On April 21, 2022, EcoSchools Canada helped run From Awareness to Action, a livestreamed event discussing the importance of youth and business engagement in combating climate change.
Hosted by Cascades, and in partnership with EcoSchools Canada and the David Suzuki Foundation, the event featured Severn Cullis-Suzuki, Executive Director of the David Suzuki Foundation, and Hugo D’Amours, Vice-President of Communications, Public Affairs and Sustainability at Cascades. The MC was youth activist extraordinaire Naisha Khan.
Also in attendance at Cascades’ Recovery+ Centre in Vancouver were participating EcoSchools Cousteau School, The French International School of Vancouver and Mulgrave School – The International School of Vancouver, who, in addition to the live discussion, were invited on a tour of the facility’s recycling and recovery operations.
A teacher from Mulgrave School commented, “Our students and teachers were overwhelmingly positive about the event. They really loved both aspects of it and I hope that EcoSchools puts together another event next year!”
Schools from across Canada were invited to “unlock” access to the event livestream by running—or demonstrating the intention to run—a Community Clean-up in their local area, in the spirit of Earth Week. At the time of the event’s broadcast, 296 schools located in seven provinces had completed or planned to complete a Community Clean-up, with participating students and staff members collecting a whopping 1,545 bags of garbage and 1,520 bags of recycling.
In their wide-ranging conversation, Cullis-Suzuki and D’Amours discussed the importance of taking action at both the personal and systems level.
Cascades, D’Amours explained, is working to reduce its ecological footprint in areas like water and energy consumption. The company also runs programs to help its employees make eco-friendly choices, such as providing funding for buying an electric vehicle.
At the personal level, people can focus on reducing their waste and consumption and being intentional about the products they buy.
“As a consumer, we feel sometimes, or as an individual, we feel that we don’t have much power over this, but the fact is, every time we buy something, it’s like voting. So if people leave on shelves packaging that is not recyclable or products that are made without any recycled content and so on, we’re definitely going to have a huge impact on the world we live in,” said D’Amours.
The speakers also emphasized the power of the youth voice to raise awareness about environmental issues and remind adults about their responsibility toward future generations. For example, at the age of 12, Cullis-Suzuki gave a memorable speech at the Rio Earth Summit. Today, Greta Thunberg and the Fridays for Future movement are just two examples of youth who are raising awareness around the world about climate change.
“I see momentum. I see now young people having more opportunity to have a voice than ever before in human history,” declared Cullis-Suzuki.
Cullis-Suzuki and D’Amours both encouraged young people to connect the climate crisis to their passions and chosen occupation.
“We really need our young people to speak up, to use your voice because it is so powerful and so needed today. And I truly believe that it is the spark, it is the transformative piece that our society needs to make the revolution that we absolutely need. So use your voice,” urged Cullis-Suzuki.
Watch this recap video for highlights from Cullis-Suzuki and D’Amours’ conversation.