 Hello everyone and welcome to Meet the Experts Youth Action for Collective Climate Justice. I'm Katie Wolfson with the UCAR Center for Science Education and I am so excited to welcome all of you here today. This Meet the Experts is a special event that is part of the Worldwide Teaching on Climate and Justice. So this event has been holding events worldwide and we have a little welcome video here from the organizers of the Worldwide Teaching to welcome us in today. Welcome to the Worldwide Teaching on Climate and Justice. You are joining tens of thousands of students at hundreds of schools across the planet in learning and thinking about the work each of you can do now and in your future to repair the climate and lead a just transition to a clean energy future. Your Worldwide Teaching will mobilize the power of educators and students and empower a generation of fighting to stabilize the climate and advance climate and justice. We all need to get comfortable talking about climate all the time. The Teaching helps us do that. The Worldwide Teaching is equal to organizing events on campus or community on or around March 29, 2023. The key to successful teaching is relying on homegrown talent, not outside experts. We all need to step up. The biggest threat to your future is thinking that somehow someone else is going to stop global warming. This is the great work of our generation. We hope this teaching will help you find your own pathway to repairing the climate. And we are so thrilled to have everyone joining us today. We have folks on today with us from parts of the U.S., from Colorado, California, Wisconsin, New York, Georgia, Tennessee. We also have folks in other countries from Zimbabwe, Kenya, India, and Bangladesh on with us today. So hello everyone. Thank you so much for joining us. Meet the Experts is a monthly program here at the National Center for Atmospheric Research where we connect you to experts doing work in earth system science, climate, and weather. And today we have a really amazing climate expert, an expert in taking climate action today. So I'm going to introduce our speaker in just a moment, but a few things just to make sure everyone knows how they can interact or let us know if they need any support in today. You can type in the chat if you need support with anything at all, or if you have a comment or a question from ModVR speaker. So feel free to type that in the chat. There is also a Q&A function if you feel more comfortable submitting a question in that Q&A. So feel free to type that in. There is also closed captioning available if you'd like to turn that on and off. So let us know if you need anything at all. But without further ado, I'm going to go ahead and introduce our amazing speaker today. So today our expert is an expert on taking climate action. Madhvi Chatur, also known as the No Styrofoam Ninja, is the youngest UN child advisor at 12 years old. She is the founder of Madhvi for EcoEthics and the Global EcoEthics Movement and was voted best upcoming peacemaker by 14 Nobel Peace Prize laureates. Madhvi has been a passionate climate warrior and zero waste champion since the age of five. She has brought about many, many large-scale policy changes through her activism at the local, national and global level. So welcome, Madhvi. Thank you so much for joining us today. Yeah, hello, everyone. And yeah, thank you, Katie. And before we start today's climate justice discussion, I just want to tell a joke. So person A asked, can you give an example of climate justice negotiations between two parties or nations than person B quips? It's like a small ATM room having two ACs and four tube lights working 24 hours asking me not to print a receipt to save the environment. Yeah, you can continue. Awesome. Thank you so much for starting us off with a joke. So as a climate warrior, you've been part of many, many campaigns. For the students and folks joining us today, can you kind of share some big picture examples of the type of work that you do? Yes, so now I have been a climate warrior activist since five years of age. And I fight for every living being's fundamental rights to clean air, clean water, clean soil, clean food, and great health for my generation and future generations. And now it's April. So let me start with some policy successes that have happened in April. So number one, I worked with congressman, promoter, and governor Hickenlooper to declare April as Plastic and Syrup from Pollution Awareness Month when I was six years old. And two, with like Madame VP Kamala Harris on the global plastic policy. It was backed by 75 countries and many signatories like climate scientists, Michael Maan, and then countries and like my... And then former current heads of states, educationists, artists, activists, farmers, ranchers, LGBTQ plus people, people of color, et cetera. Number three, I worked with the EPA waterhead, Ms. Radhika Fox and the EPA to reduce PFAS guidance limits in drinking water and make them legally enforceable. Number four, I spearheaded the ban of plastic bags and styrofoam containers in all restaurants, I'm curious in Colorado. Since law has like already been partially implemented since January 2023, it has a 10 cent charge fee on plastic bags in Colorado. And from 2024 January now, no restaurant or cafeteria will offer a styrofoam takeout containers and plastic bags. And isn't that wonderful? And I am still really thrilled that it's a law. And number five, I have worked with the governor of the police to declare March as PFAS a pollution impact awareness month. Six, I spearheaded the ban of PFAS and consumer products in Colorado. And number seven, and my suggestions were implemented as rules in the oil and gas permit process for conserving surface, storm and groundwater by COGCC, which is the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission. Oh my God. Just a few things you've been working on, right? Just a few things I've done a lot, right? It's amazing, it's amazing. So with all of these amazing things that you've done, all these policies you've been involved with, all these campaigns, what inspired you to begin your climate work and your activism? Okay, so when I was five years old, I was watching this CNN documentary with my family. It was called, it was titled Midway, the Plastic Island. And it was aired when President Obama was visiting the island to inaugurate the Midway, a total national refuge. So this documentary was really sad. It showed like the great Pacific garbage patch, heaps of plastic trash in the shores of Midway Island, birds like albatross, scooping plastic along with their prey, feeding it to their chicks. There was a big styrofoam ball floating and pieces pulled off from it by ocean waves. Like birds were dying because plastics are in their stomachs. Their bodies decomposed with the plastic is still there. And the sad thing is that Midway Island is like in the middle of nowhere. It's far, far away from civilization in the Pacific Ocean, but all the trash is on its shores. And that, this has inspired me to take action. Amazing, amazing. So you have been, you were inspired by this documentary. You're kind of, sounds like kind of horrified, right? As a lot of us would be with this, that this is happening in the world, right? Yeah, and so that really drove you to get involved and take action. So I introduced you at the start, actually, well to get, to take action, you got, before you even got involved in more campaigns, at six years old, you started your own nonprofit, right? So can you tell us a bit about ModV for Ecoethics and kind of what your mission is? Yeah, yeah, yes. So actually I started ModV for Ecoethics like less than a year since I had published my book called Is Plastic, My Food? And that's when I wanted to do more and like create a large scale impact. So I founded this 501c3 non-profit called ModV for Ecoethics. So its mission is to usher impactful change, advocating Ecoethics and enabling green choices in lieu of non-green convenience and greedy economics to protect ecosystem, public health and climate. So I'm also the founder of the Ecoethics Global Movement in 2020. Its purpose is to educate and train children, youth and adults on like climate justice and climate activism and also provide support to them in their like local projects that are aligned with the mission of ModV for Ecoethics, the mission. Wow, wow. So lots of work, lots of great things that you're doing with that non-profit that's really, really, really neat that you founded that non-profit and that you're continuing to do so much work through that. So you've been involved with lots of different campaigns. You kind of gave us an idea of some of those at the start. And at the start, I also introduced you and I believe your shirt shows us mentions no styrofoam ninja, right? So where did that name come from? Yeah, so I actually started learning Taekwondo in 2016 when I was five years old. And now I am a black belt. So when I was learning Taekwondo, we were called as ninjas. So I decided to like coin these slogans for like or like catch phrases for like my campaigns. For example, recycle, reverse sidekick and the no styrofoam ninja, let me show you. I'm wearing a shirt, which has no styrofoam ninja on it. And it's to raise awareness. So for, you know, that's my styrofoam lunch tray campaign, I actually coined the no styrofoam ninja. I want everyone, I want everyone to transform themselves into ninjas and then refuse styrofoam plates. And then instead use sustainable alternatives like stainless steel or favorite trace. Amazing, we actually have a video of you calling other people to action for world environment day back in June, 2018. Right. So your activism has spanned from videos like that to right to giving speeches and talks in front of the UN just a couple of weeks ago, right? Yeah, right, right. Amazing. And so you have a lot of your campaigns that have kind of stemming from that inspiration, right? Or on the Midway Island plastic crisis there that you have been involved with the Colorado plastic spell. Can you tell me a bit more about how you were involved with that and what your work was? Yeah, so I decided to like create like a greater impact across Colorado to tackle unnecessary plastic pollution. So in May 19th, I started a campaign to bring about a bill to ban plastic bags and styrofoam containers in restaurants and cafeterias in the state capital steps. And after my campaign speech, a zero waste committee was formed by legislators in June, 2019, then I gave like many public speeches. I also collected like 3,000 signatures. In January, 2020, the bills were introduced but COVID struck so they were postponed and then they were introduced in 2021. It was as one bill HB 21, 1162 in the 2021 legislative session. So I kept the momentum for the bill by organizing three river cleanups, like meeting and then like emailing legislators and like around like 35 mayors across Colorado. I gave many testimonies before the various legislative committees on something like even at like 1 a.m. in the night. Finally, that bill passed both the House, the Senate and then signed into law by Governor Polis on July 6th. And I was really thrilled about that. Yeah, on July 6th, 2021, that Governor Polis signed the bill into law. I'm still like really thrilled and also Governor Polis gave this bill signing a pen as a memento to me and the bill goes into effect fully in January, 2024, I repeated this already. So that's it. Wow, wow. So that's kind of an example of that statewide bill that you were involved with. You were giving testimonies, you were organizing river cleanups and you were there for the bill signing, which is so, so exciting. So through all of this kind of work across the state, what kind of changes have you been working on on a more local level, maybe in your own schools? Have you been kind of working on a campaign related to your school too? Oh, yes, I am. Yes, I did. So just after finishing my book, it plastic my food, I wanted to do more. So I met with US Congressman, Mr. Ed Prometer and then worked with Governor Mr. Hickenlooper to declare April as plastic and styrofoam pollution awareness month. I said this already. And then I became like concerned that students were eating out of these styrofoam trays in school cafeterias. So it's a really big problem because styrofoam is a type of plastic six and it is not biodegradable. It just breaks down into small pieces and then contaminates soil, water, air, and even like wildlife eats it, they eat it. It's a big problem. And it's also carcinogenic because there's a chemical in styrofoam called styrene and that leashes into our food and in context, especially when the food is hot. Thus it is so bad for the environment and it risks the health of students. So that's why I decided to tackle it. I wrote a letter to the then superintendent of the public school, Dr. Jason Glass and also started my signature campaign to eliminate them. I collected around like 1,000 signatures. Then he set up a task force. I convinced him that I wanted to be part of the task force and they attended every single meeting. We discussed many things, you know, cost, suppliers, et cetera. And then after like nearly one year of meetings and one year of nonstop work and like many full visits, this switch finally happened in September, 2019 and all 155 schools impacting 86,000 students. And it eliminated nearly, it's eliminating nearly like 25 million, I guess, styrofoam trays from going to the landfill till date. It also saved like the health of the students. And yeah, that's how I created an impact in like my school district locally. And did you know, like did you get a final word from them saying like, okay, we're gonna make this change or was it more of a surprise? It is actually, yeah, a big surprise. In like September, I just went to school and then at lunch, some of my friends reading school lunch and I saw they were using paper trays and it was so surprising. I even told my parents, look, they finally did the switch and it was so sudden. Really, really happy when I found out. What a fun surprise to show up in the lunch room and just see that right of all your work coming together. So it sounds like making those changes took a lot of perseverance on your part, right? One student kind of, you were attending all of those meetings, you were writing letters, you were just kept pushing for that change until you saw it. So sometimes it takes one voice, right? Sometimes all it takes is one voice persevering, but sometimes in climate, in climate justice, it takes a much bigger group and collective action from all of us. So what's an example of some campaigns that you've done where you've kind of had to work with a broader team or bring in your classmates to help you with that more? Yes, so with this, I actually said a Guinness Book, Guinness Book of World Records. So in 2018, I started the every school, a green school campaign and I wanted to do something where I can add value. And then I saw like markers and pens, they go to the landfill after the ink is used up. So I thought of maybe attempting like a Guinness World Record for recycling markers by like involving many schools and students. So this way everybody learns about recycling, plastic pollution, and at the same time, they can also get into the Guinness Book of World Records. So it also encourages to students and it's a win-win situation for everything, for all. I organized this small launch function and then students became motivated and joined me. And actually they volunteered in marker collection and counting. So I wrote emails to principals and even like to the teachers, I printed bilingual posters in English, Spanish. I distributed like collection bins to our boxes to like all the schools, et cetera. And that took nearly one year for the schools to like confirm their participation. I called and even talked to the teachers, like in my drive time till I get to school and like to and from school in the car and reminding them to put like all the rules, et cetera. Like, yeah. But then COVID struck and so we postponed it to 2021 and held it on December 3rd, 2021. So yeah, it's a community effort, a weighing scale business named Colorado Scale Tender. They donated their time and industrial scales to weigh the markers and also like certified the weighings as per Guinness World Records specifications. Then Huntington Bank also like, you know, those officials and my late music teacher, Ms. Mary Fraser and an Army veteran also all served as like witnesses. Finally, it took one year for the Guinness World Records to award it, to award the record. And let me show you. Be right there, look at that. That's so great. An official Guinness World Records set. We actually collected 22,637 markers and it weighed 440 pounds. Wow, wow. What an amazing example, right? So I kind of share that with other schools or other organizations or communities, right? It's a great example of where you were like, I'm gonna rather than just me recycling my markers, how can I invite my classmates, right? How can I invite my school? How can I invite other schools in the district, right? I'm growing that out and I love your insight into kind of having that world record goal as a motivating factor. Yeah. Like 21 schools participated and the record was most markers collected for recycling in one hour. Amazing. That's amazing. I see that one of our participants raising a hand. If you have a question, I would love if you would type it in the chat and we can read that out to Madhvi. Feel free, anybody who's watching with us, if you have questions or comments or something that you wanna share, type that in the chat and we will get that to Madhvi because I would love to know what you're wondering there. So Madhvi, you have after kind of these big statewide policy as well as this like local school-wide change that or school change that you've seen in your district to setting records, I think you might have some good advice to share with students or just other adults too that are watching with us today. What advice do you have for other students and people who wanna get involved in climate work? Oh, first, before I answer this, I want to show you how the compostable tray looks like after I did the switch. Here it is. Oh, cool. Yeah. Nice. And now I answer it. So I actually have like five tips and that I want to give to the students who want to just get involved in climate work. So number one, it's to know the problem well. I have researched like a lot about plastic pollution as well as like PFAS pollution, et cetera, to just know about the problem and what to do about it. And number two is to never fear criticism or failure. You know, I faced criticism in like social media like next door, but that did not stop me and I continued to do my work. So number three, it's to keep persevering. I had to fight a lot to do and like for example, like my plastic bill and even like the Judd, the Guinness World Record, et cetera, I had to work really hard to get that. It took like literally one year to get that also. Number four is to basically like raise awareness. You know, I've done like many climate rallies, done many speeches. I even did one to like the UN General Assembly recently. I've done like, you know, yes, signature campaigns. I've emailed many legislators, et cetera. And number five is to team up to solve. We should all come together, like all activists should come together. And then with that collective action, we can solve the problem. Yeah, right. Like not one person. Those are really, really great tips, Mabi. I love that you have those kind of organized into those. And you're absolutely right, right? Not one person is going to fix everything, right? Not one policy is going to change everything, right? So we need all the voices in the room coming together. And we, so we need your voice. We need indigenous voices. We need scientists voices. We need voices of disabled community. We need all sorts of voices in this conversation in order to create that just world. So what's next for you? What's next for you? What kind of campaign are you most focused on right now? So, okay. Okay, so I just want to like, you know how I did the PFAS bill to ban PFAS and consumer products. I want everyone to ban PFAS in every product globally all over the world. That's what I'm working on right now. And how does, how does PFAS- Even like, yeah, I spoke about that in the UN General Assembly. I addressed them and I spoke to them about that. So that was just recently. So how does PFAS pollution affect people? Like why is it a climate justice issue? Yeah, so basically like there's, they're these marginalized communities. They're basically near the source of pollution and they're like women, children, like a disabled people, LGBTQ people, BIPOC and it's just a big problem. And PFAS, it's just a big, it's a very carcinogenic human made chemical and it pollutes everything. Pollutes our air, our water, our soil and bio accumulates into our food. And it's just a big problem now. And they stand for per and polyfluoro alkyls. So it's just a very big problem. It's in many different products. Waterproof, grease proof, heat proof products, they are, okay. And so it's a big problem. There are marginalized communities, like I said, women, children, pregnant people, like older people, people with already existing health conditions, BIPOC, like me, and like LGBTQ, indigenous communities, et cetera. They're all marginalized. They cannot always get the care they need. They're even like closer to the source of pollution. And so, and then sometimes if, as like, for example, me, I'm a girl as well as like a child and BIPOC, which means it's more marginalization. So that's why it's like a big problem for like climate justice and its link, yeah. And so, so absolutely. So, so sounds like a really powerful campaign. What kind of things have you been doing to get the word out? You've been giving that talk at the UN? Have you been doing, what other actions have you been taking around PFAS? So yeah, I've done like even more signature campaign to ban PFAS. I even did like a seminar recently on March 23rd. And like Philippe Grande-Jean, which is a very, I like a professor and University of Rhode Island, he came and he was the chief guest of honor. And like stuff like that. I even did another PFAS seminar in like 2022, 2022. So you're kind of organizing those seminars and those information sessions to kind of bring together experts to talk about it, right? Yes, and that will be to just raise awareness because many people still do not know what PFAS is, what to do about it. Yeah, I even brought farmers, ranchers and like the main, the state of Maine Farmers Association, many organizations, et cetera. Yeah, so it sounds like through all this climate action work, you've worked with a lot of different people, a lot of different types of people. So can you share a bit more of kind of that diversity of people that you get to work with and the work that you do? So like different people that I've met or I've worked with? Yeah, yeah. Okay, so I've worked with like many activists, like other activists, for example, Gwendolyn Thunberg, then scientists like Dr. Michael Mann, Dr. Jane Goodell, like many government heads, legislators, like former and current ones as well, like VP Harris, former VP, Al Gore, Rosalea, Artega, et cetera. So yeah, then educationists, diplomats, like Eric Solheim and like professors, like Philippe Brachon, artists, and even like my own classmates and other youth. And then indigenous communities like Ute and Lakota Nation people, like any public committees, disabled people, athletes, you know, for example, like Hollywood, Stuntman, Master Mic Chat, and et cetera, there are many. So thus my work has like, has allowed me to meet many different people from many different backgrounds, like, you know, race, religion, culture, and like many people from different countries, et cetera. Yeah, cause we're all being affected, right? By climate change. We're not all being affected. It has no borders and it affects all. Yeah, so everybody has a voice in there. Everyone can have a say in that. Everybody can take action, right? In whatever their profession is, wherever their focus. So do you have, I'm gonna open it up for questions in the chat now for anybody who has questions as we go into that. We do have one comment in the chat of Julie saying, thank you so much. Thank you, Madhvi, for all your work for the community. So just wanted to share that thanks from Julie in the chat. But I'm curious if any of our audience have any questions for Madhvi that you want to type in there. And while we're waiting for that, I was curious, Madhvi, with all these different folks that you're talking to, do you ever get nervous giving speeches at rallies or talking to these politicians? Not really. I've done many speeches and I'm also very kind and polite as well as firm with my remarks. So no, I'm not nervous when I speak to, like when I speak or go in speeches like that. That's amazing, that's amazing. Do you have any tips for students or people who are nervous to speak to those folks or to raise their voice up? Yeah, you just have to be yourself and you don't need to worry about other people. You just need to be yourself and always. And yeah. Do you have- And then you know, say your own story, say what you know about the problem, what you want to say to the public, that's it. Yeah, yeah. Kind of coming back to those five tips that you gave us earlier, right? Kind of know what you want to talk about. Don't give it any criticism. Wonderful. Do you have any, like climate work is so, can be so challenging and so overwhelming, right? But also can be so rewarding. Do you have any favorite parts of doing climate work that kind of, that you, what's your kind of favorite part of the work that you do? The favorite part for me is just meeting other people. Like I said, I'm very happy that I was able to meet many different people from like many different backgrounds. And so that is my favorite, that is my favorite part. And you know, like convincing them to do like, to like do, yeah, to just take action basically. Yeah. Just working with all those different people and taking action, I love that. What's the most challenging part of climate work for you? So I want to say, so that right now, since I'm, since like I'm no born in the US, I do not get any grants. I don't really have a say. I don't get like space to speak. So I have to fight a lot to like speak with these legislators and people like that. So because like other people, they favor like people from like Asia, the global South. And they get to, they get all these opportunities for conferences. But I do not get that because I'm American and born in the US. Gotcha. So that, so there's some barriers there that you're trying to find ways to get the word out more or to get involved in some of those actions. Yes. Gotcha. What, so we talked earlier about what motivated you to get started in your climate work. What kinds of things motivate you to keep going in your work? Is it the same motivation? It's basic, it's just my passion. And I just always motivated to do something. I never get demotivated about it. So we, so he says, never lose in that momentum. I love that. Do you get to travel with the work that you do? Yeah. So I do actually, yeah. As I said before, I do get to travel. Like I was able to meet many people I travel to like, not all the time, but like twice a year, I'm mostly like that. So I do get the opportunity to travel and meet different people. Really neat. Where are some of the places that you've traveled to? Um, yeah, so like, for example, I traveled like very widely in North America. For example, like US, Mexico, then like in Europe, like the UK, Italy, Germany, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland, Belgium, the Netherlands, and then like in India, et cetera. So everywhere I go, I always try to raise awareness and be an ambassador for change, to protect our ecosystems and to raise my voice against plastic pollution. Amazing, amazing. And those are some incredible places that you've gotten to travel all over, kind of doing this work and sharing that message. And when you're not, you know, when you're not doing your climate work and writing letters and testifying for bills, what kinds of things do you like to do outside of your climate work? Do you have any hobbies or things that you like to do? So yeah, I just like to kind of compose music. I have like an album called I Am Princess Genius. It's my first album. I also like play piano, violin, clarinet, recorder, guitar, viola, et cetera. So I really like doing music. I also am an author. I have so far published six books and they're all in like Amazon, so yeah. Wow, so you just seem to take this vision. You have a vision, whether it's a piece of music, a book that you wanna see done, policy you wanna see changed. And I'm seeing this theme of that you just envision something and then you manifest it, right? So you are taking that vision, you are creating something, whether it's a craft, a music album or a policy change of banning plastic bags or getting up in front of the UN water conference and telling them about PFAS. That's incredible, Madhvi. Thank you, thank you. Well, we are just about out of time here. So I want to, Madhvi, I wanna ask, do you have any final advice for the folks watching today before we say goodbye? So yeah, I do have some closing remarks. So hello everyone in this session so far, you would have seen like the climate justice factor they play out. So for example, like my drive through replaced our from lunch trays in schools. It was like a matter of health justice, environmental justice and intergenerational justice. I mentioned, you know, farmers, ranchers, indigenous people, BIPOC, LGBTQ disabled persons, women, children and like marginalized communities in my journey story. Everyone is impacted differently by the climate crisis in different ways. So yeah, climate justice to me is like a combination of environmental, social, economic, racial health and intergenerational justice. Yeah, I also want to say my ecoethics movement is, you know, in many countries. For example, India, US, Bangladesh, Argentina, Gambia, Mozambique, Sierra Leone, Zimbabwe, et cetera. And we all have, we all come together and very great. Also, I also thank everyone for spending your time with me to know about climate justice and action. It is like, it is a big, a humongous issue and like many questions can come up in your minds. And please feel free to reach out to me via my email in my website or via social media. You can also join the ModV for ecoethics Facebook or WhatsApp groups and then volunteer for the ecoethics global movement. So I believe that like Katie, you should be sending a few links. So please join and everyone repeat after me. There is no planet B, refuse plastics, save life elements. Marvel, thank you so much. Those links are in the chat and also we will send them out in an email after that. Great, great final message there, ModV. Thank you so much. And for everybody who's watching today, we wanna invite you to join us again later this evening. We're gonna do a second session this evening at 6 p.m. mountain time featuring two other climate activists, Phoebe Dominguez and Maya Bovano. So join us again this evening if you wanna check out that, join the conversation there, hear about some other action being taken. But without further ado, I just wanna thank you so much, ModV, for joining us today, for sharing your story, for sharing your action that you're taking, for inspiring folks in ways that they can take actions to. Thank you for joining us. Thank you, namaste everyone. Thanks so much everyone, bye, have a great day. Bye, everyone.