Hi, I’m Lila Gottenberg and Welcome to My Own Climate Change. I’m a High Schooler and I want to share my journey to becoming a Climate Change Advocate.
What started it all: When I was in 6th grade, I asked my Mom what would happen to my neighborhood as the climate changes? What will “My Own Climate Change” look like? Was there a website where I could put in my zip code and find out what was going to happen in my backyard? Was there an App?
She could have told me to eat my vegetables—- but instead she said that she wasn’t exactly sure, but I could find out. And I thought that a lot of people must have the same question.
My Idea: Everyone thinks global that Climate Change is a global problem… something that is really bad happening somewhere else on the planet. But, it’s really a local problem!
My Vision: I really believe it would make a difference if more people thought about what Climate Change will do to: the plants and animals in their backyard; their water, energy, and insurance bills; their grocery store produce; and their personal safety from storms or population displacement to their local area,
If people understand what Climate Change will do to them personally, if they Think Global. Think Local., then they will be willing to take actions to reduce non-renewable energy use and greenhouse gases, and also find ways to reduce the effects of Climate Change.
I believed in my idea so much that I wanted to spread the word. First, I asked my Principal if I could make an Earth Day announcement at my school about my idea and on the same day circulate a petition after school. The Announcement told kids about my idea and “The My Own Climate Change Petition”, our encouraging leaders to help reduce Climate Change and better prepare for it, was signed by 167 students in forty-five minutes.
Then, I found out that my local County Council was deciding if they should fund the development of a Climate Change Plan. So, I wrote to all of the Council Members and sent them the Petition asking them to please provide plenty of funding. They did, voting to provide the over $400,000 in required funding. One Councilmember wrote me back an awesome letter the very same day that the funding passed congratulating me on my advocacy and offering to meet with me to receive the Petition.
Meanwhile my idea had gotten a lot of adults excited. They thought I really had my own Voice and they wanted to help… so I started My On Climate Change®, a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping kids and adults better understand how Climate Change will affect them personally and educating them about actions they can take to prevent and mitigate its damage.
I designed a great logo and helped to get it trademarked along our name My Own Climate Change® and along with the phrase Think Global. Think Local®. The lawyer who helped me worked for Girl Scout cookies –Thin Mints to be exact!
I started to build this educational website about My Own Climate Change and some of the girl scouts in my Girl Scout troop helped write webpages. On each page they reflected on what they learned and shared what they thought as Teens. The website will include an interactive page that I am designing to demonstrate the effects of Climate Change called “Climate Change Island.” I am also still exploring the best approach for the on-line tool or app to help people understand what their own Climate Change will look like in their community so that they can Think Global. Think Local.
To better understand the effects of Climate Change, I decided that I should learn about its impact on amphibians who depend heavily on their habitat and are potentially some of the most threatened species. I called and then visited with My Own Climate Change members the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute (SCBI) scientists from the Center for Species Survival to learn about how the reproduction of Appalachian Salamanders may be affected by higher temperatures. We then conducted some independent research on Appalachian Salamanders. I continue to organize and conduct annual informal Appalachian Salamander counts in West Virginia with other My Own Climate Change members.
I was proud to be chosen as the Keynote Speaker at the Montgomery County Schools (MCPS) 2023 Youth Climate Summit where I shared with my peers my journey and gave them my “Recipe to Climate Advocacy.”
Summer of 2024 will mark the first ever My Own Climate Change Summit, a day-long virtual conference that I am organizing with presentations from experts in the field. The Summit will then be maintained on the website to help others learn from these experts.
I am continuing to advocate for resources and actions and am using my experience to teach other students to Think Global. Think Local.