At the age of 17, Delaney Anne Reynolds from Miami, Florida has dedicated her time and energy for the environment. As we know, in our own country in a day there are about 10 million pieces of plastic bags used by the population of Indonesia. That is, there are around 10 billion pieces of plastic bags in a year that become garbage and not recycled.
Unfortunately, there are still many Indonesians who do not care about the environment even though if we look at it, conventional plastic takes more than hundreds of years to decipher. The government needs to change people’s behavior in various ways. The first thing that the government needs to do is to encourage people to implement the 3R, namely reduce, reuse and recycle. The second solution, the government also needs to socialize waste banks and show that waste also has economic value. Third, by making a policy of paid plastic bags which has recently been applied in many shopping centers, especially in big cities.
But the policies implemented by the government will end in vain if the Indonesian people, especially the younger generation do not care and want to protect this beautiful Indonesian nature.
The young generation is the foundation of the government, if the young are concerned about the environment, government policies will have an impact and give a good influence.
Other things, for example, the bad habits of Indonesian people who are still littering are necessary and can be changed. Indonesians are a cultured nation so on a small scale, the community, especially the younger generation, has begun to sort out garbage for a better environment.
Eco Warrior: Delaney Anne Reynolds
One example of the good young generation who loves to protect the environment is Delaney. She grows surrounded by water and divides its time between her modern city and a 1,000-acre remote island which only has 43 solar-powered homes. In the third grade where she attended school, he class collectively wrote a book, Laws of the Universe, which inspired her to learn more about the environment that she loved so much.
She continued to research issues such as rising sea levels and gradually learning about climate change and significant threats and began interviewing local political leaders, climate scientists, business owners, and others affected by sea rise and working on solutions to help them.
“In high school, I participated in building a solar power system by empowering athletic complexes, half of the administrative offices and library buildings, and including solar charging stations.”
Delaney Anne Reynolds and The Sink or Swim Project
She is the author of several children’s books on environmental topics and the founder of The Sink or Swim Project, an educational and political advocacy organization, and serves as a public speaker and advocate. According to her, South Florida is a community that has been labeled ‘ground zero’ from America in the war on global warming given the risks we face from rising sea levels.
She received the National National Geographic Society Youth Service Award, the George Eastman Young Leader Scholarship from the University of Rochester, an induction in the CLEO Leadership Institute Board, and more. Young people all over the world have contacted her to ask for help in their own communities, from India to Argentina and Italy.
Delaney Anne Reynolds also succeeded in lobbying the mayor of Miami-Dade County for what is now an annual budget of $ 1.7 million to fund the reduction of sea level. What an amazing achievement, if you see at a very young age already, has a series of experiences in protecting our beloved planet.
