On January 7, 2025, massive catastrophic wildfires ripped through the Los Angeles region of Southern California. Taking the heaviest tolls on the Pacific Palisades, Altadena, LA, Riverside County, San Bernardino, and more, these devastating fires have taken 24 lives, forced 180,000 people to evacuate, and destroyed 12,400 buildings. 

In times of such turmoil, uniting to combat the infernos that destroy the LA region is more important than ever. While it’s understood that high school students may lack the necessary funds to donate large sums of money to provide relief, that’s no problem! There are plenty of other meaningful ways to provide support without significant financial contributions. 

1) Reduce your usage of AI

Given its increased complexity and development, AI requires as much as double the amount of computing power every 3.4 months, according to OpenAI researchers. Consequently, training and programming such a model can produce approximately 626,000 lbs of carbon dioxide—equivalent to five times the amount of carbon dioxide produced by a car in its lifetime. As a result, electronic waste is produced and contains harmful chemicals such as lead, mercury, and cadmium. This “e-waste” can contaminate soil and bodies of water, ultimately serving as a significant hazard to the environment. The heavy carbon emissions add to global warming, and vast amounts of water that cool AI systems exacerbate our water supply—ultimately contributing to the increase in wildfires. Therefore, by reducing the reliance we have as high school students on AI, we can do our part to cut down on as much as 4.32 grams of carbon dioxide per message. By not using AI, we’re cutting down on a significant amount of carbon dioxide one message at a time, thus mitigating the severe environmental conditions that instigated the wildfires within the LA region. 

2) Send out cards to citizens as a means of providing emotional support

Even though this tactic isn’t one that provides direct relief to the environmental conditions themselves, over 12,000 homes and 40,000 acres have been decimated as a result of the wildfires. Therefore, despair dominates the population within LA County, and many people are consumed by complete hopelessness as they see their livelihoods being burned down. Provided this information, mailing in forms of emotional support through cards, care packages, messages of support, and much more would provide some smiles to the faces of those who are the most vulnerable. This method proved to work, as the THS Japanese Cultural Club sent over twenty cards in celebration of Japanese New Year to Kizuna, a nonprofit organization aimed at spreading the beauty of Japanese culture located within Little Tokyo in LA. As a result of their kind gesture, Kali Kishi, the communications coordinator for Kizuna, reached out to the Japanese Cultural Club, thanking them for such a kind act after seeing their Instagram story:

“Are you sending us letters?” said Kishi, “That is so sweet! Thank you so much! We can’t wait to see them. Please let us know if there’s anything we can do for you all.” 

So, as you can see, sending forms of emotional support can be just as impactful as financial support, making it an excellent option for high school students with limited means. 

3) Be more environmentally conscious

Wildfires typically occur due to very hot and dry conditions as global temperatures rise, with a large part of those arid conditions driven by carbon emissions. However, there are plenty of ways to be more environmentally conscious in your day-to-day life outside of restricting AI use—all completely free of cost! For instance, you can limit the amount of meat in your diet, as meat production generates a lot of carbon emissions due to the machinery used to produce not only the meat itself but also the food that the animals consume. In addition, you can take public transportation rather than driving, as individual vehicles generate up to 2.2 tons more carbon emissions. Even better, you can walk, bike, or use an electric vehicle! Finally, taking shorter showers significantly reduces the amount of hot water needed, which reduces the amount of energy needed to heat the water, resulting in fewer greenhouse gases and emissions. 

4) Collaborate with LA-based businesses and nonprofits remotely

Although this tactic is easier said than done due to communication challenges, collaborating with organizations within LA has many benefits. For starters, local businesses only have so much support in their own communities. Therefore, by communicating with them to work together on a project, visibility for relief efforts can increase, drawing more attention and potentially more donations for the company. In addition, remote collaboration allows for greater flexibility in project management and fundraising, thus allowing for a wide range of opportunities for innovative approaches to tackling challenges prompted by the wildfires. It doesn’t even have to be much, either! Like the Japanese Cultural Club, you can simply send messages of support and have a local business distribute them to its clients. In addition, you can hold fundraisers as a means of raising money for providing relief to the fires. Prior to hosting those events (bake sales, clothing sales, canned food drives, etc), be sure to reach out to an LA-based organization to coordinate donating the proceeds to them. 

5) Spread awareness on social media

With over half of the world’s population using social media, what better way to raise awareness for a cause than by reposting information about it on Instagram or other platforms? Not only does it come at no cost, but reposting posts from reliable accounts such as CNN, The New York Times, and many more can spread information about this natural disaster to a large audience that might have not have seen the news otherwise. This can also encourage collaboration and discussion on how to improve such conditions together thanks to the open forums produced by many social media platforms. However, be sure to properly credit the source from which you share information and be careful to not spread around misinformation! Additionally, you can write your own thoughts on the event and even share a potential personal connection to the fires as a means of provoking empathy and encouraging donations. Social media also enables you to share GoFundMe links, fundraiser information, and much more. Overall, sharing on social media promotes increased reach of the information that you wouldn’t otherwise be able to do.

Ultimately, anything counts when it comes to providing relief for these fires. Even if it’s simply providing emotional support for your loved ones within affected regions, that still speaks volumes. You don’t need large sums of money in order to help in one way or another. Truthfully, something as simple as a hug and some reassurance can make all the difference.