Once a week at lunch hour, Palmer High School’s Climate Club gets together to talk big ideas. Sophomore Taylor Saulsbury leads the group of Colorado Springs students on climate strike plans, and thoughts on how to get plastic utensils out of the cafeteria.

“I think it's become a major part of my life,“ Taylor said. “It's sad, and it's also empowering at the same time.”

Taylor started the school’s climate club after feeling depressed about climate change. But before she started the club, she made an Instagram account. It’s called Palmer Planet. Taylor has made and shared memes, “to get at [her] generation.”

Kendelyn Ouellette For CPR News Roxy Houck listens as Taylor Saulsbury speaks about memes and climate change.

“This is how we talk about issues in the most non-offending way,” Taylor said.

Memes often make light of serious topics. Coronavirus. War. School shootings. If you spend any time on the internet at all, you’ve encountered a meme. A well-known meme-style is an image, captioned with different jokes— likely in bold, white lettering.

One example is “Disaster Girl.” It’s a closeup photo of a young girl looking right at the camera, with a slight grin on her face. Behind her, there is a house on fire. And the little girl looks pleased.

Taylor used the meme to make a point. She captioned the image, “Climate change isn't real.”