College students use unorthodox methods to fight worsening crisis: 'We want you to be heard'

At the University of Arkansas, students are coming together to combat climate anxiety in untraditional yet inspiring ways.

It all started in 2022, when then-freshman Helana Alexander attended a ​​Zero Hour Arkansas meeting focused on helping young people cope with climate anxiety, as Teen Vogue detailed. Zero Hour has groups across the globe and empowers youth to take environmental action in their communities. 

At the meeting, students expressed their concerns about pollution, corporate greed, and the increasing frequency and intensity of tornadoes in Arkansas. This made Alexander realize that others shared her growing worries about the climate. 

Their anxiety is certainly justified. A joint report by Trust for America's Health and the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health found that Arkansas was second only to Florida in its vulnerability to climate impacts from extreme heat and tornadoes. 

But as Alexander kept going to the meetings, which were led by the group's founder, Amelia Southern-Uribe, she felt more hopeful about the future. Alexander even became co-president of Zero Hour Arkansas in 2023. 

Since then, the movement has gained momentum. Teen Vogue said that Zero Hour Arkansas has become the "largest chapter of Zero Hour … nationwide." It's attracted more than 250 young people who are passionate about fighting for a sustainable and healthy planet. 

Grassroots organizations like Zero Hour are especially important in Arkansas: a state often seen as less progressive in dealing with the changing climate. Southern-Uribe explained that they'd seen the impacts of pollution firsthand in classmates who developed asthma due to poor air quality. 

They were fed up with seeing people around them suffer because of environmental injustice. They started the climate justice movement on campus and hoped to inspire other young people to join. 

Southern-Uribe figured a surefire way to get students interested was to offer them free stuff. In this case, menstrual cups packed in sustainable packaging seemed to do the trick. 

The group estimates the Campus Cup program has diverted more than 200,000 pounds of waste from period products. This proved that eco-friendly initiatives on campuses can make a big difference. 

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As Zero Hour grew, Southern-Uribe and Alexander thought it was time to move things from the library to the dance floor. They threw a massive party with strobe lights, music, food, and vendors selling sustainable products like upcycled clothing. 

Called Party Like It's 2050, the event raised money for conservation and workers' rights organizations. It also gave young people a fun and healthy outlet for climate anxiety. 

After attending a training camp held by the Campus Climate Network, Southern-Uribe and Alexander launched their biggest campaign yet: the Green New Deal for Campus. 

It's pressuring the university to divest from companies that support dirty fuels and offer more affordable housing and transportation. They've also joined forces with other campus organizations to learn more about the problems their community faces and how they can help. 

"From the early climate anxiety sessions to now, it's always been the same principle," Alexander told Teen Vogue. "We want you to be heard. We want you to be real and come together to make a difference about it."

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