Today morning, when I woke up my mom came over to me and asked in a panic, “Should we stock up on water bottles?” I said no, and then asked why she thought we needed that. She replied that when she was growing up, the only types of emergency situations were power-outages and water scarcities. I'm glad that, at the very least, we have those basic necessities.
For the last couple of days, It has been heartwarming to watch our community come together and support each other. Some restaurants are offering free food to students who need it. People are becoming more cognizant about how other vulnerable groups could be affected by their actions and behaving accordingly.
For me, personally, "social distancing" has been surprisingly social. I've been on massive zoom calls with students all over the country, and I've been given the opportunity to reconnect with old friends. I am planning on spending more time on hobbies, like reading and drawing, and yes - I’ve been studying for school as well. Even though my standardized tests have been cancelled and the status of my AP exams are unknown, my school teachers have been amazing in being on top of things and assigning us work online.
I'm especially proud that environmentalists worldwide are continuing to work for a better future. It has been devastating to see the tree-plantings, clean-up-drives, marches and more that we have planned for months be cancelled in a heartbeat, but we are stronger than that. Instead of community action, we can focus on individual action and education , and we can make sure that people have the ability and resources to take climate action on their own. To anyone and everyone reading this, I want you to know that what you do matters - with regards to environmental action and to keep up with this week’s theme start with some individual action to save water. Register for the water challenge at https://www.thegreywaterproject.org/copy-of-water-challenge
If you're stuck at home with kids and want to teach them about water conservation, I have grey water lesson plans for elementary kids! Reach out and I can send them to you!