Lucie, I love you more than you could ever know and I hope that my promises help contribute to a better world for you and inspire you to take action as well as you grow into the amazing adult I know you will be.

If there’s one thing young people have learned while quarantining, it’s that Gen Z holds so much power and is capable of a lot more than we think. We’ve created a community that has united us all and started to bring about change for the good of our futures. Now, with the help of Gen Z (and of course, people of all ages), we have the power to save our home, the Earth.

I see a world full of hope fueled by the desire for change.

I am going to start doing better to have a healthier planet for you to live on.

I am writing this to keep myself accountable and push myself towards taking action towards a sustainable future. I hope children of the future can still appreciate the wonders that nature and all its beings have to offer, appreciate the beauty in the world around us.

I became an activist to be part of a force to save the natural world and go 100% clean energy.

The fact that you are reading this means that you would know the answer to a question that has kept me up at night more often than I would like to admit: Did I make you proud?

I’m voting with climate change as a top priority. I’ve tried to teach you boys that we need to clean up after ourselves and take care of the earth. I promise to continue doing these actions and more, for your sake.

I’m not allowed to talk about climate change around family; as my mom warned me, “climate change is not something that people think about in Mississippi.” But I’m worried for my family’s future.