Julia Lopez
At just 14 years old, Julia Lopez is an inspiration to us all. As an avid traveler, her goal is to “get the word out to other people that you can help a good cause while being fashionable at the same time.” Through her travels she has found that it is quite easy to get around using public transportation and by foot and she hopes to inspire her peers (and elders) to be more conscientious about their transportation choices. She is setting an example for youths of all ages that they too have a powerful voice amongst policy leaders on certain issues: “like making sure that we have better, cleaner and more efficient ways of transportation.” Julia recently flew to Washington DC to meet with Senator Barbara Boxer on behalf of Transportation for America. “A lot of times when people think about the environment they don’t think about how transportation fits in, but much of the carbon dioxide that we are emitting into the atmosphere is due to transportation,” explained Julia. As a part of the Central Valley Air Quality Coalition, Julia went to Sacramento to speak with Senator Dean Florez and First Lady Maria Shriver’s Chief of Staff about clean air policies in California’s Central Valley where there is a lot of pesticide use. According to Julia, “Bakersfield has some of the worst air quality in the country.”
Julia makes a conscious effort to help the environment everyday by recycling and walking whenever possible. “I reduce my carbon footprint by being physically active and taking care of the earth” says Julia. She is currently attending the first green high school in the Los Angeles Unified School District and she thinks “it is really cool that high schools are starting to take a true interest in being more green.”
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