《可持续发展在本拿比》一位麻省理工女孩的独家分享

As an eighth grader, I was very timid. However, involvement in the youth environmental movement changed that. For me, it brought into focus many of the pressing environmental issues in the school community, and through advocacy I found a more confident voice. As I became increasingly more involved in environmental initiatives, I grew from a shy participant into a trusting facilitator. I was humbled to meet many passionate youth from across the region, and as I worked together with many different people, I witnessed many different leadership styles. Eventually, I led a team myself, as chair of the Burnaby Youth Sustainability Network. From there, I learned that a group of empowered youth can accomplish amazing things.

It all started in grade nine, one day after school, when I went to a meeting for the Burnaby Youth Sustainability Network (BYSN), a student-led organization supported by the school board. It was the first time I had seen students from other high schools commute to arrive for a meeting, and I was struck by their dedication. Then I heard their convincing arguments against bottled water, and I was hooked. Together, we successfully executed a campaign against bottled water, resulting in the installation of water bottle refill stations in every high school in Burnaby. All throughout the district, we encouraged our peers to refill their own water bottles in an effort to keep plastic bottles out of the landfill. Within a year and a half, we had diverted 1,000,000 water bottles from the landfill (according to the counter on the water bottle refill stations).

At one BYSN meeting, I proposed to connect with elementary students. After some discussion, a group of us designed and taught an interactive lesson on butterfly lifecycles to a grade two class, and thus BYSN’s elementary outreach and mentorship program was born. We taught simple lessons and hosted community clean-ups in the neighborhood. Called Generation Green, the program gave older students the experience of personally passing on the value of stewardship as well as the opportunity to volunteer for community clean-ups. I remember how heartwarming it was to see how dedicated the kids were about getting every last plastic bag out of the gutters along the road.

The network grew, and I continued to get more involved. In grade eleven, I took over the reins as BYSN chair. I established the first executive team with representatives from all the high schools in the city, and with this connected team, we planned an annual sustainability conference called “Do it Green”. On the day of, students, staff and community partners gathered for conversation around issues, current projects, and resources they had to offer. In 2013, 500 people participated in the conference, up from 200 the previous year and 150 the year before. For all this organizational work, the network and a couple of its members received recognition from the City of Burnaby.

At my own high school, I co-founded a vegetable garden which contributes its harvest to the home economics department and the school-wide breakfast program. With $2000 in grant money, we turned the courtyards of post-construction rubble into plots of arugula and carrots. The expertise of our sponsor teacher and the daily hard work of our green team members allowed our garden to become a flagship garden in the school district. Word got out, and in 2013, BYSN received $5595 from Vancity Credit Union to fund our district goal of having a garden in every high school.

Through all these initiatives, we reduced the amount of plastic bottle waste, cleaned up waste around elementary school neighborhoods, and exchanged stories with others in the community in hopes of future collaboration. The student network had allowed us to accomplish what none of us could have done alone. I was thankful for the reach we had as a network and the voice we had as a group, but I wanted to involve even more people. Waste reduction was one of my personal priorities, and I wanted to share my thoughts on it. In 2013, I gave a talk through TEDxKids@BC to an audience of 400, in the hopes that those 400 would continue the conversation by getting involved in their own community groups. I hoped that they would draw more people into the movement, because networks are very powerful catalysts for change.

The youth network that exists in Burnaby is an amazing support system that encouraged me to develop a voice and accomplish many things I never would have imagined doing alone. And that network is still active today, under strong leadership, reaching out to more high school students. And that’s the way it should be. As advocators, we need to make sure that we are not only fighting for a sustainable community, but also that our movement is sustainable. And together, as a network of empowered individuals, we have the power to ensure that the future is livable for a very long time.