My Climate Story

Instead of snow days, Californians had wildfire days. In 2007, a day of high school was canceled because of a Griffith Park wildfire. It was unsafe to breathe the air. It got so bad my neighbor had to evacuate her home and stay with us. In November 2018, wildfires intensified. They were more frequent, larger, and more destructive. The half marathon in the Bay Area I was supposed to run got canceled. City hall handed out N95 masks to protect ourselves from the poor air quality. Growing up in LA, I believe I’ve developed a mild case of asthma along with some of my other peers. This isn’t right. 

In an ideal world, Air quality is great and doesn’t affect our health and ability to learn. There’s less cars on the road, more public transportation and it's accessible and efficient. Cities are designed to be breathable, walkable, and livable. There’s a bounty of affordable housing and no homelessness crisis. There's NO plastic pollution. Not in the ocean, not in nature. Everyone is using reusables and repurposing as much as they can. It’s a circular economy. Public lands are expanding and protected from development and greed. The Earth is thriving with more species diversity instead of extinction. Businesses take responsibility for their waste and emissions. 

We need a compassionate future, where we look out for one another. We need community and empathy to move in this direction. We have a responsibility to take care of this planet. It’s our responsibility to improve the environment’s health and reduce asthma risk so our future generations don’t suffer. Let’s leave this place better than we found it. Live intentionally and consciously.