This story is part of our Disney Dreamers Academy series. Learn more about how teens from across the nation are changing the world by fulfilling their dreams.

There’s something funny going on in our waters, soil and air – and the youth are calling it out.

Gen Z and Millennials believe that climate change should be top priority to ensure a more sustainable future. And rightfully so. Thousands of people have been victims of catastrophic natural disasters and the rippling effects of human harm done to the planet. Global warming is triggering harsher winters and hotter summers, which take a toll on aging infrastructure.

When Mississippi’s Pearl river swelled during severe storms in August, it shut down the main water treatment facility in Jackson, Miss., leaving thousands without drinkable water. A deep freeze in February 2021 knocked out Texas’ electrical grid, resulting in rolling blackouts during a time when Texans were experiencing below-freezing temperatures. The Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas reported in January that the grid was still vulnerable to extreme weather. Then there are environmental disasters, such as the fiery Norfolk Southern train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, which leaked hazardous chemicals into waterways and polluted the air.

That’s why many youth are doing what they can to protect the health of the planet.

Lindsey Sands’ entrance into the environmental justice movement started with a sixth grade project studying dead zones caused by the overpopulation of algal blooms in Chesapeake Bay, which has been an issue for the area since 1938.The overgrowth is triggered by the excessive amount of nutrients, such nitrogen and phosphorous, that spill into the bay from human activities. When algal blooms die and decompose, it strips oxygen from the water and creates a “dead zone” where fish, crabs and other aquatic animals can’t survive.

Frustration swelled in Sands as she started to learn more about this fixable issue.

“It’s just kind of odd to see there’s so much research and knowledge and information that we have about this but nothing’s being done about it. That’s a common theme in a lot of environmental issues, not just water pollution,” Sands said.

Sands couldn’t find environmental justice opportunities for kids her age in her hometown of Colombia, MD. So she wasted no time creating opportunities where teens can learn about the roles they play in creating a healthier environment. She has taught students how to recycle and plant seedlings through her school’s environmental club, which she founded her freshman year of high school. She became facilitator for Sunrise Movement’s Howard County chapter, which helps youth organize for political action against climate change. Now a senior, the 17-year-old is making sure those fighting for climate and environmental justice are paid living wages and pitching environmental policy to local representatives.

Sands makes it clear that even when youth have both the microphone and the blueprint for change, environmental issues aren’t all teens’ to fix. She’s staying on top of the moves of President Joe Biden’s administration.

“All of the older people are just like, ‘Oh, your generation is going to be the one that’s going to fix everything’ but I think it puts a lot of pressure on us as individuals and as a whole group to fix everything when the older generations have kind of passed it off to us and have stopped trying in a way,” Sands said. “So I think this current generation in office could take on more responsibility for themselves so when the younger generation comes through to be in office, it will feel like there are already things in progress and we don’t have to start everything, which would be a better transition.”

Helping the planet by land and by sea

Eliza Watkins has enjoyed all types of cultural experiences during her travels to more than 20 different countries. The 14-year-old Seattle-based traveler writes about her adventures on her mother’s blog KidTripster, where she was given an “Honorable Mention” award from the North American Travel Journalists Association for her article about her Alaskan cruise.

Although she has plunged into frigid cold waters and explored the Mayan ruins in Belize, learning how to scuba dive off the French Polynesian Island of Moorea is what inspired her desire to become a marine biologist. Obtaining her open water scuba certification was part of a month-long summer camp program she attended last July where she learned about French Polynesian culture and sustainability efforts.

It wasn’t Watkin’s first peek into the ocean. She’s been snorkeling with her family before. But scuba diving gave her a wider window into undersea life. She could actually feel the push and pulls of the waves and feel the marine life swimming around her.

“With snorkeling, sometimes you’re disruptive because you have to go up for air, come back down into the water and you have to move your arms,” Watkins said. “But scuba diving was super peaceful. You could go underwater and there wasn’t much motion involved. You can view the animals from their point of view, and just really watch their life instead of them walking yours.”

Back on land, Sands is empowering students to be the change they want to see by creating and proposing a Climate Change Action Plan for her school system. She and her environmental justice colleagues were inspired by a similar initiative approved in nearby Prince George County Schools, which is pushing to be a zero-emission school system by 2040. After contacting talking to their school superintendent and collaborating with officials in their school system’s central office, Sands said they recruited about 60 staff members, parents and community members from across the school district to help do research in one of the five groups that will focus on different areas of environmental justice:

• Energy: How energy can be sourced for school buildings as well as other facilities to have a lesser impact on the environment
  
• Transportation: The efficiency of how students get to and from school
  
• Waste: Minimization of waste via recycling, composting, and potential improvement of school lunches
  
• Land Management: The sustainability of the schools’ landscapes via factors like pervious surfaces and trees
  
• Education: The standardized school curriculum and how the environment and climate can be incorporated
  

“After the research is all done, we will draft a plan and try to get it passed in the school system,” Sands said. “This project has been really rewarding for me because it was a lot of work, but it’s really big. So that’s exciting.”

Age is never a limit

Both Sands and Watkins were two of the 100 high school teens chosen to participate in the Disney Dreamers Academy in March. The immersive four-day mentoring program was packed with inspiring, celebrity led speeches, panels and workshops. Watkins listened closely to Marsai Martin, the “Black-Ish” star who at just 16 became the youngest producer to work on a Hollywood film. Now, the 18-year-old is celebrating the release of her new Disney Channel show “Saturdays.”

Although Watkins doesn’t see a future for herself in film, she said Martin’s rise to fame so young inspired her to do big things in the marine biology world despite her age.

“Coming into the program, I was a little scared because I was one of only a couple [high school] freshmen. I thought I wouldn’t be as experienced as some other teens or not have as much entrepreneurial skills,” Watkins said. “But hearing from her, I know age is definitely not a limit. It just made me realize that there will always be people in your life that want to support you and want to see you shine.”

Watkins said she wants to continue gaining more knowledge of how to support marine life.

During her career workshop at the Disney Academy, Watkins met marine biologist Danni Washington who also has her own Black-centered ocean conservation brand called Mocha Mermaids. As the Dreamers fed popsicles to manatees and Jell-O to turtles, Watkins said she was happy to see someone who looks like her doing what she wants to do one day, especially since the marine biology field is only three percent Black.

Watkins said if she wrote a love letter to the ocean, it would be one full of gratitude.

“The ocean takes in a lot of harm that people cause, that greenhouse gasses cause, that plastic and trash cause,” Watkins said. “But it keeps on giving back. And I’m really appreciative of that. On the surface, it  just looks like water. But there’s so much beauty in store for us underneath.”