Carly Chernomorets ’16 and her best friend Abbie Goldberg ’16 posted a picture on Facebook on Jan. 30 that started a movement: the Climate Change Crop Top Challenge. In the picture, both Chernomorets and Goldberg are glowering into the camera and wearing crop tops in the middle of winter. Chernomorets captioned the picture, “CLIMATE CHANGE CROP TOP CHALLENGE: every time that it’s too warm for the season (or when it’s above 32 degrees in the middle of winter) wear a crop top. because you can and because the world is literally ending,” along with the hashtags “#aninconvenientbellybutton, #tummyskinforclimatejustice and #climatechangecroptopchallenge.”
The challenge dares students to wear crop tops every day that the weather is unseasonably warm to spread awareness about climate change. Chernomorets, who started the movement at Brandeis, posts a picture of herself and Goldberg wearing crop tops along with a fact about climate change every time the weather is warmer than it should be. So far they have posted five pictures.
“The purpose of the Climate Change Crop Top Challenge is to bring awareness to the changing climate, to keep people thinking about our rapidly decaying Mother Earth and to end climate change using the only tools we know how: social media and skin,” said Chernomorets in an email to The Brandeis Hoot.
Chernomorets said she originally tried to start the movement at UMass, but had better luck at Brandeis, where more people knew her and were eager to participate and show their support.
As the challenge caught on, people began nominating their friends to bare their midriffs and post a Climate Change Crop Top Challenge picture the next time the weather reached above 32 degrees. “The challenge has spread like wildfire! We’ve seen belly buttons of every race, creed, religion and gender identity. People we’ve never even met are doing it,” Chernomorets said. “We’ve seen belly buttons as far away as Canada, and it’s not only college students who are baring their midriffs for climate justice. We’ve seen grads, yuppies and even our parents rock crop tops for the cause.”
The challenge has made a significant impact so far. The pictures may be somewhat amusing, but many people who are participating are posting serious facts about climate change to spread the message about the gravity of the situation. Brandeis Climate Justice posted a Climate Change Crop Top Challenge picture to their Facebook page on Feb. 4. The group photo depicts members of Brandeis Climate Justice wearing crop tops, with part of the caption stating, “In solidarity with all who are already severely being affected by climate change globally, Brandeis Climate Justice participates in the Climate Change Crop Top Challenge. While many of us undoubtedly appreciate the pleasant weather that has graced our university campus for the past few days, we cannot help but remember the magnitude of disaster that the ongoing rise in mean global temperature means worldwide.”
Chernomorets is not planning on giving up on the challenge anytime soon. “It works by using the power of the internet to affect atmospheric temperatures. Also by rallying armchair activists to take one more step in their journeys to almost making a difference,” she said. “We will photograph our midsections until climate change drives us to our inevitable demise.”
