10 Reasons We Love Greta Thunberg
We're starting a new feature at our blog & we hope that you love it as much as we do: introducing a new, monthly Favorite Young Hippie that is so easy to admire. And who could be better to introduce this with, than the amazing eco-activist and teen, Greta Thunberg?
At first, only Sweden knew just how passionate Greta was about global warming. But now she is internationally acclaimed and admired, a voice for her young generation! At 15 years old, she would spend time outside the Swedish parliament, requesting the government act now on the critical issue of global warming. Well, both her dedication to this cause & sincerity was quite contagious, as her fellow students started eco-protests in their own areas of Sweden. In 2018, Greta addressed the United Nations climate Change Conference, and things truly began to spark all over the world. Students held strikes to protest climate change, around the world.
It is easy to see why we've chosen Greta Thunberg as our very first Young Hippie!
Here are 10 reasons that we love her & we know that you will too:
- Because of Greta's efforts, in 2019, there were at least 2 multi-city protests that had more than 1 million students, that were prepared for in advance. Simply amazing!
- Greta Thunberg is an eloquent, passionate and highly educated public speaker. It is astonishing to see a 16-year-old teenager with the confidence and poise, who can speak with world leaders about an issue that baffles so many. She has sparked conversations that will prompt changes around the world.
- Greta has received many awards and honors, including a fellowship from the Royal Scottish Geographical Society. Time magazine named her 1 of the 100 most influential people of 2019. It comes as little surprise that Greta Thunberg has also been nominated for the Nobel Prize.
- One thing many admire about Greta, is that she has a positive attitude. At about 12 years old, she was diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome and considers it to be her Superpower!
- Greta is the perfect role model as a Young Hippie, because she "walks her talk." In her home, she encouraged her parents to lower the family's carbon footprint by going vegan and also giving up flying. This is astonishing, as her Mom gave up a successful career as an internationally known opera singer to do this. Greta wrote about this in her 2018 books "Scenes from the Heart."
- Greta's Asperger's syndrome has a trait of making her selectively mute, but she doesn't let this stop her in the fight to battle climate change. She simply explains that she only speaks when it is necessary.
- She was a Young Hippie, even when others were not following her, which is the instant sign of one! In the late spring of 2018, she won a climate change essay contest held by a Swedish newspaper. When Greta first was interested in holding a strike for climate change, she could not encourage a single fellow classmate to join her - so she went on strike by herself.
- Greta is not afraid to be blunt, a sign of a Young Hippie! When she got started with protesting, she would hand out flyers to people walking by her strikes saying, "I am doing this because you adults are shitting on my future." Greta never expected young children to fix climate change, instead she was holding grown up's feet to the fire and making them accountable to fix things, before it is too late.
- She is smart about her strikes, right from the very beginning. Greta posted her original strike photos on both Instagram, Twitter and then other popular social media accounts - to have them spread around the world like wildfire! Her photos were shared repeatedly and connected her with the media, so she could talk about her passionate and informed views about climate change.
- Finally, the MOST important sign that Greta Thunberg is a Young Hippie? She saw a problem, chose to step up and do something about it. She did not at first question if it was possible. She did not think if she could tackle all of it by her solo protest at school (the very first one). Instead, Greta simple DID SOMETHING - which is what a genuine Hippie does: they get out there and help someone!
You're 110% Awesome Greta Thunberg!
Greta is extraordinarily passionate, determined & knowledgeable about climate change. Here are some of the best things that Greta Thunberg has said during 2019:
"People are dying. Entire ecosystems are collapsing. We are in the beginning of a mass extinction. And all you can talk about is money and fairytales of eternal economic growth. How dare you!"
"If world leaders choose to fail us, my generation will never forgive them."
"I want people to unite behind the science...And that is what we have to realize, that that is what we have to do right now. I'm not the one who is saying these things. I'm not the one who we should be listening to. And I say that all the time. I say we need to listen to the scientists."
"We have lots of unions who are planning to strike, so, I mean, adults striking from their work. And that is so incredibly important to show that this is such an - this is not just for children or teenagers. This is for everyone. And what we are doing, we are not, of course - I mean, we are striking to disrupt the system."
"We are facing an existential crisis...it will have a massive impact on our lives in the future, but also now, especially in vulnerable communities. And I think that we should wake up, and we should also try to wake the adults up, because they are the ones who - their generation is the ones who are mostly responsible for this crisis, and we need to hold them accountable."
"I have Asperger's syndrome and that means I'm sometimes a bit different from the norm. And - given the right circumstances - being different is a superpower. It makes you think differently. And especially in such a big crisis like this one we need to think outside the box. We need to think outside our current system, that we need people that think outside the box and who aren't like everyone else."
Awesome Things People Are Saying About Greta:
"Greta Thunberg is one of the great truth-tellers of this or any time. Let me refresh your memories about some of her most iconic lines. To the U.N. climate negotiators in Poland last December, she said: "You are not mature enough to tell it like it is. Even that burden you leave to us children."
To the British MPs who asked her to speak, she asked, "Is my English OK? Is the microphone on? Because I'm beginning to wonder."
To the rich and mighty at Davos who praised her for giving them hope, she replied, "I don't want your hope.... I want you to panic. I want you to feel the fear I feel every day. I want you to act. I want you to act as you would in a crisis. I want you to act as if the house is on fire, because it is."
