Vision

Our vision was to empower members of our school community to be able to adopt more sustainable practices in their daily lives by increasing their exposure to local sustainable companies/organizations/groups. We thought a schoolwide interactive EcoFair would be the best way to reach as many people as possible. Our goal was for attendees to walk away with at least one sustainable practice they could try to incorporate in their life immediately (in an attempt to help young people combat feelings of eco-anxiety). Students were given a map and passport that they had to use to work through stations and get answers to questions about the impacts of their efforts on mitigating and adapting to climate change in their community.

Action

EcoCouncil students created a schoolwide EcoFair event on Earth Day (which extended for the whole week) that recruited community volunteers and teachers/students to run interactive and informational booths/workshops for attendees. Our event was attended by over 800 students and staff and included a mindfulness in nature workshop, booths from many community partners (local refillary; City of Guelph (waste, water, transportation, and climate action divisions); local organizations focused on sustainability (Tri City Bee Rescue, GCAT, FreeHub Bike Clinic, G2G Trail Network); and teachers/classes focused on bee conservation, pet sustainability, indigenous ways of knowing, reducing food waste and food propogation, upcycled art projects, indoor plant growing and hydroponics, and our student union created a competitive game to help students remember how to properly sort their waste. We extended the event to also include on-site tree planting workshops for 300+ students later in the week.

Reflection & Celebration

This was the 2nd annual EcoFair at our school and we consider it to be an even greater success than last year. Our attendance was greater, we had more involvement from community volunteers, and there was a greater variety of activities/topics covered by the stations offered. All feedback from our event was very positive and well-received by staff and community attendees. Attendees of the fair who completed their passports were entered into a draw for prizes (Hillside Festival passes, Downtown Dollars (that support local businesses) and litterless lunch packages. EcoCouncil students celebrated with a pizza party and viewing of “2040” to reflect on how their efforts are helping to generate hope for their future on this planet.