to my dearest children,

I have dreamt about these years with you long before you came to be. I wondered where we would live, what our home would look like, what our favorite family memories would be, how it would feel to watch and help you grow into the adults you are becoming, and what the world you live in would look like. At this moment, the environment is no longer being left on the backburner, as it had been for many years before. We are observing piece by piece the accumulation of humankind’s influence on our Earth.

Right now, realistic environmental conversations about the future of the planet are no longer taboo, and many are making changes to their daily lives to lessen their individual impact. However, there is still a large portion of the population that believes climate change is not an issue, or even nonexistent. I hope that these people came around quickly after writing this letter to you, my greatest joys. I hope that I can say most people woke up and made the necessary changes to make a sustainable Earth for you to experience. My greatest fear is that you will be unsafe in the only occupiable planet (as of now) and that the environment will have been so affected by careless actions of the past that you worry about the safety of your future. Even now, I worry about my own.

But I promise to you, and I don’t make many promises as your grandmother would say, that I will do what I can now to ensure the safety of your future. I hope to live a more sustainable life by further decreasing my waste (water, electricity, garbage, etc.) and communicating with others the importance of doing so. I hope politicians seriously address these issues, and I promise to support those that do. Our future is being made now, and I promise to do everything in my power to make yours safe.