16-year-old Swedish student Gretta Thunberg started the idea and now students in North Hastings have joined the over 100 countries participating in the protests.
9-year-old Brynn Kilpatrick is the one that thought of the idea. “When people don’t worry about (climate change) or care about it they aren’t going to have a good future,” she says.
The first strikes related to this happened last year when Thunberg protested outside the Swedish Parliament. Since then students from around the world have joined the protest, culminating with the first week of protests on March 15th.
It wasn’t just kids protesting. 67-year-old Dianne Eastman joined the students at the corner of Station Street on Friday. “I’m worried about (kids’) future,” she says. “Are these kids not going to be able to have a good life?”
“The whole community has to pull together to be as sustainable as possible,” Eastman adds. She says the North Hastings community does well to stay sustainable by growing their own food and some choosing to use sustainable heating.
Kilpatrick says she hopes to talk to her school and get them involved with her climate change protests as well.