TURN IT
AROUND!

There must be a willingness to question what it means to have a “good life.” It’s frustrating that so many people still very much define a good life in terms of how much they can buy, how lavishly they can live, how many things they can own. Bu...

I learned that the songs of birds, the wood that we use for making fire, the water that we drink, and the food that we eat are some of the things that can’t be replicated in this world. With this awareness, I have realized the importance of taking...

Cup your hands over your ears, pause. listen. Notice overlapping sounds of sea, cave, sense, time, r a i n Now pick up two pencils, one in each hand, and use them to make the Sound of Rain with repeated marks falling onto the page. What if listening...

We need to learn how to change and progress in modern ways without being confined to Western standards. In this way, we may let our Earth breathe again...

You might be surprised that a 14-year-old cares about environmental issues but it scares me to see how few of my peers still do. We are the future, yet we don’t take care of the Earth we’ll be living on. I asked my friends what they think about g...

Remember the women who are victims of gender-based violence due to climate crisis when you make decisions about their future. Remember the women who are being sold off into marriage because of a shortage of food in their house or during extreme droug...

Resilience. Nature shows us the ability to recover after being damaged or destroyed. We always see how it strives to survive: the small plants and flowers that emerge after devastating floods, the forests that regrow after fires, the trees that lift...

We have six to ten years to take action before it is too late to reverse any of the damage our planet has suffered....

Nature taught me about cooperation or gotong royong. Plants are related to each other and complement each other to create a balanced ecosystem. Sometimes a plant's life depends on other plants, such as the endangered Rafflesia flower. Rafflesia flowe...

If we borrow the Earth from future generations, then we must return it at least in the same condition. I don’t want my children to inherit an empty planet....

Puhon translates to “someday” or “in God’s time” in Bisaya, a language from the Philippines. This special expression brings hope and positivity, a glimpse of the possibilities of all that seem impossible, and the limitless dreams of young c...

The twenty-first century – filled with alarm, Our planet suffers, nature loses its charm. It slips through our fingers, drained and dry, Leaving behind only grey in the sky. Forests vanish, rivers run bare, Waters grow murky, life gasps for air. Fi...

I believe everything that is treated well will thrive and give you the same treatment. I’ve learned this from taking care of animals and plants....

I admire bees so much that my desire is to become one of them — from their flight, which is a real enigma, to the funny way they buzz while filling their little bodies with pollen. But what I admire the most is that they form hives and carry out a...

I found myself on a planet. The air was heavy. Everything around me was gray, and in the distance, the world looked even more colorless. As I wandered through this planet, I missed my own – the green one – more and more. Walking across the tired...

Nature heals! Ancestral knowledge about medicinal plants that are passed on in traditional communities can save lives. Including traditional knowledge and young indigenous scientists is a major step forward in the advancement of science and technolog...

One of the most important lessons I have learned from my ancestors is to always take into consideration the past, the present, and the future. I want to pass it on to future generations because I want to remind them that while we have to live in the...

As the saying goes, "Alam takambang jadi guru" - nature is a teacher. There are many life lessons that nature teaches us, such as always being humble (the rice is getting fuller, the more it bends down), never give up (a river that continues to flow...

One of our popular local myths involves Maria Makiling, the resident diwata (fairy) of the namesake mountain in Laguna. She once walked among humans but was distraught by the environmental destruction they’ve caused and was never seen since. I like...