Letters to the Future

Sue Chehrenegar, Freelance Writer

To my granddaughter and all those who are members of her generation: I still remember the time that I talked about celebrating the first Earth Day back in 1970. That was on the day that you had turned four, and …Read more

Yunni Min, UWT Student

To my future children, I hope by the time you read this that our world has changed. Right now I live in a world where people are dying from just breathing in the air outside because of pollution. I live …Read more

Stele "XOEarth Man" Ely, Eco Action Educator

Hello Future Earth Peeps And Critters, Below is my vow to you to take actions that will extend the life of this dying biosphere by 1 minute so that you will get more fun time on this planet. Before I …Read more

Silvana Beatriz Martins

Perhaps, when the drinking water misses and the weather is so severe that people will have to hide in dark underground tunnels, asphyxiating by the dust carried by the dry winds, I will not be on Earth any more. But …Read more

Carol Davis, Sustainability Manager

It took all we had, but in the end we won. Do you remember our names? Each one of us was born into a world where we had a hopeful future - and we felt at the very least we …Read more

Debbie Barbuto, Homeschooling Mama, Artist, Author, Activist, Small Business Owner.

Mother Earth’s Fairy Tale By Mommy Moo Moo For my grandchildren's grandchildren Once upon a time, a long time ago, an evil force called Terrorism threatened world leaders and people from all around the planet from coming together to create …Read more

Lauren Scheller-Wolf, High School Student

Dear People of the Future, My name is Lauren Scheller-Wolf. I’m fifteen. I don’t know anything about the future, of course, I don’t know what your lives are like; you’ve probably created things I could never have dreamed of. But …Read more

Anthony Robinson, Author-Designer-Educator

To The Generations of the Future: When we crossed over the bridge of the 20th Century into the 21st, we gazed out over a vast, empty plain: the future of the human species. Behind us lay the wreckage of industrial …Read more

T N Rauh, Author/Environmental Manager

Dearest, with all our being we apologize for our generation's failure. Our expectations were high as world leaders emerged from the 2015 Paris climate change conference. The draft they paraded was our path to pull back from the climate disaster— …Read more

Karen Olson Johnson, Executive Director, Radio Host, Author-winner Midwest Book Awards

Yours is the world of what we only felt was possible for you have realized the potential of love. We danced, marched, and sang about "all we need is love," but it is you, the future, who figured out how …Read more

Carter & Olivia Ries, Founders of One More Generation (OMG)

Hi, my name is Carter and together with my sister Olivia, we started our own nonprofit called One More Generation (OMG). We are writing to tell you about a problem we were facing back when we were just early teenagers. …Read more

Linda Gillaspy, Retired

I remember the day the ocean smelled different. What's wrong? I remember looking at the sky, brown and ugly. "Oh Mercy, Mercy Me," when will something be done? So many years, the air feels different, this is not the feel …Read more

Ahmed Gaya, Climate Activist

To my Grandchildren, I’m sorry. Your world is so much harder because of what we did not do. It took us too long to realize there was a problem. It took longer still to realize the scope. Once we understood, …Read more

Denis Hayes, National Coordinator of the First Earth Day

Dear Granddaughter, Recently, Secretary of State John Kerry announced that, to his regret, the much-anticipated Paris Climate Conference of 2015 would not produce a treaty. Or, for that matter, anything else “enforceable.” The U.S. Senate will not ratify anything that …Read more

Aisha Johnk, Preschool Teacher

Dear Future Generation, Are you a relative of mine? Perhaps my Great Great Grandchild? If so then something dramatic has happened in my lifetime. Hopefully what happened is a global awareness of the destruction we are doing to our planet. …Read more

Cheryl Nenn, Milwaukee Riverkeeper

Dear future friends of the rivers, Who knows how the next 50 to 100 years will transform our rivers? If we know anything though, it is that our rivers will survive—they are resilient, timeless, and tireless. When imagining those rivers …Read more

Abiola Oluwasey, Climate Reality Project Leader Cote d Ivoire

We are parents, grandparents and families from around the world, and we have had enough of political passivity and profit-motivated roadblocks to bold action on climate. We have come together to raise our voices for all children, everywhere, whose futures …Read more

Beverly Naidus, Artist, Author, Activist, Professor

Dearest ones, I write this with a heart full of both grief and gratitude. It may be difficult to imagine that there were ancestors who really cared about your future, but there are many of us now who do, and …Read more

Jeff vonKaenel, Alternative Weekly Publisher

My hope is that a hundred years from now we not only have a wonderful climate on our beautiful planet, but also that it will be filled with people like my long time friend and associate, Melinda Welsh, who inspired …Read more

Claire Hutkins Seda, Writer & Editor

Dear children, Those climate talks in Paris in 2015, they were just the beginning, weren’t they? How we took to the streets, how we mobilized against climate change, with courage and all our strength, as if in the midst of …Read more

Elizabeth Macklin, Poet

I will tell you that we did learn about it early, but couldn’t make power listen for the longest time. Early on we did make a holiday, which you may still celebrate: Earth Day—it felt like a meaningful gesture at …Read more

The Staff and Supporters of Clean Wisconsin, Environmental Advocates

Dear Earth, We do not know how you will look in the next 50 or 100 years … but our world leaders will have a hand in determining that in Paris next month. But we do know how you have …Read more

Kerry Schumann, Exeutive Director, Wisconsin League of Conservation Voters

Dear great, great grandchildren, As you look back on my generation, I hope you are thanking us. I hope we are remembered as having come to the brink of disaster, but turned back just in time to leave this planet …Read more

Beth Esser, Stay-At-Home Mom

Dear future family, As I write this I picture my two young children at a time in their own lives when they are older than I am now. They are enjoying life with their children and grandchildren (& maybe even …Read more

Leonard Sobczak, Real Estate

To the children of the future; We tried. I was heartened back then when President Jimmy Carter was promoting and modeling fuel conservation. I was horrified when President Ronald Reagan dispensed with that message and heralded the era of gas …Read more

Rev. Gail Collins-Ranadive, Author and Activist

If you are reading this, dear ones, it means that humanity matured in time to not go the way of the dinosaurs. Please know this did not come to pass without massive effort on the part of people you may …Read more

Logan McDermott, Conservationist

Friend, Time is relative and even though my body has already decayed, my actions are still eternal. As humans, trapped on one planet together, we constantly battle over resources and ideologies. I'm certain even you are familiar with war and …Read more

Dan Everett, Professor of Computer Science

I had expected major demonstrations in Paris, but nothing like this. I expected another show, like the last few climate summits: Well-dressed world leaders fly in from all over, give stirring speeches about bold action to save our beloved planet …Read more

Rhea Suh, President of the Natural Resources Defense Council

Dear Grandchildren, I can only imagine the wonderful world you are growing up in. I think of that world—your future—almost every day. I think about how to make sure it is a place where all your hopes and dreams can …Read more

Jim Hightower, Author, National Radio Commentator and Public Speaker

Hello? People of the future … Anyone there? It’s your forebears checking in with you from generations ago. We were the stewards of the Earth in 2015—a dicey time for the planet, humankind, and life itself. And … well, how’d …Read more

Alexis Bonogofsky, Goat Rancher and Anti-coal Activist

Dear Future Montanans, I have asked that you not open this note until 2115. There is a place I want you to go to read this letter, the place where I wrote it. It is a river valley in southeast …Read more

Janette Dean, Environmental Policy & Human Rights Advocate

October 19, 2015 A.D. Dear Earthlings of the Future, I hope there will be some of you able to not just survive, but to truly thrive and treasure your lives for millennia to come! You see, I can not be …Read more

Tom Hayden, Activist, former legislator from California

Dear Future Generations, At the time I write this, the greatest fissure in global politics is between the affluent white North and the suffering and devastated victims of floods, fires, blazing temperatures, deforestation and war from the Global South. Writ …Read more

Noné Chinery Redmond, Volunteer, Activist

Dear Ones, I am thinking of my father's garden with the apple trees and the berry brambles eighty years ago. There were rows of potatoes and Brussels sprouts with cabbage big and tight as footballs. I remember rhubarb and gooseberries …Read more

Dave Webb, Consultant, Creative

Dear William, I’m writing in October 2015, six generations before you were born. How possibly could you imagine back this far, why would you? I met my great-grandfather, and knew my grandparents, but six generations back? I have no idea, …Read more

Jane Primerano, Independent Journalist

Dear Future, Some of us tried. From the very first Earth Day when college students added concern for the environment to the protests of the National Student Strike. We worked hard. We planted organic gardens and used canvas shopping bags. …Read more

Peter Willis, Sales

I know it must seem odd to you that we took our precious blue planet for granted and came close to making it uninhabitable for humans, but it's true. After Paris, there was finally an awakening and the ones who …Read more

Valarie Young, Climate Reality Leader

Hello to my future grand and great grand-children, I want you to know that I have given my all to help spread the word and change the course of global warming and climate disruption. There were many of us hard …Read more

Elizabeth V. Forrester, Philosophy Professor, Sacramento City College

Dearest Future Friends and Family, One of the most popular children’s books of my time was entitled, Where The Wild Things Are. It told the story of a mischievous little boy, Max, who when sent to bed without his supper, …Read more

Joy Horowitz, Journalist, Author, Teacher

Dear Future Ones. Tonight, I'm going to a City Council meeting in Torrance, Ca. to hear how residents are worried about the future of the Exxon Mobil refinery there. It blew up about six months ago. The explosion shook houses …Read more

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