12 of the best signs from the Global Climate Strike

Millions around the entire world are taking to the streets in many cities this Friday, September 20 for a Global Climate Strike. The strike, which strives to urge action on climate change, was started by students and young people.  

They are the ones who will inherit the Earth, whose resources older generations have depleted and destroyed. And young people are, understandably, tired of politicians and leaders dragging their feet on initiating the big, structural change that needs to happen if we are going to save our planet.

Of course, young people are bringing to the strike some of the most clever, effective protest signs we’ve ever seen. Here are some of the best ones. 

Kids everywhere are skipping school because the climate crisis is much more pressing than fourth grade (no offense to fourth grade). If we keep heading the direction we’re going in, kids like these two little girls won’t have a planet to live on, let alone a school to attend. 

The Kombucha Girl had an instantly iconic set of facial expressions that are expertly utilized here. Only comprehensive, structural climate action will make a difference now.  

This woman has a very good point. If we don’t have a planet to live on, neither do dogs. We have to save the planet because we need to do right by all our fluffy pups. They deserve a clean planet more than we do, to be honest. 

I’m sure most people would recognize that font anywhere. This Friends episode, “The One Where We Destroy Earth” is much more devastating than the actual finale of the show. Believe me. 

Aladdin’s looking quite stressed in this protest sign. You know why? Because as he rides his magic carpet, he’s no longer seeing the Earth in all its “shining, shimmering, splendor.” Instead, it’s all “burning, blistering, melting.”  

I just took a DNA test, turns out Lizzo’s lyrics really can be repurposed for anything, and they make a great climate protest sign. If you’re not terrified for our future, you haven’t been listening. As Lizzo would say, the truth hurts.

The Area 51 raid is happening this weekend, and this person was going to go, but it turns out fighting for action against climate change is way more important than trying to gain access to a secret government facility where there may or may not be aliens. That’s a big deal! 

I swear, there is no moment in all of The Simpsons that can’t be used to apply to real life. This is presented as a joke, but the idea is real. We need to think about future generations when we consider how climate change is affecting the planet.  

Sure, this sign has multiple dreamy pictures of James Van der Beek and lyrics from Paula Cole’s “I Don’t Want to Wait,” the theme song to Dawson’s Creek, but it also has a serious message! We’re past the point where we can wait. We don’t have much time to act and have already passed some critical tipping points from which we won’t recover.  

Dr. Seuss’s The Lorax is his most explicit environmentally-focused story, and it’s a good one. In The Lorax, corporate greed results in the degradation of the environment to a dangerous degree. Sound familiar?

This sign is great because of its sheer audacity. Periods can be unpredictable and hit you by surprise. That should not be the same for the seasons. We shouldn’t, for example, be reaching 90-degree temperatures in the fall.  

Respect your mother! Mother Earth is the only planet we have, and we have not treated it well. It’s past time for huge, institutional change to address climate change. Kudos to all the people taking to the streets to fight for not only what is right but what is necessary.