month-long competition involving over 600 students across residence halls. Utilizing real-time monitoring, participants collectively cut water use by 14 percent, saving 89,000 gallons.

Figueroa is now encouraging other UC campuses to implement similar "Water Battles" to expand conservation efforts.

Growing up in Detroit, Brittany Stallworth, a 2012 Brower Youth Award Winner, faced environmental injustice, including limited healthy food access and exposure to factory emissions. This experience fueled her to establish "Green is the New Black" at Howard University, a campaign dedicated to food and environmental justice.

Through her initiative, Stallworth organized expert-led workshops for students and a symposium that connected over 35 green organizations with college students for internships and jobs. Her passion has inspired others to advance food accessibility and environmental justice in underserved communities.

The 88,000-acre Scotchman Peaks Roadless Area, straddling the Idaho-Montana border, is one of the region's largest remaining wild areas. Inspired by its natural beauty, Jacob Glass produced "En Plein Air," a film documenting the Friends of Scotchman Peaks Wilderness. This grassroots group, formed in 2005, seeks federal protection for the region, with the film highlighting two painters who use their art to advocate for the mountains.

The documentary received nationwide media attention, dramatically increasing the Friends' membership. This surge of public support for wilderness designation led to endorsements from many area chambers of commerce and Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer.

Maya Salsedo, a 2012 Brower Youth Award winner, champions food justice, driven by her family's history of food insecurity. Descendants of Puerto Rican emigrants who worked in Hawaiian sugar cane fields, her family consistently faced challenges accessing healthy food.

This experience spurred Salsedo to action. In 2011, as a youth organizer with Rooted in Community, she proposed the Youth Food Bill of Rights. This declaration envisions a food system that benefits consumers, producers, and the planet, granting local communities more control over their food. Her work has since inspired peers nationwide, establishing a foundation for dialogues on what food justice means to today's youth.

Clarissa Klein, Alec Loorz, Shannon McComb, Eveline Weary, Danny Farahdel, Tracy Alvarez, Felix Finkbiener, Hannah Kirkegaard, William Love-Anderegg, Jordan Howard, Erica Fernandez, Carolina Parra, and Anya Suslova are featured.

They appear in the trailer for Lynne Cherry's 2009 documentary, "kids vs. global warming."

Santa Cruz's Kyle Thiermann, a 2011 Brower Youth Award Winner from the Earth Island Institute, is celebrated for his impactful work.

His "Surfing for Change" videos have generated millions of dollars in environmentally responsible investments, demonstrating the power of surf activism.

Victor Davila founded EcoRyders, a series of summer workshops that make environmental and health education engaging for youth through skateboarding. Participants build their own skateboards while learning about pressing local environmental issues. EcoRyders addresses high youth obesity rates and public transportation challenges in the community.

Davila received the Brower Youth Award. This award recognizes North Americans aged 13 to 22 who demonstrate outstanding leadership on projects with positive environmental and social impact.

In 2007, Rhiannon Tomtishen and Madison Vorva founded Project ORANG (Orangutans Really Appreciate and Need Girls Scouts). They discovered that palm oil, a key ingredient in Girl Scout cookies, contributes significantly to orangutan habitat destruction.

This revelation prompted them to campaign for the Girl Scouts to replace palm oil with an eco-friendly alternative. Partnering with Rainforest Action Network, they co-authored a petition that generated over 70,000 emails to the Girl Scouts headquarters. Both are admirers of Jane Goodall.

Alex Epstein co-founded the New York 2 New Orleans Coalition, a network of NYC high school students addressing parallel community struggles. After moving to Philadelphia for college, he co-founded The Philadelphia Urban Creators (PUC), an organization of young community organizers dedicated to fostering sustainable and equitable development from the ground up.

Epstein is a recipient of the prestigious Brower Youth Award. These awards recognize North American individuals aged 13 to 22 who demonstrate outstanding leadership on projects with significant positive environmental and social impact. Learn more at Brower Youth Awards.