Tip 6: Intergenerational activism
- Tom Vermolen
- 13 hours ago
- 4 min read
Intergenerational Ways to Organize
Some elderly are responding with despondent comments, such as one who said, “I am too old now to do something about the climate.” She is 75. Another, somewhere in her 70s, writes, “I'm an old French woman, but I feel…this situation.” Some young people, too, might feel it is all hopeless. Hell no! This is a two-way street: young and old can work together, motivate each other, to reach their common goals! The youth have to tell the elderly to wake up, and the elderly have to help wake up the youth. The very powerlessness in this communication gap precisely echoes the intent of coal, gas, oil cartels, and friendly politicians to bury the obvious, to breed apathy or hopelessness among citizens. The climate breakdown has partly been driven by a generational communications breakdown by misleaders who, like robbers, are telling the many that they are not being robbed.
Learn from Cecilia. Every Friday for years, Cecilia struggles to get on a bus and ride to City Hall in Lund, Sweden. She does so, dragging a shopping cart over cobblestones, or at times
a walker, and until recently, in winters, too. When winds blow hard, she almost topples over. In the last year, 2024-25, she had pneumonia three times. Her asthma now causes her shortness of breath. But she was back as before, on the front line, standing before Lund’s City Hall, making the rounds for Fridays for Future. She does not have a sign, but she has a clear voice for outreach in between those short asthma breaths. She approaches students and others, “Hello, do you know why we are standing here?” People stop more out of
politeness or awe. She tells them, “My time is near. I have nothing to gain. I want you to have a good life in a world that we made unhealthy. Please sign our guestbook.” She signals in the direction of another elderly, a woman named Nilla, bound in a wheelchair holding a green book full of names. Nilla has been gathering names every Friday for over six years—in rain, shine, snow, and wind. Some 25 per cent of the people Cecilia reaches head toward the guestbook. Cecilia then turns to the next young person. Cecilia, at 88, is a few years older than Nilla.
Use the simple tips of an elder. Praise youth for their intelligence. Joke with them. Point out that they determine the future, just like we elderly have the recent past. Address them eye-to-eye. Show kindness. Explain what you have seen. Talk with them as equals and listen to their questions. Ask questions as equals. And as Cecilia does, leave them with a parting message: you know, we have only one planet to live on.
Youth, too, can start by awakening their families and relatives to new thinking.
Learn from Melina of Greece. “I talk to my family, trying to develop an environmental conscience about how climate change affects our daily lives. I also try to influence them by encouraging small habits, such as recycling, wasting less food, and being more mindful about the energy they consume. I have also shown my family how to make eco-friendly decisions when shopping. For example, I make them carry reusable bags to the super market instead of buying plastic ones. I believe every small change counts. I like to share climate news or documentaries I find on the internet and social media, encouraging them to think deeply about the impact climate change has on our lives. I try to link sustainable habits to their interests. For example, if someone loves fashion, I open them up to stylish vintage clothes or second-hand clothes apps. If they enjoy cooking, I highlight local and seasonal food. I think their seeing how passionate I am made them realize how serious this issue is. Over time, they've become more aware and supportive.” (Melina is 15 years old!)
Ask no-brainer questions of your grandparents or parents. "Have you noticed the weather changing since you were a kid? Like, are the summers hotter or the seasons different?” "When you go grocery shopping, do you ever think about where our food comes from and how that affects the planet?" Or, "What's one thing in our house we would upgrade to save energy?"
Suggest ways to save bundles of money and benefit the climate. This can floor parents or relatives and inspire them to consider how dealing with the climate is an economic gain for the family! Saving a few dollars and benefitting from a few tricks can open new horizons and develop new habits. Shown here are 14 of the 19 top-ranked climate-friendly choices to save money!
Raise difficult questions about climate change, using simple facts.
You cannot easily ask a stranger on the street, but you can ask family members or friends: “What does the Keeling curve chart from the reliable scientist, James Hansen, tell us?”, “Why did 197 countries sign the Paris Climate Agreement?”, “Why are people closing down windfarms or solar panel installations if these alternatives save money?”, and “Why are insurance companies refusing more and more to insure homes against extreme weather effects?”
Raise life and death questions. “Dad, if climate change will destroy our planet and kill us, why do we or you not do something?”, “If all is for our sake, why do you or Mom go to work, but do nothing about climate change?” “Mom, who is telling us that climate change is a hoax, and why?”
Young and old can challenge each other to share their core values, to get motivated and to start finding solutions, in short to set the basics to organizing!