Climate Issues and Human Rights: Mikaela Loach fights for it all
Fights for the future generations raise from the commitment of their younger protagonists. And we are not speaking about the famous young woman who made a touching speech in front of the UN. Let’s turn our attention to this medical student who, at just 24 years of age, has gained 141k instagram followers for spreading awareness about climate issues and human rights. You do read that right. Mikaela Loach’s - who goes by she/her/they pronouns - incredible work has inspired so many people to join her in the fight against global warming, human trafficking, and racism. She’s here to spread awareness and help persuade everyone to make a better future for our planet.
Originally born in Jamaica in 1998, Loach was brought up in Surrey with her Jamaican father and British mother. Despite commuting to and from London for part of her life, Mikaela was raised to keep in touch with her Jamaican heritage which we can wholeheartedly say shapes her activism today. Loach’s mother chose to move the family from Kingston to Surrey when Mikaela was only 3, as it was considered a safe place to live, even if that meant living in a predominantly white, conservative part of the country. Unfortunately, being a minority at school also means being bulled. Initially, these effects affected Mikaela’s ability to be a star student. But once she moved school, she overcome those obstacles and she flourished academically, cultivating the dream of becoming a doctor. Currently, at 24 years old, Mikaela is a 4th year medical student at the university of Edinburgh but due to «severe racism in medical school» she has taken a year out to heal and focus on her activist work.
Loach started her activist work around the time when the refugee crisis was all over the news. A teenager at the time, Mikaela went to her first marches in order to protest for refugee and migrant rights before promptly leaving for Calais to volunteer and help out at camps and seeing it all first hand. If anything, this seems to have sparked a further burning desire in Mikaela to do even more for oppressed people and our dying planet. Naturally, conversations with both parents during her childhood about her Jamaican and British heritage made her aware of slavery and colonialism. You could say that Mikaela’s motivation to be an activist and speak up about issues of race was born from her parents telling her the truth about this country’s history.
Following on from that experience, Mikaela had seen documentaries about the fast fashion dynamics which motivated her further to make a change to the way she shops. Sharing her tips on how to shop sustainably with Global Citizen, Mikaela states «the most sustainable choice you can make are the clothes you already have.». She follows that statement up by saying that it doesn’t matter if the clothes are fast fashion, just so long as they’re reused! Secondly, Loach believes that if you’re going to buy clothes, it should be second hand and if you really want something new, Mikaela doesn’t condemn the buying of new clothes, instead, she recommends leaving it two weeks to decide whether you really want it or not and even then, it should only be bought if it’s going to be worn over 30 times.
Mikaela’s approach to helping the planet is very much taking one step at a time. She’s not about pressuring consumers into quitting fast fashion cold turkey. She wants consumers to think about their shopping habits and slowly but surely make those all-important changes to the way they shop. You can find Mikaela on instagram and twitter @mikaelaloach as well as on her podcast, @theyikespodcast!
Mikaela believes that little steps, volunteering when you can, and giving up bits of your time to help can make a huge difference to the crises our world and its people face every day. And following her, we do too!
