Saving the World Through Writing

Warming Speech 1

You know that awkward moment when you say something not quite right? Or when you do something that's not quite ok? Yeah it's not fun, is it. Oh, and you know that awkward moment when you finally realise that climate change is real? And the most awkward moment of all is where kids, like me, have to do something about it.

Hi, my name's ______ (hidden for privacy). I'm a kid, just like the millions all around the world. I've got my dreams, just like them. When I'm older, I want to be tackling the ball off others, writing down my imagination and studying the cosmos. Or, playing soccer, being an author and studying astrophysics. Like many other kids out there, I'm ambitious. However, those dreams might never become a reality.

I love the water. The ocean is my happy place. I like to swim and play in the waves. But, there's one, eency-weency, itty-bitty, tiny, little problem. Let me tell you a story.

So, I was walking along the beach with my mum, dad and dog. The sky was ablaze with colour, the clouds a drop-sheet a careless artist had spilt paint on. I was in the water. With my clothes on. My pants were sopping wet in, uh, that region. My mum, naughty and as funny as ever, called out to me, "______ (hidden for privacy), have you peed your pants?". I was having too much fun to notice what she actually said, so I just smiled and nodded. Oops. She never let me hear the end of that. ANyway, I looked out to sea again. IN the distance, I noticed a thin, brown line, floating above the water. I thought it must have been a trick of my eyes. I carried on getting soaked by the waves that galloped into shore, ivory stallions of foam. I tried to pretend that I hadn't seen the strange brown smear, whatever it was. But, there was a strange sensation in the back of my mind. It tickled and itched, like a mozzie bite that just won't go away. I didn't want to scratch the itch, afraid of what might happen if I did. Fortunately, dad scratched the itch for me. "See that line out there bear? The brown one?". I nodded my head. "That's pollution," dad sighed. "Strange to think that humans have done that." Then it hit me. I was a part of this. All my life I've looked upon climate change as a thing that others could take care of. People like Greta Thunderburg, the protester, or Damon Gameau, the maker of 2040. People like world leaders. People like adults. People like you and me. But none of us are doing enough.

The modern, material society has made us worse for who we are. Sure, there's substantial benefits. Unlimited water, energy, easy transport, supply and consumer relations... on the surface, these are all for the better. They're better for us. Humans. The idiotic, power-hungry, greedy, self-important, tyrannical, totalitarian pieces of poo. The pieces of poo who have conquered the earth.

This isn't finished yet.