This past August Enterprise for Youth hosted our first op-ed competition as part of our Climate Career Corps internship. In this competition, youth were encouraged to read and respond to the book Girls Who Green the World: Thirty-Four Rebel Women Out to Save Our Planetby Diana Kapp. 

Abraham Lincoln High School senior Sherwin Li is the competition winner. Sherwin’s essay is being featured in Nature in the City’s December newsletter and on their website. 

Sherwin shared with us why he’s interested in green issues:

“Growing up I always traveled to China to visit my grandparents. During my time there I noticed plastic bags, soda cans, and chip bags all over the street. The skies were never clear and usually gray, wherever I walked I couldn’t see any plant life around me at all. However, amid the dirty streets and unclean air, was my grandpa’s farm. He had his own plot of farming land in China where he grew plants of all sorts, allowing me to get away from the gray, so I could be surrounded in the green. This experience has inspired me to keep the environment clean in order for others to experience the color and beauty of nature.”

Congratulations, Sherwin! We’re proud to see youth leaning into greening the world.

By Madisen Ellis, Program Manager