Are School Uniforms the Answer to Gen Z’s Overconsumption Problem? By Charlotte Roberts, age 16 Across millions of TikTok videos marked with the hashtag #haul, the scene remains consistent: a Gen Z influencer unboxing dozens of items worth of clothing, usually at an attractive price to the consumer but a detrimental one to the environment. Viewers can usually count on seeing these outfits appear once in an Instagram story or TikTok clip and then deemed “out of style” and discarded to make closet room for the next shipment. The cycle repeats itself, and with each new trend comes more waste and environmental harm. While the desire to keep up with the latest trends is not unique to Gen Z, social media, such as TikTok, with 60% of its one billion users being Gen Z, has made it easier than ever for young adults, including high schoolers, to see what their peers and popular influencers are categorizing as trendy must-haves. With over 45 billion views across the TikTok hashtags #haul, #cloth
Why Global Warming Will Never Demolish By Seungjun Jung, age 19 Record-breaking temperatures flash across screens while sea levels creep up shores and catastrophic natural disasters sweep across continents, all of which seem to exacerbate each year. Global warming has time and time been condemned as the killer of Mother Earth, the news of which has only recently jolted the international community out of its oblivion, intentional or otherwise. According to the UN Secretary-General António Guterres, to achieve net zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2050, the world will “need commitments that will deliver a reduction of emissions by 45% by 2030…” While a commendable emulation, the potentiality of this ambition remains dubious in mere eight short years. The money, time, and manpower necessary for the development of renewable energy infrastructures are staggering, and while this may seem like a feasible goal for rich developed countries, it might as well be a crushing sentence for poo