February Climate Leader: Gabby Wade

We have been so thrilled to see the youth climate movement evolve and grow in our community. This month we are excited to announce 17-year-old Gabby Wade as our February climate leader! Gabriella Wade is a senior at Charlottesville High School, and she loves her Engineering and Urban Farming classes. Next year she wants to go to college to study Civil Engineering. In her free time, she loves to play piano, hang out with friends, and bake.

1. How did you get involved in the environmental movement?

I’ve played outside every day since I was a little girl.  I’ve always loved nature and being outside. As I got older, I started to hear about climate change and how it would affect people’s everyday life. I got involved in the environmental movement because I want future generations to play outside and enjoy nature as I did.  

2. What are you hopeful about right now?

I am hopeful in the youth—my generation. I think there are a lot of young people that are passionate about this issue and want to see changes made in their lifetime. They see that adults are not making meaningful changes. 

3. What is one thing that is holding our local community or state back from greater progress on implementing climate solutions?

I think that cost is a major obstacle in holding our local community from doing more. Many of the climate solutions cost a lot of money, and for many people buying organic can be very expensive and hard to get. 

4. What is a climate action personally that you are proud of?

I am proud of the work that my engineering group and I are doing. We are creating an automatic watering system for the garden at Charlottesville High School to help save water and time. This watering system will be run by an app that we are also creating. This will allow City School Yard employees to water the garden when they are away from the school. The app will also have features like automatically watering the garden if the soil gets to dry and stopping once it gets to a certain moisture.

5. What is one thing you think that young people can do today to help reduce climate pollution?

I think that there are many things the youth can do. I think the most important thing is to get educated. It is important to know what you are fighting for. I think youth can vote for people who believe in climate and want to help reduce it. If they are too young to vote, they can write letters and call their representatives as well as convince the people old enough in their life to vote

6. This is challenging work.  What is your favorite way to recharge and rejuvenate?

My favorite way to recharge is to bake chocolate chip cookies. I really enjoy baking and making cookies is a simple and quick thing for me to make and I get to eat them afterward.