Activism over Seas

I was born and raised in a small town outside of Stockholm, Sweden. I was taught how to read, write, think, amongst many other things, in a Swedish school environment. My journey as an environmental activist has looked very different as my growth and understanding of the issue evolved over time. However, I have noticed some distinct differences between my actions as an activist in Sweden, and once I moved to the U.S.

I first became more aware and interested in environmental issues when I began my high school program in Sweden: Natural Sciences with an environmental concentration at Norra Real in Stockholm. Before I had come, we had discussed global warming and pollution in middle school, but never dug into specific scientific processes of the degradation. Thus, applying my passion for sciences to a global issue was very eyeopening. It became a big part of my routine as I studied it every day. Interestingly, this was not what made me an activist: it was my classmates that introduced me to the activist aspect of understanding environmental issues. My friends and I would often discuss during lunches different environmental policies that Sweden's government ought to implement and lifestyle changes that can be the kickstart to an internal movement, such as transitioning to a vegetarian/vegan diet, purchasing clothes at thrift stores, using sustainable materials, etc.. Thus, my activism began with research, understanding the political and scientific processes of climate change, discussing the issue with family members, friends, school-officials, sometimes through letters to politicians, and altering my life so it was full of environmentally-related actions much more than before. Something I learned from this is that activism begins by educating yourself, applying your values and passions to the issue, and doing what you feel you can do to change your ecological footprint.

Once I came to the United States at the age of 17, at the beginning of my junior year of high school, I felt I had a set foundation of understanding our environment and the urgency at which we need to deal with its destruction. However, in New York City, as well as the whole country, I noticed that opinions about global warming and pollution, as well as people's exposure and vulnerability to it, were extremely diverse. I met kids who didn't believe in global warming, and I met others whose parents' lungs were damaged from extreme exposure to pollution. This opened my eyes to see that, environmental activism was much broader than I had before understood. Previously, most of my focus had gone to understanding what global warming was, and what we (and Sweden) ought to do. In the US, I was exposed and introduced to a broader scope of what environmental justice was (this, of course, went along with my growth as an activist in general too). Thus, I am grateful for having discussions with people who didn't believe in climate change, and who thought environmental justice was nonsense (yes... I have met these people and they are many). It pushed me to understand the severity of the humane aspect of climate change: how much work we have to do on educating people and getting people (institutions) to truly change. My veganism and climate discussions with my friends were not nearly enough. I began protesting with my friend on weekends, organizing events to educate and engage students, and voting for politicians who demonstrated a similar passion. The extent of harm that environmental degradation causes was overwhelming, but getting organized and becoming part of a bigger movement gave me more hope and engagement with activism.

I know that, due to my Swedish nationality, people might associate my activism with Greta Thunberg and Fridays for Future. However, my journey of activism has been separate from her activism. I appreciate her fire and passion for environmental issues, as well as her ability to reach out to millions of people, many of whom are politicians with a lot of power to make institutional change. However, Fridays for Future is a movement that clearly originated in Sweden as many Swedish students have the privilege to join the movement (with the social security net). From a global perspective, many children and young adults do not have the means to drop everything in their lives to protest every week. Therefore, I do not fully identify my activist identity with my Swedish one. It is a growing identity that keeps on broadening when I meet new people from around the world with different stories and relationships with global warming. One thing I am certain of is that I will work towards supporting climate justice and ending the climate crisis.