Change requires action, as Dylan DeLuccia (12) showcased during the Climate Strike held at the Eau Gallie Causeway last week.

DeLuccia said he attended the march “last minute” after hearing about it earlier in the day. It was his first time attending a march since a march for the Indian River Lagoon “a few years ago.” 

“It’s an important message,” DeLuccia said. “And we seemed to get a lot of positive responses. It seemed like there wasn’t any backlash. People don’t want to believe in climate change and then they make it a political issue when it’s not. Then they blame it on a particular political party and it’s ridiculous. It’s just science and we need to act accordingly on this issue or we are going to have some serious issues in the future.”

About 30 people attended the march, and DeLuccia said his goal was to raise awareness to the issues of fossil fuels, industrial agriculture and deforestation.

“Most people believe in climate change,” DeLuccia said. “They believe we need to do something. But they don’t really act. I want to see people take action and actually make change rather than voting out public officials who denounce it or get their money from sources that cause climate change.”

DeLuccia said his passion for helping the environment has roots in his family tree. His father is a member of Indialantic’s Environmental Advisory Task Force, and DeLuccia said he helps his father to brainstorm ideas for proposal.

“My dad is heavily influenced by environmental issues,” DeLuccia said. “He works with the town of Indialantic and with the Surfrider Foundation a lot. So I’m constantly helping him with stuff. [The march] was more in my comfort zone than most people. Most people do not go out and advocate and protest. I don’t typically protest, but I’m out there talking about political issues.”

The Environmental Sustainability Awareness club (ESA) promoted the Climate Strike on campus after hearing about the event from Eau Gallie sophomore and ambassador to the Florida Junior Climate Strike, Julia Cook. One of the ESA’s founders, junior Jasmine Narakorn, said that the march was a “city-wide thing.” Although she was not able to attend the march, Narakorn drove over the Eau Gallie causeway and said the “timing was perfect.”

“It was during rush hour,” Narakorn said. “While people were stopped and waiting in their cars, they looked around at the people walking with signs.”

Narakorn founded ESA this school year with the help of juniors Taqwa Naas and Palma Russo.

“We realized that West Shore isn’t as sustainable as it should be,” Narakorn said. “We wanted to do something, so we decided to make a club. We want to see our community being more sustainable and more aware of the environment. We want to push that forward so people have more opportunities to help the environment. Some people out there don’t know [how to help the earth], so we just want to get the message out there.”

ESA’s mission this school year is to fund a water refill station on campus. The station is estimated to cost between $700 and $10,000. Narakorn said that the club also helps to teach students about the common misconceptions regarding what materials can and cannot be recycled.

“We want people to stop being so wasteful, start living more sustainably and using less energy,” Narakorn said.

Narakorn said that next school year ESA hopes to improve the landscape of campus, which includes the planting of trees for shade. In order to reach their goals, ESA will be selling temporary tattoos during basketball games, for fifty cents each or one dollar for three tattoos. Narakorn and DeLuccia said that the message the Climate Strike had is similar to the goals of ESA.

“Climate change is very connected with every environmental issue,” DeLuccia said. “The culture of how we act needs to change and I hope to see that in the future. I’d really like to see the culture — not just in America but in every country — to be more environmentally conscious.”

By Sophia Bailly