helenvironmental

The Bus (that is actually a metaphor, of course)

The best seats on a double decker bus are, I am sure you’ll agree, on the upper level, right at the front. Those seats have the best views, unobscured by any driver’s seat or other passengers’ heads, above virtually every other vehicle on the road. If one boards the bus and finds them unoccupied, IContinue reading “The Bus (that is actually a metaphor, of course)”

Water Scarcity in the Era of the Pandemic

#WaterForGoma The inhabitants of the city of Goma face daily hardship in accessing drinking water. This struggle has become a terrifying reality when the region was hit by not one, but two, deadly viral outbreaks. In 1998, the year I was born, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) became a theatre for what isContinue reading “Water Scarcity in the Era of the Pandemic”

On Hope

14th February 2020, Glasgow. Image: Leda Bartolucci In September, I spoke about mental health and the climate crisis, and today I’m going to do the same – but this time, it isn’t aimed at us. It’s aimed at our leaders, our politicians. I was hopeful in September, but now I’m angry. “Hope” is a wordContinue reading “On Hope”

Flooding and Adaptation in Scotland

This is an attempt at the transcript from a live Twitter broadcast I know I said I would do this broadcast at the weekend, and it’s now almost exactly the opposite of that, but never mind! We often hear about how the Western world is responsible for something we don’t suffer from – but theContinue reading “Flooding and Adaptation in Scotland”

Stand With Vanessa

The Associated Press scandal accidentally provided the perfect visual metaphor for the anti-Global South bias, but this fight is long from over. It’s 2020, and racism is alive and well – and it’s killing people. Let me preface this by saying that none of what I am writing is new or revolutionary; marginalised voices haveContinue reading “Stand With Vanessa”

Climate Anxiety & Me (and maybe you)

Climate Anxiety might be expected, but please don’t tell me that the way I feel is reasonable. Content Warning: This post talks about ableism, mental health issues, and the death of a family member We’re hurtling down the tracks to existential climate horror, and the only people able to do anything don’t seem to care.Continue reading “Climate Anxiety & Me (and maybe you)”

Silence holds hands with Violence

Wednesday 11th December 2019 started brightly for many young activists – Fridays for Future occupied the main stage at COP25, the UN sponsored climate talks in Madrid, in an action mainly engaging white youth, and Greta Thunberg was awarded Time’s Person of the Year. However, the picture quickly shifted to become much darker when aContinue reading “Silence holds hands with Violence”

Solidarity, strikers!

I’m Helen, I’m 21, and I’m fucking terrified. I strike in Glasgow with SYCS, and more widely with the global Fridays for Future movement, but my first love is history. I hope one day that I can devote my energy towards it again, but that is very much dependent on whether we still need toContinue reading “Solidarity, strikers!”