On March 15, students around the globe came out and participated in a youth climate strike, a movement to bring awareness and demand action in the face of climate change. In Guilford, Guilford High School (GHS) students and members of the community gathered at Jacobs Beach for a local strike.

The local rally drew high school students, representatives from the Menunkatuck Audubon Society, Bring Your Own (BYO) Guilford, former state senator Ed Meyer, and Amnesty International. Event organizer Elle Petra, a GHS junior, spoke about the fear and panic she experienced when the United Nations released its most recent climate change report, which stated the globe only has about 11 years to minimize the damaging affects of global warming.

“It scared me so much that I had anxiety attacks because of how helpless I felt amidst all of this,” she said. “I remember my dad pulled me aside and helped calm me down after one of my worst episodes. He told me that I had a voice and that there was still time to make change. That was the moment that I realized things had to happen now and fast. I realized that we all have to work together as people, towns, states, countries and we all had to work as one world.”

Petra called on fellow students and community members to step up and tackle this issue.

“I ask you today, during all of this, don’t take these words lightly,” she said. “Don’t only think of yourself; think of your children, your pets, your neighbors, and your friends. When you shout, you post, you rally, you strike, you are making a difference for everyone. Rally for less carbon emissions, rally for government action, rally for a sustainable future. Through this movement we are taking steps to secure a future for our children and grandchildren and every living being on this planet.”

The movement was sparked by now 16-year-old Swedish activist Greta Thunberg, who made headlines across the globe last year when she skipped school and sat outside the Swedish parliament to protest a lack of action regarding climate change. GHS student Clara Myers said Thunberg sends an important message to students everywhere.

“It pushes the narrative that the youth will win,” she said. “As Greta said, ‘I have learned you are never too small to make a difference. If a few children can get headlines all over the world just by not going to school, then imagine what we could all do together if we rally wanted to.’”

Terri Cain, a member of BYO Guilford and the Sustainable Guilford Task Force, thanked students for their activism and encouraged students to keep going.

“It will take nothing less than each one of us, every human being on this planet, to change our earth-destructive habits,” she said. “We have to start now because if you and I don’t act to mitigate climate change in whatever ways we can—large like a global rally or small like refusing that plastic bag—we are guilty ourselves of perpetuating the climate change.”

Cain reminded those at the rally that there are local ways to get involved with this issue and help make a positive change. She encouraged residents to come out and support the proposed ban on single use plastic bags in town. There is a public information session on this issue scheduled of Wednesday, March 27 at 7:30 p.m. at the Community Center, 32 Church Street.

“It’s a ban on all single-use plastic bags at the point of checkout and a 10-cent fee on paper bags,” she said. “The 10-cent fee is vitally important and all paper bags must be made of recycled material and be recyclable. We don’t want to shift from plastic to paper because paper itself is a carbon footprint…The earth’s situation is dire but it’s not hopeless.”