“People always talk about the future like it just happens to us, but we have the power to change it to what we want it to be,” Stilwell said.
Stilwell spoke to students about raising awareness and making a difference.
Out of the many factors that cause Global Warming, the most notable are those which trap carbon dioxide in the earth’s atmosphere, usually greenhouses gases. The more CO2 in the atmosphere; the hotter our planet becomes.
Part of the reason global warming is deadly is because we as students live large lives. According to Stilwell, an average United States teenager uses 21 football fields of space to live.
“Living large means lots of energy, lots of energy means lots of carbon dioxide and that means a higher temperature of the earth,” Stilwell said.
As a part of ACE, Stilwell wants to work directly with WHS’s environmental club to help make the school and the world more eco-friendly and “green.”
He urged students to find their Do One Thing (DOT). Doing one thing can be doing something small that will also make a difference such as taking shorter showers or cutting back on hamburgers one day a week.
Stilwell believes that if we do this, the earth can be a wonderful place to live 40 years from now. But if we don’t change they way we live, there could be drastic effects.
Within 100 years, parts of Boston will be underwater, including Faneuil Hall.
Scientists also say that the earth will raise its temperatures 3-7 degrees Fahrenheit by the end of the century, and the climate change could cause 20-50% of species to become extinct. Additionally, it will cost America trillions of dollars each year to help this problem.
Wayland students can help make their difference by pledging their DOT online at
“All it takes is a little innovation and a little imagination to fix what is wrong and make it right,” Stilwell said. “The future isn’t written yet. We are at a crossroads and you can change this.”
