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Gen Z's Environmentalism
172 Plays3 years ago
More than just going green or celebrating Earth Day, Generation Z has been rallying around the environmental movement for years. This episode features a conversation with a Gen Z youth climate activist, Kevin J. Patel, who works to ensure environmental work is infused with climate justice.
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Transcript
Introduction of Episode 28
00:00:00
Speaker
Welcome to hashtag Gen Z. I'm your host, Megan Grace. Hey there, this is episode 28 of hashtag Gen Z. The year is 2021 and we are back.
00:00:25
Speaker
2020 was the doozy of year. In all honesty, podcasting just didn't feel right. Not because there weren't great stories to tell, but I felt like I needed to sit back and observe society for a minute or two.
Gen Z's Environmental Concerns
00:00:36
Speaker
But I'm feeling like it's time to get back into it and share the important stories of Generation Z. In the last two episodes, I explored Generation Z's perspectives on voting and politics.
00:00:47
Speaker
In this episode and the few to follow, I'd like to explore some of the issues Generation Z has voiced to be of their greatest concern and interest when it comes to politics. This episode will dive into a topic Generation Z has been sound in the alarm on for years now, the environment. But we aren't just talking about going green and celebrating Earth Day. Generation Z has truly rallied around and taken ownership of the environmental movement and elevating discussions around climate change, climate justice, and a brighter world for us all.
00:01:17
Speaker
A recent study on Generation Z politics found that the environment in addressing climate change is an issue that unifies Generation Z across political ideologies.
Guest Introduction: Kevin J. Patel
00:01:27
Speaker
I'm joined in this episode by Kevin J. Patel, a youth climate activist from Los Angeles, California. Kevin is the founder and executive director of OneUp Action, an organization that supports marginalized youth by providing them with the resources needed to take innovative steps
00:01:43
Speaker
to tackle the climate crisis within their local communities for regenerative future. Kevin has been fighting for over eight years for climate justice for all. With the help of a friend, he has created the first ever Youth Climate Commission in LA County to amplify youth voices on the climate crisis. Kevin currently serves on three different councils, Youthtopia, World Climate Power 2020, and Intersectional Environmentalist
Kevin's Journey to Activism
00:02:09
Speaker
Council. He's also a UN Together Band Ambassador.
00:02:16
Speaker
I'm very excited to welcome my guest, Kevin Jay Patel, who is a youth climate activist based in Los Angeles, my home state of California, and is it dearly sometimes? He's here to chat about all good things related to the climate movement and environmentalism. And he's definitely got a lot he can share with us. So Kevin, welcome. Thank you so much for being here. Thank you so much for having me. It's an honor to be here and just talk about environmentalism and youth activism. Yeah, you're very passionate. And I know you're doing so much in this space.
00:02:44
Speaker
Can you just give the listeners a little bit of a background about who you are and what you're currently doing? And we'll get into kind of the, the, the deepness of your story in a minute, but where are you Kevin J. Patel? My name is Kevin J. Patel. I've been living here in South central Los Angeles for all my life. And I've been an activist for over eight years. Yeah. I've been fighting for climate justice for that long. And it's very important for me to make sure that young people are very involved in climate activism and a lot of the things that I've been doing, you know, just,
00:03:12
Speaker
talking about intersectionality within movement and making sure I'm fighting for my community. So you said you've been in the climate movement for eight years now. That's almost a good portion of your life really. And I would just love to know how you found your calling. Like how did you get into the climate change movement and the environmentalism movement and finding your voice and finding your space in that. Walk us through your journey and what that looked like.
00:03:37
Speaker
You know, I first began with environmentalism and climate change and climate justice, right? I think I started at a very, very young age. You know, I was never like regular kids. I was always, you know, outside in the garden wanting to plant something. You know, my dream was to become a botanist. And I think from elementary all the way to middle school, that was pretty much the dream. But when I got into middle school, I just, you know, I became aware of issues that were happening in my community of South Central Los Angeles.
00:04:06
Speaker
such as, you know, just the homelessness crisis, you know, how we, you know, South Los Angeles, you know, my community was a food desert and a food prison. I like to call it a food prison. It was coined by the gangster gardener who's Ron Finley, but essentially a food prison is basically, you know,
00:04:28
Speaker
communities that are, you know, sacrifice zones that don't get enough resources or are, you know, there's no investment in our communities, especially in the sense of food and all these other resources. But a food desert specifically is when, you know, you don't have access to non-GMO organic or vegan foods and you have to go to more affluent areas to find those types of foods, right? And so that's where I really, really began my journey
00:04:57
Speaker
during first semester of my sixth grade year, during middle school, teaching students that these types of foods and foods in general come from a farm, not the fast food chain. Because when I would ask my peers, my fellow peers, I would ask them, where does food come from? A lot of them would reply with, it comes from fast food chains, which was sad to see.
00:05:19
Speaker
So I was teaching them about food deserts, food prisons, and how we as a community are one and how we can prevent that and just where food comes from. But second semester, you know, my life changed in a matter of minutes and I was diagnosed with heart palpitations and irregular heartbeat. And so that, you know, that experience, you know, going from a healthy, you know, healthy kid, you know, that was playing and running
00:05:49
Speaker
and playing badminton in tennis, you know, going from a healthy kid to one that's in and out of the hospital was very traumatic for me. And I just didn't know where it was stemming from until, you know, eighth grade, where I kind of, you know, did my own research and said, enough is enough, right? I can see that my community is not only being affected by all these other issues and all these other inequalities, but I'm also seeing that Los Angeles in general is plagued and ravaged with air and smoke pollution.
00:06:19
Speaker
And so I took up the mat on really got involved with climate activism and just, you know, when I went into high school, I started doing a lot more of advocating for my community and my school peers. So you've definitely had a personal connection to your motivation to being involved with the environmental movement and climate change and
00:06:41
Speaker
You know, what are some of the things that you're working on now? I know that now that you're in college, you are doing quite a bit. You've done quite a bit through high school. What are some of the projects you're working on right now related to environmentalism and climate change?
Empowering Marginalized Youth
00:06:53
Speaker
Definitely. Right now, you know, as I'm the founder and executive director of OneUp Action International, an organization that's really about making sure BIPOC, which is black, indigenous people of color and marginalized communities, low income people.
00:07:05
Speaker
you know, low-income youth are able to get the resources to combat the climate crisis by, you know, bringing their solutions, bringing innovative steps to combat the climate crisis. So we're pretty much giving resources to our communities that don't usually get these type of opportunities. We're not coming, a lot of us young people who come from these communities don't get to do a lot of activities as affluent communities get to do, right?
00:07:32
Speaker
work for JPL or NASA or go to the Google science for and just in general, all these types of opportunities. So definitely the organization I'm working for one of auction is pretty much wanting to making sure that BIPOC and marginalized voices have the resources to take action.
00:07:49
Speaker
and are able to do it with support. Another thing I'm doing within the movement is making sure that we're really intersectional, right? I think one of the things, the big things that I always talk about is intersectionality, you know, within the movement, within the climate movement, when we talk about intersectionality with the movement and making sure that all communities are present and included, we've done a poor job of this. It might be an intergenerational movement, right? But we, you know, we talk the talk, but we don't walk the walk on intersectionality.
00:08:18
Speaker
And this is a huge issue that is affecting a lot of people. We really need to start bringing in more people from communities that are directly affected and are on the front lines of the climate crisis and start talking about intersectionality within the movement and the climate movement.
Intersectionality in Climate Movement
00:08:32
Speaker
I say that we did a poor job because climate activism has, you know, always been associated with, you know, the white middle-class young people and now youth of color or indigenous peoples or BIPOC communities, marginalized communities, or even low-income youth, right?
00:08:47
Speaker
Within this movement, people tend to forget that those who are in power have a sense of privilege and are, you know, white. It is a battle to get space you deserve, right? So it's very important that we start finding solutions and fixing intersectionality within the movement. And that is exactly what I've been doing is making sure that we're not only, you know, bringing in voices, but we're not tokenizing them. And they have the seat at the table so that they're able to bring their solutions and really dictate what happens within their community, right?
00:09:18
Speaker
So while working with OneUp Action to get resources for BIPOC communities, marginalized voices, and low-income youth, I'm also working on intersectionality within the movement. I think that's fantastic. Your work is, I think, illuminating a lot that there isn't just one type of climate activist and that the experiences that people have with environmentalism and how the environment impacts them based on their identities is a really important thing.
00:09:48
Speaker
I think that there has been a lot of progress with the environmental movement, especially in the last 10, 15 years. But you've really pointed out that it's been very monolithic in that there needs to be more nuance and more understanding of how the environment impacts people of different identities and different backgrounds in a variety of different ways. It's incredibly important and I'm proud of the work that you're doing.
00:10:09
Speaker
Some of the research that we've been doing, my research partner and I on Generation Z for the last few years is that the environment has continually grown to be something that Generation Z very much so cares about. It's something that they care about when it comes to politics and government involvement, but they're also personal involvement with the movement. Why do you think that environmentalism and the climate movement has become so important to Generation Z?
00:10:33
Speaker
The reason why Generation Z is so invested in environmentalism and the climate justice movement is because we already know that it's affecting our lives. A lot of our peers and a lot of our communities are being affected. And we are just simply wanting to fight for our future, right? And I think that is the one thing adults quite don't understand is that we're already in the midst of the six mass extinction where plants and animals are going extinct
00:11:01
Speaker
And we're seeing deforestation of forests. We're seeing natural disasters such as hurricanes and rapid hurricanes that are happening in the states. And so we're seeing our communities already being affected. And I think that's the reason why our generation is very invested within the climate movement. I actually want to say we're named Generation Z, the last letter in the alphabet. And I think one of the things that
Gen Z's Role in Climate Advocacy
00:11:31
Speaker
is so important is that we are not the last generation that's gonna be combating the climate crisis. We're really known as the generation as the Green New Deal, right? Gen GND, the generation of the Green New Deal. And I think that is one of the, you know, a lot of the young people and youth advocates kind of band together and saying, you know, this is, we shouldn't be classified as the last letter in the alphabet. We should be classified as the generation of the Green New Deal because that is what we're trying to achieve within not only the United States, but throughout the world is making sure that
00:12:01
Speaker
world leaders are implementing these type of policies and these type of laws so that we can take climate action because we know we are far behind and we are at this moment losing the fight and that might be pessimistic but it's definitely something that we as young people know and that is the reason why we're fighting is that we have no time left to, you know, lallygag and stay in these current systems.
00:12:28
Speaker
And we're fighting the systems that no longer work for the people. So that is the reason why young people are so heavily involved in the climate movement.
00:12:36
Speaker
I agree. I think that the foresight of how much it impacts your future and the future of other generations is very mature. There's a lot of people that would look at policy and government and political arenas and say, I'm going to fight for the things that directly impact me here now. And what I love about Generation Z is they're like, we need to be concerned about those things, but we also need to think about like 10, 15, 20 years down the road,
00:13:03
Speaker
what is the future looking like? And while I don't get to benefit from it immediately today, I care more about a brighter future. And I think that that's something that's so noteworthy about this generation and your generation especially. Definitely. I've definitely noticed more with this generation that there is individual commitment to this. While yes, people are concerned about politics and government and how that is a part of the Green New Deal, but there's a lot of individuals that want to get involved or are currently involved
00:13:33
Speaker
with the environmental movement. So from your perspective, I know you dedicate your life to this. You're so incredibly passionate about it. You eat, sleep, and breathe it pretty much. What would you suggest to your fellow Generation Z peers on how they can get involved with the climate movement and environmentalism? If you had your few quick tips to provide to people to get involved, what would you say? I would say, I think one of the things I would say is just get involved. It's very easy. With the climate crisis, with the climate change,
00:14:02
Speaker
What can we do right now? That's a big question. And I think one of the things I would tell a fellow peer or a fellow student or a fellow Generation Z member is changing who we are, our habits, changing the foods that we eat, how we travel, taking direct action to make our community better, planting trees, community action.
00:14:24
Speaker
community-based solutions that are already there, right? That is what we as individuals can really do is making sure that we're taking the necessary steps to change who we are as people, but also making sure that we're taking systematic action as well and demanding of our leaders saying, hey, if we're able to do it, then you should be able to do it, right? And holding them accountable. And I think that is one of the things is the generation, you know, my generation can do is
00:14:51
Speaker
It's just very much taking that first step, right, as an individual in their community and seeing what issues are there and start tackling it, start getting involved, plan events, get more community members involved, right. I think in this current climate, especially with the COVID-19 pandemic, it's quite hard. I did want to add onto the point previously, you know, when I was talking about why our generation is so involved, I think
00:15:17
Speaker
Also, it's like we're seeing the current systems, right? When we talk about how the climate crisis comes about is that the climate crisis is perpetrated by the systems of oppression and our current systems. And when I talk about the systems of oppression, I'm talking about racism, patriarchy, discrimination, all of these systems of oppression are causing the climate crisis. And because of the COVID-19 pandemic, we've just seen that
00:15:42
Speaker
our current system no longer work for its people, right? And it hasn't been working for people that are black, brown, indigenous, people of color, marginalized peoples, low-income communities. And that in itself should be a wake-up call for everyone, right?
00:15:59
Speaker
is that if our current systems are no longer working, if the fossil fuel industry during the COVID-19 pandemic, you know, struggled that much, we understand that we no longer rely on these systems and we need to start, you know, changing the way we are living. And so what I would tell, you know, young people that are my age and are wanting to get involved, that have never been involved, is just taking that first step.
00:16:23
Speaker
seeing what issues are in your community, doing what you can, and getting involved, right? There are many opportunities out there, and if there are not any opportunities, I would really suggest, and this is a way to plug in one-up action, get involved with organizations. There are many organizations out there, but yeah. I think, and you bring up a good way of doing the self-assessment, that there are certain ways that each individual can figure out how they're a part of the climate movement.
00:16:50
Speaker
I think sometimes people even forget about the power of one person and changing personal behavior because I know that this is something I really committed to is like reducing single use plastic and looking at the ways in which, you know, I'm sitting at my house a lot these days, identifying ways in which some of the materials I use in the consumer goods that I buy is not conducive to the environment and even just me being a one time, a one consumer, but like I have a lifetime of consumerism that I can change. And while it's not going to maybe
00:17:20
Speaker
save the earth entirely by one person, I'm also doing my little, my contribution in my own way. And I think sometimes people forget that their individual contribution can actually go a long way and it does create a ripple effect over time. So yeah, I like, you know, your suggestion of starting, starting at home and thinking about like, how can I contribute? What are the ways that I feel comfortable and informed and ready to contribute and then diving in. Cause I think that sometimes it's that first step that some people get a little scared about, but, um,
00:17:50
Speaker
Yeah, I like your advice. I think we could also learn a little bit something for older generations because there are some older generation advocates out there for Generation Z, I qualify as one of those, of ways that, you know, older generations can be supporting the youth climate movement. What ways can older generations be supportive for activists such as yourself and other young people working in this space?
00:18:17
Speaker
Definitely.
Support from Older Generations
00:18:18
Speaker
I guess there are many young youth organizations, right? If you have expertise on, you know, law or any, just expertise in any field, definitely reach out to these youth organizations. We're always looking for adult mentors, right? I think that is one of the things, the misconception that the youth movement is just a youth movement. We definitely rely on adult mentors, adult support, um,
00:18:41
Speaker
So definitely that is one way that older generations getting involved is just offering their help to these youth organizations. Another way is financially, right? I think also right now a lot of youth movements are struggling, especially during the COVID-19 crisis, is that a lot of youth movements find it hard to fund a lot of the activities and campaigns that they're doing. So definitely there are many organizations out there that are doing great initiatives and that are youth led and BIPOC youth led and I think
00:19:10
Speaker
Many of the older generations can support that way financially. But another way, and this is not to get involved in youth organizations, another way in general, like, you know, just individuals or, you know, older generation individuals can get involved is just by
00:19:29
Speaker
you know, voting, you know, they have the power to vote. And a lot of younger generations that are in the age of, you know, 12 or 13 or 14, right, we're not able to quite vote yet. And so that is another way is using your vote to, you know, make a difference. Electing politicians are more progressive on the climate crisis. And I think that is one way that older generations can really support the youth climate movement.
00:19:56
Speaker
Um, there are many other ways that, you know, just older generations can help, but I think those are the three prominent ones that I find that we need the most of in the movement. I think that's really important because once you become a voting age, you can vote for the rest of your life. And I think as I've learned more and connected more with members of Generation Z, I've realized that my voting habits have changed because I think I'm becoming a little bit more ideologically like Gen Z.
00:20:23
Speaker
And I think, okay, well, what candidate is going to not only support the issues I care about, but the fact that there are young people that will be impacted by the decisions of these candidates that are gonna live longer than I am or that are gonna be present and going to be in leadership positions in the future. And I think that that's so important that many times we vote with our own self-interest and the things that are going to immediately impact us. But when we think about like us being a collective community,
00:20:52
Speaker
and thinking about the entirety of that community, it sometimes I think changes the way we think about our vote. And I love that example and that advice you have for older generations is thinking about those who can't vote and how their lives will be impacted if we vote one way or another with a certain candidate or another. So Kevin, thank you for your advice, not only for your peers and for older generations to support the youth climate movement, but I like to wrap every episode up with discussing
00:21:22
Speaker
you know, amazing things about Generation Z. There's thousands and thousands, and I could go on forever about it. But from your perspective, what are some of your favorite things about your Generation Z peers?
Gen Z as Proactive Leaders
00:21:32
Speaker
Definitely. I think one of the most, you know, characteristics that I really find that, you know, is my favorite thing about my peers and my generation is that, you know, we're
00:21:44
Speaker
We, we don't take the BS that is coming from our world leaders. We're really about, we're not the leaders of tomorrow. We're the leaders of today. And I always say that, and that is what my generation encompasses that word that these advocates are the change makers. We're doing it right now. We're doing the work right now. And I think that in itself is my favorite thing is that we are the leaders of right now. And that kind of just inspires me that, you know, I think
00:22:10
Speaker
with all the obstacles my generation is facing, you know, we don't let that deter us from doing what we love to do or what we wanna do, right? And that in itself is like, you know, that persistence to get what we wanna get and we get it done, right? I think that is one of the things I find about my generation that I love the most. I appreciate that as well. I think that there is a level of, I don't wanna say rebellion, cause sometimes that word gets like a nasty connotation, but there is this,
00:22:39
Speaker
kind of an ethos with Generation Z around not waiting for other people to tell them it's their time to lead. Because I think that that's something that has been really detrimental for society for a really long time is that young people can't lead and young people can't have good ideas just because they have less experience on earth. And I think that discounts the important experiences that you've had. And so I can agree 100% that I think Generation Z is using the energy
00:23:07
Speaker
that they have right now to do what they can. And it would be really magical if we had older generations. And you brought up a really good point. Like older generations can be fantastic mentors. That's what mentors do is they share experience with younger generations or with their mentees. And I wonder what kind of harmony would be created if we looked at it with, generation Z has this energy right now and this passion to fix things, but older generations might have the, again, the finances and the experience. We teamed up on things. I wonder what society would look like.
00:23:37
Speaker
I definitely also want to add, like, I think this is one of, you know, my mentor once told me this is like, when we change, the world changes. The key to all changes are inner transformation, right? A change of our hearts and our minds. And this is human revolution, right? I think that even though that revolution gets a negative connotation, I think human revolution is what we need the most. A change of our minds and our hearts.
00:24:00
Speaker
We have the power to change, and when we realize the truth, we can bring forth that power anywhere, anytime, in any situation. And I think that in itself encompasses my generation and older generations as well, is that if older generations are willing to change, then definitely we as a society and we as human beings can really truly make a difference in our planet, right?
00:24:25
Speaker
that really encompasses what activism is all about is that, you know, it's not a passion for a lot of people. It's a lot of, for me, especially it's a survival tool. And I think just to end, I think that I find activism and I find, um, you know, the things that I do daily is I do it for my community because, you know, my community is being hurt the most and we're at the front lines, but yeah, I just thank you for inviting me on this podcast. It's been nice chatting with you.
00:24:54
Speaker
Kevin, thank you for being here. It has been wonderful to learn from you and learn about you and get advice from you on how people can support the climate movement. I'm positive there are people that would be interested in following along with your journey and the work that you're doing. What is the best way for people to connect with you and follow along? Definitely. If you want to follow my personal journey, you can follow me at I'm Kevin Jay Patel. And if you want to follow my organization and our team, our amazing team, you can follow us at
00:25:23
Speaker
at one of action. We don't get confused by our chapters. It's just at one of action on all social medias. And on Twitter, it's at one of action inc. If you want to follow my journey, it's I'm Kevin J Patel. So I am and then K-E-B-I-N-J-P-A-T-E-L. And that is for your Twitter and Instagram, correct? Yeah. Perfect. I would really suggest following Kevin. He is providing a lot of content that I've been following, especially since we've been connected and it's been great to learn from him.
00:25:52
Speaker
would encourage that to everyone. Kevin, thank you again for being here. It has just been an absolute delight to spend time with you. Thank you so much for having me. First, a big thank you to Kevin for joining me in this conversation. Kevin is beyond passionate about the climate change and climate justice movement. I so appreciate his insights around the need to recognize the impacts of climate change from an intersectional lens.
00:26:18
Speaker
Kevin's work and leadership in this space is just one of the many examples of generations of youth who are working to make our earth cleaner and more sustainable. There are many ways we can do our own part to support the climate movement and the Gen Z leaders who are paving the way. If you'd like to follow along with Kevin's journey and the important work he's doing, he can be found on social media or you can learn about his work with OneUpAction at oneupaction.org.
00:26:45
Speaker
As I'm gearing up to release more episodes, I'm excited to share new adventures for hashtag Gen Z listeners. There's now a hashtag Gen Z Patreon community. Through the Patreon community, you can become a member of a community of hashtag Gen Z listeners. Think of this as a book club style experience for listeners of this podcast.
00:27:04
Speaker
It will provide ways for listeners to come together to discuss episodes as well as current events and Generation Z. There are three tiers of membership and each tier has unique benefits from early access to episode content to live Q&A sessions and one-on-one calls with me to discuss all of your Gen Z questions. I'll add this to the show notes on my website, but you can join the hashtag Gen Z community on Patreon at patreon.com slash Gen Z Megan M. Grace.
00:27:30
Speaker
And as always, if you enjoyed this episode, please rate, review, and subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts. We'll continue this discussion into the social issues important to Gen Z in coming episodes. But if you have a topic you're interested in or a member of Generation Z I need to chat with, please head over to my website, meganmgrace.com, or find me on social media to drop me a quick note. Thank you again for stopping by for this episode. Let's continue this conversation, and we'll chat soon.