Winners 2020

Congratulations YRE Winners!

Congratulations to all the winners of the 2020 YRE Canada National Competition! Last year, Canadian youth investigated environmental issues in their communities, and shared their findings through video, photography and writing. Have a look at the 1st, 2nd and 3rd place entries below.

Photography | Ages 11-14

We Are Not Alone In Our Cities!

  • Author: Harveen 
  • Award: 1st Place
  • School: Morning Star Middle School (Mississauga, ON)

Same Flower Different Treatments

  • Author: Tara 
  • Award: 2nd Place
  • School: Morning Star Middle School (Mississauga, ON)

I took a picture of a flower and divided it in half. The first half shows the flower when treated properly with no pollution or climate change and the second half shows the flower when it’s affected by pollution and climate change.

Stop Turning Our World Into Trash

  • Author: Nitara
  • Award: 3rd Place
  • School: Pauline Vanier Catholic Elementary School (Brampton, ON)

This photo is trying to represent that people are trying to turn our world into garbage by littering or by using too much plastic. So it is showing that the world has become garbage and people don’t care now. Also the world is turning into garbage by pollution, so it is basically like giving our world drugs. And what drugs do is make you infected. So we are basically killing our world slowly.

Photography | Ages 15-18

The Future of Our World

  • Authors: Gurleen, Srishti, and Navreen
  • Award: 1st Place
  • School: Seaquam Secondary School (North Delta, BC)

This photo is trying to represent that people are trying to turn our world into garbage by littering or by using too much plastic. So it is showing that the world has become garbage and people don’t care now. Also the world is turning into garbage by pollution, so it is basically like giving our world drugs. And what drugs do is make you infected. So we are basically killing our world slowly.

More Important Than Black Gold

  • Author: Sidney
  • Award: 2nd Place
  • School: Unionville High School (Markham, ON)

Blackness surrounds golden light in this photo of a glass of water. Large corporations are insisting that oil is the new (black) gold, yet it is estimated that 780 million people in this world don’t have access to clean water. Through a chain of clever marketing, and a society carved out from the dependency of oil, we are threatening water and in turn, ourselves. Oil is no black gold. And gold has no real value other than the fact that it sparkles. Would the world care more for water if I painted it as though it were oil or gold?

Our Carbon Footprint Around the World

  • Authors: Maggie, Charlotte, and Katelyn
  • Award: 3rd Place
  • School: Seaquam Secondary School (North Delta, BC)

In the last 30 years, we have left a massive carbon footprint across the world. Many people and animals are being affected by it every day. Most don’t care to help the earth and are only focused on their own lives. We think that it is important to show the effects of our carbon footprint because there are many things in the world that we are trying to make more eco-friendly like cars, airplanes and boats. Simple things, like turning off the lights in your house or using less plastic and recycling more makes a big difference in our world.

Articles | Ages 11-14

COVID-19 is Helping Birds Regain Their Population

  • Author: Drishti 
  • Award: 1st Place
  • School: Morning Star Middle School (Mississauga, ON)
Read here

Disappearing Biodiversity

  • Authors: Srivalli
  • Award: 2nd Place
  • School: Morning Star Middle School (Mississauga, ON)
Read here

Taken for Granted

  • Author: Jasnoor 
  • Award: 3rd Place
  • School: St. Peter Catholic Elementary School (Tecumseh, ON)
Read here

Articles | Ages 15-18

Apathy Personified

  • Author: Natasha 
  • Award: 1st Place
  • School: Trinity College School  (Port Hope, ON)
Read here

A Sea of Foam: The Invisible Dangers of EPS

  • Author: Bailey 
  • Award: 2nd Place
  • School: Seaquam Secondary School (North Delta, BC)
Read here

Why Few People Acknowledge the Endangerment of Beavers

  • Author: Kawtar 
  • Award: 3rd Place
  • School: Jeunes Sans Frontières (Mississauga, ON)
Read here

Videos | Ages 15-18

Solutions for Climate Action

  • Author: Grace 
  • Award: 1st Place
  • School: Erindale Secondary School (Mississauga, ON)

Light Pollution: The Light and the Night

  • Authors: Tim (Ziyi) and Clark (Chenhao) 
  • Award: 2nd Place
  • School: Seaquam Secondary School (North Delta, BC)