Grades 3 - 12: Young Voices for the Planet Inspirational Mini-Movies
Young Voices for the Planet is a film series featuring young people who are making a difference! They are shrinking the carbon footprint of their homes, schools and communities. Eight short movies document how individual students and groups of students have made an impact. They include:
Kids vs. Global Warming (4:55)
At 12, Alec Loorz was filmed putting up his SLAP (Sea Level Awareness Posts) on the beach in Ventura, California. At 15, Alec presented his Declaration of Independence from Fossil Fuel to Senator Barbara Boxer on Capitol Hill. Alec travels widely to talk to audiences to encourage them to take action. Kids vs Global Warming is a non profit organization founded and led by Alec.
Girl Scouts (4:15)
In 2009 Girl scouts in San Francisco, with support from the Sierra Club, gave away 5000 CFL light bulbs to raise awareness about energy conservation and to encourage people to reduce their carbon footprint.
Team Marine (5:38)
High-school students successfully campaigned to ban plastic bags in their city of Santa Monica. This was one of the first cities that banned plastic bags in the United States.
Anya: Citizen Science in Siberia (3:48)
Anya, an indigenous Siberian girl, sees her world literally melting away due to warming caused by the developed world's CO2 emissions. Anya joins Arctic scientist Max Holmes' research team to learn, and teach her schoolmates about global warming.
Plant for the Planet (5:54)
As a 9-year-old boy, Felix founded Plant for the Planet and has planted more than 500,000 trees in Germany which he says help sequester carbon and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Now 11, Felix talks about "climate justice."
Green Ambassadors (4:18)
Teenagers from Environmental Charter High School
in Lawndale, CA recycle, compost, plant trees, educate elementary school students about sustainability and do much more to reduce their carbon footprint. These students become part of “Green Ambassadors,” a program that helps students take an issue, research and develop solutions, and socially market the solution to their peers and the community at-large.
Dreaming in Green (6:25)
Florida students saved their school $53,000 in energy costs through simple actions.
Olivia’s Birds and the Oil Spill (6:46)
"Olivia's Birds and the Oil Spill" documents 11-year old Olivia Bouler's deep connection with the natural world, in particular, with the Gulf of Mexico, and how her love of birds drove her to create 500 bird paintings to raise $200,000 for Audubon's efforts to rescue birds after the BP Oil spill. Olivia goes further and visits congressmen and the Secretary of the Interior with her message: no offshore oil drilling, get off fossil fuels and invest in renewable energy. Her message resonates with the media and reaches millions of people around the world.