Kids are so awesome. We get tired of reading about the bad kids, we’d rather celebrate the good ones.
Go Abby!
Abby Goldberg is trying to stop the use of plastic bags in her hometown, Grayslake, Illinois. She ran into a problem when a bill started moving through the Illinois legislature which would prohibit towns from making their own decisions about things like plastic bags. This ridiculous limitation of local government is supported by the plastics industries, under the guise of improving recycling programs. So Abby’s goal of restricting plastic bag use in her town hit a roadblock at the state legislature.
Did she give up? No! She took to the internet and started a petition urging her governor, Pat Quinn, to veto the bill. Over 130 thousand people have joined her cause.
Did I mention that she’s just 12 years old?
It would have been so easy for her to give up. When we were young we heard: “You can’t fight City Hall.”
Abby says that you can. Abby fights not just city hall but also the State house. She’s not backing down.
We hope our kids will be like her, the kids who stand up to bullies! Whether these bullies are on the playground, in the statehouse, or just transnational corporate conglomerates.
We hope our kids will not give up when faced with an obstacle, but will find a way around it or through it. We hope our kids will be as righteous as Ms. Abby Goldberg. Abby, your energy inspires us. We will join your ranks and do what we can to stop this bill so that you can stop plastics from polluting your town and our world.
Sign and share her petition here: http://www.change.org/petitions/governor-quinn-don-t-let-big-plastic-bully-me
Follow her campaign on twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/ActivistAbby