They come from all over the world, even from the most remote areas, and fight against pollution, poverty, the exploitation of the planet’s resources, inequality and the protection of the most defenseless animal species. They are the ‘Green Girls’, “warrior girls” who have built a green and international network that moves on the web and in squares around the world, with a single goal: to save the Earth. To tell us their story is Christiana Ruggeri, journalist of Tg2 and writer, in the book “Green Girls – True stories of girls from the side of the Planet”, with colorful illustrations by Susanna Rumiz, published by Giunti for the Earth Day that is celebrated on April 22.
Aimed at girls and boys from 10 years old, but valuable for everyone, the book is a first mapping of the small climate activists in the 5 continents, before and after Greta Thunberg. Very different from each other, by social extraction, origin, race, religion, there are 32, between girls and adolescents, united by an indestructible desire to save even a small piece of the planet, aiming to save it all, which in less than two years they have become ambassadors of associations, have won international awards, are speakers at world summits and have conquered the covers of magazines and TV.
Among the youngest Italian activists, Alice Imbastari who began participating in Fridays For Future at the age of 10, committed to involving as many people as possible in her daily waste collection and who during the lockdown launched her own YouTube channel to encourage children to plant seeds. And there is also Miriam Martinelli, who began to take an interest in the climate issue at the age of 6 and has never stopped dedicating herself to this battle. In New Zealand there is the “white Maori” India Logan Riley who is fighting for her people and against the ever more frequent floods. In Holland Lilly Plat who at 9 years old declared war on plastic, thanks to her grandfather Jim who explained to her how dangerous it is to abandon it in the environment. And then the Indian Licypriya Kangujam who at the age of 9 received, on March 8, 2021, the International Womans Day Award from the Delhi Commission for Women for having created a provocative container of clean air, to be carried as a backpack. And again the Brazilian surfer Catarina Lorenzo, born in 2008, who denounced the dying of corals on the reef and Anoka from Sri Lanka who plants mangroves against tsunamis.
“It was an exciting search. The first mapping of climate activists in the 5 continents where leadership is women. And where the group is without borders. As colorful as it is serious and determined, it invites each of us to action and to join. It is a bridge between the generations »explains Ruggeri, environmentalist and animal rights activist, among other things vice president of the ‘GreenAccord Onlus’ association. Each of them refers to the 17 points of the 2030 Agenda – signed in 2015 by all the countries belonging to the United Nations – including defeating poverty, hunger, fighting climate change, reducing inequalities, having quality education and gender equality.
«Launched by Greta Thunberg with Fridays For Future, they have often been active long before. They are beautiful determined warriors. Authentic ‘green pop’ icons to be inspired by »says Ruggeri in the preface to the book that recalls in the structure ‘Goodnight stories for rebellious girls’. «They offer few controversies and many solutions. In some cases they have been arrested, threatened by governments and institutions, bullied, but they do not give up and denounce the violent. They are never alone, they have parents and environmental friends by their side, even “remotely” », says the author of ‘Green Girls’ who dedicates the book to her daughter.
Title: Green Girls. True stories of girls from the side of the planet
Author: Christiana Ruggeri
Publisher: Joints
Year: 2021
Pages: 197
Price: 15,20 euro