Young Voices for the Planet: 10 Short Success Stories (2015)

Young Voices for the Planet is a compilation of 10 stories of youth solutions to the climate crisis. The youth in the YVFP films learn about climate change, are concerned, and take action to reduce CO2. Their passion, commitment and earnestness give the films an emotional punch: they move adult audiences to tears, but they affect young people differently empowering them to act. The films provide replicable templates- reduce CO2 emissions, save the environment, save money, save humanity. For example, Dreaming in Green documents 4 students who learn that Miami will suffer serious economic loss from sea level rise; their school energy audit reduces C02 emissions and saves the school $53,000 in energy bills. In Plant for the Planet, 11-year-old Felix plants millions of trees to take up CO2. Olivia's Birds and the Oil Spill documents 11-year-old Olivia who raises $200,000 to clean oiled birds after the BP spill and speaks to her congressmen about supporting renewable energy. In Save Tomorrow, three 9-year-olds watch the Young Voices for the Planet films and think "If those kids can do something, so can we. " Inspired to take action, they start a club, testify at town meeting, and successfully help overturn a law prohibiting solar panels on town buildings. And in We Sing Out! , the Rivertown kids sing with folk legend Pete Seeger and "speak out musically" about a renewable-energy-powered future. Climate change can be doom and gloom but these films are about HOPE and EMPOWERMENT.