Transcriber: Pavle Djurakic Reviewer: sadegh vn
My name is Lucienne Crouch and I’m a 10th grader at WAB.
I think that most people can agree that the way we live in
the future has to be more sustainable in some way.
But what most people assume is that our future looks like this.
Utilitarian high maintenance, confined and uncomfortable,
poorly designed living spaces.
Sustainable living has gained somewhat of a bad name due to its perceived
unavailability and often its extreme nature.
Like many others, I thought that,
in the future, do my part in preserving our planet.
I would have to live like I was in a perpetual camping nightmare.
Little did I know, this would be an opportunity to change my thinking
and find my own way to solve this problem.
Growing up, every summer, I was exposed to the gem of natural beauty
and biodiversity that is the Pacific Northwest.
With this area having one of the most impressive ranges of habitats
and species found in the world,
It is no wonder I developed a passion for biology.
After experiencing the West Coast wildfires in 2020
and learning about climate change,
this fascination matured into a curiosity
for how we can preserve these areas and provide climate catastrophes.
However, after realizing that translating this passion into a career
might not be in becoming one of the Wild Kratts,
this passion started to fade.
You see, another one of my sources of joy throughout my life
has been anything and everything related to art and design.
I have been enjoying creating characters,
designing floorplans and painting landscapes
for as long as I can remember.
Thinking about the future, art and design is an aspect of my life
I want to keep intact.
So standing in the lab,
making concrete out of recycled glass
or desperately trying to convince the public
to grow their own lettuce, definitely is not my ideal career path.
This is why my latest obsession has been earthships,
also known as composites.
The concept of earth shapes is vague and extensive,
but in short,
they’re houses made of recycled materials.
That includes sustainable interior and exterior systems.
One of these main concepts is water
and being intentional about its use.
The water can be harvested by collection or from a well
and once used in a house,
it is then fed back into a greenhouse or a plot of land being used
for sustainable agriculture.
Speaking of sustainable farming, since airships are a form of off grid living,
Since they are home of off-grid living,
they are meant to be integrated into the environment they're built in.
So naturally the types of plants included are curated to work with
the environment around them.
As I said, cob houses are complex and often include technologies
such as renewable energy or complex composting systems.
With their rich connection to 1970s interior design,
earth trips are a prime example of how art
and effective sustainability can come together
and create a phenomenon that lasts.
The earthship was a large factor at play
in the off grid living craze in the 70s,
and there are still projects using the same criteria
for their designs right now.
Some of the most famous examples of alternative architecture
share traits with earthships.
The nature of this style allows for a wealth of creativity,
to be manifested in anything from the layout,
to creative windows and motifs.
Even if you’re not an artistic person,
who doesn’t like customizing things?
As you can probably tell,
this has been a bit of a breakthrough for me.
It doesn't mean I've decided to spend the rest of my life building clay houses,
but it's given me some purpose in what feels like endless possibilities
for what I could do in the future.
It’s encouraged me to find new opportunities inside of two things
that make me happy.
It has also given me a renewed perspective
on how everyone can help develop the sustainability of our society.
on how we can make progress in every facet of life.
Personally, I believe that everyone has something
that can have the same effect for them.
Everyone has a pre-existing passion or profession
that can be connected with the sustainability or climate action.
Ayana Elizabeth Johnson performed a TED Talk similar to this,
called “How to Find Joy in Climate Action”.
She outlines a process similar to Ikigai,
the meaning reason for be-being.
It is a Japanese concept, where to find your purpose in life,
you must first find the intersection between:
what you’re good at,
what the world needs,
what you love and what you can be paid for.
Iona’s version amidst the fourth circle, and instead,
focuses on what the world needs for climate action.
This creates an approachable,
and comprehensive guide to finding what you can do to do your part.
And most often the result connects to a profession
or trade you have already invested in.
If everyone was intentional in this way about
what you could realistically and passionately do to ensure our future,
we would make a lot more progress towards global sustainability.
What I would say now,
is that to create a better future,
we first need to be inspired to create.
Instead of tapping through an issue,
we can relearn how to approach it in a way
that complements the individual.
There is a wealth of opportunity to be found in what people are good at
and the skills they possess and what they’re passionate about.
So we can make endless progress if people make that connection of what they love
and what we need.
Thank you.
(applause)