By November of this year, I will be in London. Scratch that- I will be living in London. I’ve travelled, yes, but I’ve never lived in another country, much less a city as iconic and bustling as London. I can’t help but feel some responsibility for my future part-time home and an urge to leave it a little better than I found it. After all, we’re all on this cramped little blue sphere together, so we might as well help each other out while we’re here. Looking at the global climate catastrophe, it can feel apocalyptically overwhelming, like there’s nothing we can do about it. As I was writing this essay, catastrophic floods ravaged the Texas hill country, literally right next door to me. My loved ones and I were thankfully spared the worst, but it served as a stark reminder of what happens when climate change intersects with political negligence.
Shamefully, as of March of this year, my home country of The United States formally rejected the 17 UN Sustainable goals, while the UK continues to agree to them. It’s incredibly demoralizing to watch the most powerful people in the country, the people who theoretically have the most power to execute the 17 goals so completely resign themselves to cruelty and inaction. It’s easy to feel helpless, to sink into hopelessness and despair. For me, the way forward is to focus on the small actions I can take every day to push the world a little closer to the way it should be, in spite of every external force that tries to stop me.
First and most obviously: sustainable travel! I’m flying from Austin, Texas to London, which according to myclimate, burns a grand total of 3 tons of carbon dioxide. Obviously, I’m going to need to do quite a bit to balance it out. The good news is, of course, London is probably one of the best cities in the world for public transportation. I plan to acquire an Oyster Card (the premier method for London guests to pay for the tube), download TFL Go, and proceed to use and abuse the London Underground, indisputably the sexiest of all sustainable transport options (or maybe I watch too many British indie movies). I plan to take advantage of my Texan tolerance for long trips by travelling around the country via bus and train, having adventures while saving energy. Secondly, I’d like to focus on some of the under discussed UN goals, namely number 10 and reducing inequalities. Like I said- I don’t want to spend half my school year in London without leaving it a little better than I found it. Queen Mary’s University offers a large variety of volunteering opportunities- given my experience working with kids, I’m drawn to Project Play, a group that works with local children’s hospitals to organize arts and crafts, movie nights, and other fun activities to make children’s time in the hospital a little better.
