e2d
Registered: December 2007
Posts: 1
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While at Christ the King (“CtK”), I have championed environmental causes within my community. Through founding Club Green, helping coordinate the 2007 E-POWER Conference, and working as a team member, drafting Town of Halton Hills (“Town”) Green Plan, I have demonstrated a commitment to environmental leadership, and have learned that an individual can make a difference.
I founded Club Green, CtK’s environmental club, in November 2006, after attending the 2006 E-POWER Conference. The conference examined the environmental controversy surrounding the Niagara Escarpment. This awakened me to the need for environmentally conscience leadership at the school level, and I founded Club Green in response. Under my leadership, Club Green raised $1,500 for Earth Day Canada through a “Civvies Day” fundraiser. We also created the inaugural clean-up challenge between CtK and Georgetown District High School that encouraged students to pick up litter in the community. These activities were part of the process for CtK to earn a Silver Eco-School Certification. CtK is the only secondary school in the Board to meet these standards.
The certification process involved working with members of many community groups, including Protect Our Water and Earth Resources (“POWER”). POWER hosts the annual E-POWER conference that brings together 150 teachers and students from Halton Hills and Milton to learn about environmental issues. After hearing of my work with Club Green, Ian Barrett of POWER invited me to join the steering committee of this year’s conference, “Climate Change: The Day After Tomorrow”. The Conference aims to educate teachers and students on the effects and prevention of global warming. I arranged for CtK to host the conference and developed workshops participants will attend, specifically creating one highlighting how everyday choices contribute to climate change. Combining education with entertainment, I created a board game, “eVolve”, in which, similar to Monopoly, players purchase businesses, looking for both high returns
and low carbon points.
My environmental initiatives attracted the attention of Rick Bonnette, Mayor of the Town. He recruited me as the Youth Representative on the Mayor’s Green Plan Task Force (“Task Force”). Its mandate is to create a Green Plan for the Town, identifying and building on current community environmental initiatives that are practical, affordable, reasonable and enforceable. The Task Force includes the Mayor, Town Councillors, Town Chief Administrative Officer and representatives from local interest groups. As a member of the team, I have worked on designing a framework for minimizing the Town’s environmental impact over the next 5 to 10 years, explored best practices from other municipalities, and looked at new ways to minimize the Town’s ecological footprint.
Part of this minimization involved working with Project Porchlight, a non-profit group that provides free CFLs to municipalities to deliver to their residents. Through my involvement with the Task Force and Club Green, I orchestrated the deliver of over 1500 light bulbs to Halton Hills homes saving 187,500 lbs. of coal and even more green house gas emissions. The picture is of the Club, my school’s Principal, and local Town Councilors prior to Club Green’s first delivery.
Club Green, the E-POWER Conference, and the Task Force have taught me that I can make a positive difference on the environment. All that is required is a fervent desire to effect change, a willingness to work with others to share and develop ideas, and tenacity to implement them. I have learned that a grass roots perspective, shared by similar minded people, can positively and significantly impact the community.
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