Challenging climate change
Shawnigan’s EnviroClub and their counterparts from Brentwood College School kicked off a ground-breaking program this week as they embark on the High School Climate Challenge.
The two schools are the first on Vancouver Island, and among the first in BC, to participate in the program which began in Ontario last year as a joint initiative of Clean Air Champions and the Sierra Youth Coalition. The program provides high school communities the tools to assess and reduce their school's carbon footprint and contribute to climate change solutions.
Although it is a “challenge” for each school to reduce its carbon emissions the most, “this is a unique situation to have two schools also working together,” said Karen Stroebel, HSCC Coordinator for BC. “Each school will have its own team for monitoring and implementing initiatives, but the tone overall is that they are working together on the bigger picture of reducing climate change.”
In a workshop at the Shaw Centre, representatives from the program explained how students will gather their baseline data over the next months on everything from heating, energy and transportation costs to calculating how much paper and water their schools use. The teams will also develop Climate Action Plans and will be able to monitor how those activities affect their schools’ carbon footprint.
Each school also has a mentor to help them. “We’ll be helping you guide the process, but it’s your project,” Shawnigan mentor Brian Roberts told the students. He is a teacher at Vancouver Island University and an expert in bio diesel waste recovery.