– by Maddy Batt – In the past few years, our school has been getting greener–from hand dryers to compost bins, environmental initiatives have become an important part of Winsor life. Many students and alumnae, however, recently went further. On September 21st, hundreds of thousands of people flocked to New York for the People’s Climate March, just days before the United Nations Climate Summit, to demand action against climate change. The event, which is being hailed as the largest climate march in history, boasted participants as illustrious as policymakers from Washington, high-profile environmental activists (including Leonardo DiCaprio), and members of the Winsor community past and present.

“It was possibly the most amazing thing I have ever had the opportunity to experience,” said Anna Blaustein ’15. The most awe-inspiring moment of the march, she thought, was the two minutes of silence the marchers had at 12:58. In a crowd of 400,000, “you could have heard a pin drop.” Then, suddenly, she heard a “roar that came at us from people at the end of the march…the noise of thousands and thousands of people yelling and singing and chanting.” The atmosphere was exhilarating. The diversity of the crowd was also impressive; people of incredibly disparate backgrounds and belief systems, including “socialists, grandparents, nudists, and students,” all marched together for the welfare of the planet.

Ultimately, though, these incredibly diverse individuals stood in solidarity, committed to a single cause. As Blaustein put it, “We were all there because we care about the planet and are beyond ready to speak up and take action.” Hopefully, Winsor students will continue to take action for whichever issues that mean the most to them–they might even save the planet in the process.