Hello From Katy and Luke, Your Resident Treehuggers

Homework. Extracurriculars. Work. Scholarships. Applying to college. Family. Social life. All of these things take up the lives of an average teenager, like ourselves, and probably like you, too. Because of all of these both wonderful and mind-numbing-yet-still-very-painful things, it took us quite a while to get this blog into action. But alas, about seventy-two days from our initial creation date, we are launching our blog. (Yay!!!) So, we thought we might as well outline a few things - kind of like goals for this blog, with a little introduction of the authors (us) to wrap everything up. 

Goals

Maybe you may have picked up a slight hint from the title of our blog; we are making this project to help save the environment. Through this blog we want to create change, influence readers, and share our knowledge with an audience often neglected by environmentalists: 

Teenagers. 

Gasp! I know! Why would we, other teenagers, want to help our own peers gain knowledge about environmental problems pressing our world? It's not like they have any say in what happens to Mother Earth anyways, right?

Well, while we may be pressing the devil's advocate view slightly larger than needed, we like to think that it is a huge deal to get everyone on board, not just older people. Teenagers are a huge part of this population, and will eventually influence our world more than any other generation, so it is important that they also get the same exposure to these environmentalist ideals as any other audience. Young people have increasingly been gaining social influence in all kinds of fields, and we want to make sure that the most important one (at least in our opinions) is included in that. We really are the future of the world.

So then why are we making a blog about it? Why can't they just read one of the millions of other blogs out there that focus on environmental concerns?

To answer, it all comes down to the content and how the content is directed. We, as people who take huge interest in environmental concerns, have the perspective of our audience. We don't have to make painful jokes that are trying to hard to relate to the young people of America (e.g. Pokemon Go Save the Environment!)-- though I am sure there will be lots of painful jokes involved. Especially puns. I apologize in advance. But anyway. We understand what it's like to be a teen. And we wanna show you guys how we've learned to care about and lobby for our earth!

Now that we have kind of outlined what this blog will be about, here's a little bit about ourselves!

Luke 

I'm Luke, a senior at a tiny high school in southwest Ohio. I basically live in the middle of a cornfield, and quite honestly it's pretty terrible. I have a passion for all things photography, fashion, art, literature,  and dogs (I have 3 doodles). Here's a few pictures of me though so you can get a face with my name!

Me just laying in some lovely dandelions

Me in the cutest lil' forest close to my house (my mom took this pic, thanks mom)

My interest in the environment stemmed from my childhood. I've been intrigued by the smallest things since I was young.  From the way the leaves fell in the fall to the way the flowers blossomed in the spring, my mind has constantly raced with the thoughts of what was happening outside. I light up when I see the plants in my room (about 11) grow and my heart feels fullest when thinking about ways to combat these pressing environmental problems.

I've studied things revolving around the environment for a few summers now at multiple universities, I've organized an environmental/STEM Energy summer camp in my community, fostered multiple environmental awareness campaigns, completely changed my lifestyle, and now I want to help start this blog. I want to continue with my passion for the environment and translate it to create awareness and foster change through this project. 

Hopefully you guys don't get too annoyed with me, hearing me rant about the environment weekly. But do not fear, I'm sure you all will come to fall in love with my fabulous green-ness in the coming months. And if not, hopefully you like Katy (lol). 

If you want to get to know me a little more, my social media accounts are Luk.e on Instagram, or theycallmeoprah on Twitter (be warned, there is an extreme amount of Donald Trump bashing present).

Katy

Hello friends! I'm Katy, obviously, and now that you've read Luke's intro, you already know everything about me! Luke and I met online through our mutual interest in the environment, and often joke that we're basically each other. I'm sure as this blog continues, you'll start to see it, too. He's cuter than me, though, and way better at photography. Of course, I'd kick his ass in a game of bowling, so we're even. 

Here's my face!

Me at Brown University's Environmental Leadership Lab this summer

Prom last year-- my date was my polar bear whom I love dearly 

I've lived in a teensy tiny town in southeast Texas called Orangefield for my whole life. In fact, we're so small that we aren't even a town or city-- we're a "community." There oil and natural gas industries are really big around here, so I've been exposed first-hand to a lot of environmental issues because of those. Like Luke, I don't feel like I fit in very well where I live but, as my favorite commercial novel states, "Even if we don't have the power to choose where we come from, we can still choose where we go from there." Shout out if you know what book/movie it's from. 

I became interested in the environment in the summer of 2015, when I took a class over Geoscience at Rice University. When I took that class, we learned a lot about our sources of energy, and it made me realize the real and long-term effects of our short-sighted actions. Since then, I've become vegan, taken online and summer environmental courses, joined Citizen's Climate Lobby (which I'm sure I'll make a post about soon!), started an Earth Club, and taken steps to begin recycling at my school!  I believe that taking care of our planet is our responsibility as humans, and should be integrated into our everyday lives. Yes, we still have a long way to go. 

I love the outdoors, as you can probably tell from my photos. I love running, kayaking, hiking, camping, and though I've never climbed a mountain before (see: the flat flat flatness of Texas), I'm sure I would love it, too. 

Some of my other interests include politics, international relations, non-violence, learning, reading, cooking/baking, big dogs, all other animals, social activism, music (flute and piano and singing!), theatre, policy debate, and other things that I'm forgetting to mention. 

Anyway, you guys rock. Thanks for reading our first post. That's pretty cool of you. Stay green, and be happy. <3