{"id":19233,"date":"2019-05-02T16:07:05","date_gmt":"2019-05-02T20:07:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bgccan.com\/?p=19233"},"modified":"2026-04-01T15:15:17","modified_gmt":"2026-04-01T15:15:17","slug":"the-next-generation-of-environmental-guardians","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bgccan.com\/en\/the-next-generation-of-environmental-guardians\/","title":{"rendered":"The next generation of environmental guardians"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Owen Charters<\/em><\/p>\n

The environment remains a vital topic. Spring has brought major flooding in Ontario, Quebec, and New Brunswick, and leaders are now declaring that this will be a routine event given climate change.\u00a0We need to consider our impact on the world.<\/p>\n

If you have kids, you probably know that they are the greatest guardians of the planet.\u00a0My kids routinely question our family\u2019s choices when it comes to the environment.\u00a0They know about conservation and preservation of our fresh water sources.\u00a0They don\u2019t like plastic straws and other disposable plastics.\u00a0And they are probably only at the beginning of their environmental crusade, which I suspect will become more vigilant and ardent as they get older.<\/p>\n

We recently joined seven other youth-serving organizations to survey young people across Canada<\/a>. The results came out today. Among the many interesting findings, we discovered that the number two concern among youth is climate change. The next generation knows they are inheriting a bad deal.\u00a0They\u2019ve heard it, they see it.\u00a0They\u2019re the first generation to really see the first-hand impacts of wild fires, water levels rising, and volatile weather from the day they were born.\u00a0Prior generations were warned, and now we\u2019re experiencing it.<\/p>\n

When Finance Minister Bill Morneau was meeting with kids at our Toronto Kiwanis Boys and Girls Club, one girl was adamant that she ask him about plastics in our oceans.\u00a0She was driven by purpose and she was not going to be dissuaded. When I told her we were running out of time and he might not get to her question, she looked me firmly in the eye and said:\u00a0\u201cBut I HAVE to ask him about this.\u00a0It\u2019s REALLY IMPORTANT.\u201d\u00a0She got to ask her question.\u00a0And he answered, acknowledging that it is a major concern.<\/p>\n

While I\u2019ve always tried to make good choices for the planet, it feels even more urgent now.\u00a0I admit I\u2019m a wannabe environmentalist\u2014I want to do the right things, but modern life and its conveniences often get in the way.\u00a0I try to make decent choices where I can.\u00a0It\u2019s not enough, and I know it.\u00a0I drive a hybrid vehicle\u2014but it\u2019s an SUV, because I have to fit kids, a dog, and sports gear in there.\u00a0I carry a refillable coffee mug and a reusable water bottle wherever I can.\u00a0I try to remember my reusable bags when I go grocery shopping.\u00a0I now travel with my own soap and shampoo instead of using the one-time options in hotels.<\/p>\n

But then I fall prey to the convenience of online shopping and Amazon.\u00a0Sure, the packaging can be recycled, but it\u2019s WAY TOO MUCH PACKAGING, and recycling isn\u2019t a great solution anyway as fewer of the materials are actually being reused anymore.\u00a0And I sit on airplanes a lot, which spew carbon into the atmosphere.\u00a0For every good choice, it feels like I make ten bad choices, or worse, take actions where you might not have any choices at all.<\/p>\n

It makes you wonder if you\u2019re having any impact.\u00a0If your choices really matter.\u00a0Well, here\u2019s how you can find out\u2014an organization in the US, Project Drawdown, has assessed the top 100 actions that will have the biggest impact on reducing climate change.\u00a0And the top items may be surprising.\u00a0You can see the full project here<\/a>.\u00a0However, if you want to have some fun first, take the CNN quiz that uses the Drawdown data to test your knowledge of what actions would have the most significant impact on climate change:<\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/interactive\/2019\/04\/specials\/climate-change-solutions-quiz\/<\/a><\/p>\n

Spoiler alert\u2014one of the biggest impacts has to do with the education and empowerment of girls and women.\u00a0Why?\u00a0Well, click the links and go see for yourself\u2014I won\u2019t spoil it for you.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Owen Charters The environment remains a vital topic. Spring has brought major flooding in Ontario, Quebec, and New Brunswick, and leaders are now declaring that this will be a routine event given climate change.\u00a0We need to consider our impact on the world. If you have kids, you probably know that they are the greatest […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":19234,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[65,457,699,145],"class_list":["post-19233","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-leadership-blog","tag-ceo","tag-climate-change","tag-environment","tag-youth"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bgccan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19233","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bgccan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bgccan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bgccan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bgccan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19233"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.bgccan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19233\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bgccan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19234"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bgccan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19233"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bgccan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19233"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bgccan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19233"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}