Shawnigan Celebrates Earth Week

This week the Council had the wonderful opportunity to lead the School community in a full slate of Earth Week events and activities, joining millions around the world in marking this important week. The students worked hard to organize a range of initiatives for the School, including outdoor classes away from technology, vegan ice cream prepared by the Stag Cafe, a full day of vegetarian meals, tree planting on campus, and a garbage cleanup in our local watershed. The week’s events culminated in a special Earth Day Chapel Service, arranged and led by the Sustainability Council. 

In the service, Sustainability Council member Ava F.,  a “proud tree hugger,” shared her concern surrounding Earth Day celebrations being limited to an hour, a day, or a week. She boldly put out a call to action, saying that “all of us need to come to terms with every day being Earth Day.” Without this being on our minds every day it will be harder to achieve the overall goal of reducing our carbon footprint to ensure availability for future generations. 

“We are nothing without a healthy environment,” she continued. “Quite literally. Our environment does not need us to survive, but rather we, as a species of human beings, are completely reliant on this intricate, finely balanced system for our survival. Yet we still continue to ignore and pretend that our environment doesn’t matter. How come we still choose to live in ignorance and pretend that these issues aren’t as prevalent as they are?”

Also at Saturday’s Chapel, the School warmly welcomed a special guest speaker, interim Green Party Leader Amita Kuttner. Amita, an advocate for the environment and equality, is the first party leader in Canada to be openly transgender and non-binary identifying, as well as the first of East Asian descent. They spoke on the shared responsibility we have in making a difference on this earth, leaving us with these inspirational words: “I feel hope that I have never felt before because we are coming together to dream. That is what I encourage you to do; dream, think about what it is that you would like to see on this earth, what do you see life looking like, how do you see us flourishing together. Get together, do not fear optimism and create that world. The system needs changing, politics is part of it, and you collectively have the power to make this world whatever you want.”