Vision

As global emissions continue to rise, there has never been a more relevant time to educate young people about ways to mitigate their carbon footprint. Throughout the #BeTheChange youth Action Project, we hoped to spread awareness of factors that cause climate change while providing tangible steps students can take to reduce their carbon footprint.

Because of school closures we were limited in our ability to take action and so our goal is to implement this over two phases:

Awareness & education – This was a series of educational and inspirational workshops held to raise awareness and combat misconceptions around climate change, but also to try and build community during a time of virtual learning.

Action- Due to the lockdown we were unable to build our statement piece bottle garden. This was to make people think about their consumption, to grow plants to offset carbon emissions, and to create an outdoor space for learning. We hope to have another class or club take over our project

Action

We created a series of workshops to inform and engage secondary students in discussing climate change and the role each of us plays in trying to combat it. We had over 75 students attend from around the school board and were able to give students suggestions and tips for living a more sustainable lifestyle. We had a successful social media campaign and were able to reach out to 130 followers. There we shared facts about the issues and hosted a competition to get students to start being the change.

For a detailed look at our action, please check out our project website: https://sites.google.com/ocdsb.ca/jmssbethechange/home

Reflection & Celebration

Overall, we had a successful first phase. We were able to reach out to over 100 students. Students that attended our workshops all walked away having learnt something new and many of them made commitments to making change in their lives.

For a detailed reflection, please check out our project website:https://sites.google.com/ocdsb.ca/jmssbethechange/home

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