The young activist punctuated her birthday with a snarky tweet.
Yesterday, January 3, 2021, famous Swedish climate change activist Greta Thunberg turned 18 years of age. Since becoming a public figure when she was 15, Thunberg has garnered a reputation for sarcasm and wit, frequently directed at those who deny the reality of climate change and other major environmental concerns. On her birthday, Thunberg took the opportunity to flex that wit once again with a snarky tweet.
“Thank you so much for all the well-wishes on my 18th birthday!” she wrote. “Tonight you will find me down at the local pub exposing all the dark secrets behind the climate- and school strike conspiracy and my evil handlers who can no longer control me! I am free at last!!” These comments are a reference to frequent conspiracy theories that claim Thunberg is a puppet figure for some nondescript shadow organization.
Thank you so much for all the well-wishes on my 18th birthday!
Tonight you will find me down at the local pub exposing all the dark secrets behind the climate- and school strike conspiracy and my evil handlers who can no longer control me!
I am free at last!! pic.twitter.com/w1VBG83VVN— Greta Thunberg (@GretaThunberg) January 3, 2021
In addition to her joke, Thunberg took the opportunity to speak a little more seriously about the future of the Earth. In an interview with The Sunday Times, she spoke about the little things she personally does to stop contributing to global pollution, the most recent being no longer purchasing new clothes.
“The worst-case scenario I guess I’ll buy second-hand, but I don’t need new clothes,” she said. “I know people who have clothes, so I would ask them if I could borrow them or if they have something they don’t need any more,” she said. “I don’t need to fly to Thailand to be happy. I don’t need to buy clothes I don’t need, so I don’t see it as a sacrifice.”
When asked about the frequent criticism she’s faced, especially from prolific figures like President Donald Trump, Thunberg said she makes a point of not letting it bother her.
“If you actually start thinking about where you are and what is being said about you and how much focus you are getting, you would develop a self-image that wouldn’t be very sane,” she said.
“Since people are so desperate not to talk at any cost about the climate crisis, they are going to try to do everything to distract,” she continued. “Instead of speaking about the climate crisis they are going to try to make this a debate about me or my personality or my appearance or my parents or my sister or whatever, so you just have to come to terms with that very early on.”