The Washington University Climate Justice Alliance (WUCJA) received the Joseph Barbosa Award last week, a national award from the Sierra Club that recognizes outstanding environmental efforts of contributors under the age of thirty.

Let’s take a moment to be honest with ourselves. Life is fast, we’re all busy, and it can be really, really hard to care about the environment. Movements for social justice are much easier to connect with because they have a face, someone with whom we can empathize.