The Co-operators Youth Conference for Sustainability Leadership was held just last weekend in Guelph, and yours truly was in attendance.
My four day trip to Guelph began on Wednesday night where I would be going to listen to guest speakers such as David Suzuki talk about things we can do to save the earth. This comes after an entire summer of research that myself and 179 students from across Canada took part in.
As a representative of Bishop’s University I was sent back with a weekend full of knowledge and initiatives that we, as a community, can put together rather easily.
This article will be split into two sections, one being the initiatives that I will be spearheading over the 2009-10 school year and that other clubs will be heading. The other section will be based on very small things you can do personally to help out our community and our Earth.
Lennoxville is a small town with roughly half its population being gone between May and September. That is Bishop’s own that represents half of Lennoxville. We have an opportunity and the youth to take on one or more of the initiatives shown here that will help our community get more green:
#1. A ban on plastic bags in the Lennoxville area
#2. Join the PowerShift movement, where we will be sending Bishop’s representatives to Ottawa for a youth sustainability workshop weekend.
#3. Enter the TD $100,000 Green Challenge by submitting an idea of how to use $25,000 to implement a project based on sustainability.
#4. Bishop’s University Campus Forest Project has events from October 3rd to November 21st including capture the flag, GPS training and Nature tours.
Some of these initiatives can take up a larger portion of your time (like the Green Challenge) while most will only take small amounts of time (example, getting your friends to sign the petition against plastic bags). However, if you would prefer to avoid initiatives and just want to know more about what a poor, busy student can do to save more money and still help out the community, then just take a few or all of these tips:
- Read labels when you shop. The best option is local, organic produce; the next best choice is to buy local, period.
- Any electronic gizmo that has a clock, digital timer, remote control or standby mode is sucking energy when it’s not being used. If you’re not using ‘em, yank ‘em!
- Whenever you shop for electronics of any kind, tell sales staff you are looking for energy efficiency. The more people demand, the more pressure there is for companies to supply.
- Go for a walk instead of watching TV or booting up your computer. It’ll do you and the whole planet a lot of good.
- Write a letter to the editor.
- Contact radio and television producers with your ideas for topics and potential guests.
- Tell everyone you know to get involved
- Watch David Suzuki speak about getting involved at : www.impactyouthsustainability.ca
- Find out your carbon footprint: www.earthlab.com/carbonprofile
- Do not crush your beer cans or break your bottles. Bring them back for deposit. Make some money and save the planet a bit.
- Got something you no longer want? Ebay and Craigslist are excellent ways to get rid of your junk and make a few bucks. One person’s trash is another person’s treasure.
- Get outdoors! Just go for walks by the Massawippi, go camping, fishing. Mt. Orford has gorgeous hiking trails. Imagine what it would be like if we lost all this.
No matter what you do to help, it will be a worthwhile contribution to our planet. Climate Change is a serious problem that researchers, like our professors, know is avoidable if we take action now. Research the information a bit if you do not yet know about it, and if you are aware of the issues, do not sit idly by, take action!
If any of these initiatives interest you or you would like to have more tips on going green, feel free to contact me by email rcourteau06@ubishops.ca
