Note: All suggested activities listed here should be applicable to either an individual or a youth group. If there is something specific that a youth group could do, which would be less reasonable for an individual youth to do, it will be listed below the main suggestion.

Issue: Combating Climate Change (greenhouse gas and energy consumption reduction)

Background/General Information: Have you heard of global warming? If not, it is a phenomenon caused by the increased levels of some gases (primarily carbon dioxide and methane), which ‘insulate’ the planet, raising global temperatures. This causes drastic, global climate change, which upsets the entire planet and its systems. A reduction of energy consumption is also important, especially at this point, when most of our energy production still involves fossil fuels; and Canadians use more energy per capita than any other country in the world!

A Glossary of terms related to Sustainability and Climate Change: http://www.imaginecalgary.ca/glossary.php

How Can You Help?

Stop the plastic bags!

Plastic shopping bags are more of a habit than a necessity. They are wasteful (and require the use of petroleum to make the plastic, which means they produce GHG’s)! Here are some ways you can stop the plastic bags!

• How many times have you been given a plastic bag for a tiny item, which you could have tucked into a pocket or easily held in your hand or put in that backpack or purse you already have with you? Get in the habit of politely refusing a plastic bag if you don’t really need it. Even if you don’t realize until after they’ve handed it to you, don’t be shy to give it back – they can easily give it to someone else, so you won’t hurt their feelings. If you’re getting multiple items at different stores on one trip, either bring your own bag, or try to get the largest item first so that you can put all other items into that one bag instead of getting more.
• For grocery bags, purchase or make your own sturdy canvas or mesh bags. They’re stronger than plastic, and you can have all the usefulness of a bag without the guilt of the plastic one! Make and decorate bags to give out to your congregation and friends (or perhaps take a small donation to cover costs and donate to an environmental-charity). Get out those fabric markers and paints and write inspirational comments on them like “This is the grocery bag that saved the planet!” or “Remember the Three R’s!”
• Some countries have a small tax (15 cents or so) on plastic grocery bags. The institution of such taxes greatly encouraged people to use re-usable bags. Write letters to the government suggesting such a measure as a way to fulfill our commitment to protecting the environment. Some bulk grocery stores have a similar method of charging customers(approx 10 cents) for bags, but providing boxes that were used in shipping the food to the store, for people to use, or people can use their own bags and boxes from home. Write letters to or call your local stores suggesting that they try something similar.

Make Companies Accountable for their Waste!

Have you ever noticed how much packaging is on many of the products we buy? In addition, how many products themselves are quickly used up, and because of lack of refills, quickly become trash? Companies should be held responsible for the waste they are creating. Many of the products we buy are not currently recyclable, and next to no packaging is recyclable either.

1. Write letters to companies (the producers rather than the retailer), requesting that they develop realistic ways to recycle their product parts, and that they use less bulky, recyclable packaging.
2. Collect excess packaging or now-waste product parts (pens that you can’t refill, for example), and when your family or youth group has gathered a large amount, of one product from one company then ship it off to the company with another letter asking them to be responsible for the waste that they have created.
3. Write letters to government at all levels, requesting legislation to require companies to provide methods to recycle all that they produce.

Encourage your families or even your church itself, to become carbon neutral – by plating trees to help remove the equivalent amount of carbon dioxide that will be produced my your home or your congregation. The Tree Canada Foundation (www.treecanada.ca  ) encourages groups to plant trees (and reduce emissions), as an effective way to combat climate change. Perhaps we could even get the CUC to run the ACM as a carbon-neutral event!

Encourage your families and congregation to take the One-Tonne Challenge

This is an initiative by the Canadian government, to help Canada reach it’s Kyoto Protocol targets by asking each Canadian to reduce their greenhouse-gas emissions by one tonne per year. This website include a booklet you can download which gives suggestions

Check out the One-Tonne Challenge for Youth. This site gives some really good suggestions (which are actually youth-applicable!) on how to reduce your own green house gas emissions. Even gives you a handy print out list of the actions you commit to – but remember to reuse paper when you’re printing it off! Make sure you tell your friends and try to get them on board as well!

Youth groups: If every youth in your group makes their own list of commitments, you could post them in your youth space and remind each other to stick to your commitments!

Freecycle:

Freecycling is the new recycling. It’s essentially a ‘swap’ system, where you can get rid of stuff you no longer need, and get something you do need – for free! The website lists the freecycle groups all across Canada – find one that is nearest to you, and get involved!

Youth groups: If you would like to do a smaller scale model of the same idea, do a swap day of your own! Everyone brings items that are in good shape but you no longer want (clothes, games, toys, whatever you can think of!), and then swap your items for someone else’s items - how exactly you do it is up to you! When it’s all over, donate any left-over items to charity!

Take the Green Ribbon Pledge This pledge is all about conserving energy. This website gives you along list of ideas which you can commit to and see what your total energy savings will be if you follow through on all of your commitments. Take the pledge! Tell your friends and congregation about the pledge – the more people who take it, the more energy will be saved! Youth groups: you could keep a list of all group members’ commitments and remind each other to follow thorough! Make green ribbons for your group members and for the congregation, to help spread the word.

Write letters to politicians and companies to demand that they take an active role in switching to renewable, clean energy sources; rather than waiting for an energy crisis before we make any changes.

Issue: Sustainability:

Background/General Information: More and more people - scientists, authors, activists, and everyday people - are realizing that the current patterns of energy consumption, pollution, land use, dependence on fossil fuels, and consumerism of the human race are unsustainable. That is, we cannot continue these patterns indefinitely. We will run out of fossil fuels, land, clean air, and clean water very soon if we do not make some major changes as a species. Many governments and corporations, however, refuse to change their ways, and many people choose convenience over sustainability, even if they mean well. Something must be done.

How can You Help?:
Encourage your congregation to become a Green Sanctuary!
A Green Sanctuary is a congregation that lives out its commitment to the Earth by creating a sustainable life style for its members as individuals and as a faith community. Sustainable living is not about our material comfort (though these choices are an important part of the overall life style); it is about choosing to live in a way that nurtures life, builds relationships, and rejects material consumption as the sole determinant of happiness (from the Seventh Principle Project website)

Encourage the Next Generation to Live more Sustainably! Talk to your DRE about spending a few weeks with a class or two of younger children in the RE program. Help them learn about sustainability and renewable energy. Do some activities with them to get them involved and help that understand. Re-Energy.ca is a great resource for background information on most types of renewable energy. It also include activities for kids to do. You can also help them write letters to politicians about the environment and about doing more to reverse Canada’s bad habits. Children look up "big kids" like you; if you tell them that living more responsibly and taking care of the earth is cool, they’ll listen!

Write letters to politicians and demand that the government (federal, provincial and municipal) put more effort into getting companies and families to live more sustainably, through education and better incentives.

Get a Grant for Your Project! (www.transalta.com/projectplanet)

Anyone under 18(or youth organizations) with a project which is aimed at either protecting, conserving and restoring the natural diversity of neighborhoods, communities or schools, and/or maintaining clean, healthy, safe land, water and air for all living things, can apply for a one time grant of up to $5000. The Projects must also have a measurable environmental impact, involve innovative or breakthrough thinking, be practical, be local in scope or size, and be sustainable and self-funding into the future. If you or your youth group has a project (perhaps an adaptation of one on this site?) which fits these criteria, should definitely apply. $5000 can get you well on your way to having a project that makes a real difference. Application forms are available on the website. 

Solar or Wind Energy for your home, church or school!

Wouldn’t it be great if your home, church or school could run entirely (or even partially!) on green energy? Not only would you be not contributing as much to the energy crisis and global warming; the building operation costs would greatly decrease, so your family, congregation or school would save a lot of money in the long run. Unfortunately these t4echnologies are very expensive to buy and install, though over time they pay for themselves and more. To cover the initial costs, however you need to plan ahead.

1. Do your research! Look into these companies to see which option would work best for your situation, and to see what the prices will be. www.yourenergycompany.net and www.spsenergy.com

2. Write letters to and talk to the owners of the building (school administration, the church board or physical plant team/green sanctuary committee, your parents), explaining to them all the benefits of installing this technology, and why it would be worth their money.
3. Look for municipal, provincial, federal and independent granting programs for “green projects” – and then apply for them of course!
4. If you can’t find any (or enough) granting programs, write letters to your city and province departments of energy explaining what you want to do and why they should start a granting program for green projects.
5. Fundraise!! Raise awareness and funds for your renewable energy project! An easy way is of course to make products (bags, hats, pins, bracelets etc) and sell them to raise the money. A great way to get members of your congregation or school involved is to get them to buy a portion of a solar panel or a fraction of the total costs of a windmill and give them a little certificate stating how much they’re contributing to the total project. This way they feel a part of the project. If possible, make a large poster or plaque with every contributor’s name on it, so they all get recognition for their contribution.

Buy organic, Buy local – Organic farming is much more sustainable than conventional agriculture, as well as being healthier for you. Buying local decreases the amount of fossil fuels used to transport the food, and food also tends to be fresher without needing preservatives and refrigeration for long periods - which also uses fossil fuels.

Other Organizations and Projects:

The Otesha Project is a group of young people trying to empower our generation to change our habits of over consumption, and lead the way to a sustainable future. They believe that there are everyday choices we can make to make a difference, and change the world! They do a lot of educational work with young people – including doing bike tours across the country to talk and give awesome multimedia presentations at schools about living sustainably.

Car Sharing is a service that provides vehicles on a per use basis.
It's like time-sharing a car. You do not pay for the car itself, but only the time you use one. It make so much sense—and dollars!  If you live in the city, or anywhere near transit, and don't absolutely need a car everyday, you can save a lot of wear and tear on our roads, our air and on your pocketbook by Car Sharing. When you own a car, you must cover the costs to finance, insure, maintain, repair and park that car — no matter how little you drive. With car sharing, you pay only for what you use, b c type of insurance plan, and you get a key to a shared car, or even a master key which works on several shared cars - depending on the size of the group. Most groups use an online or telephone booking system, which allows you to book an available car for any length of time on any day. The set up means that you can use your bike or city transit or walk most of the time, but you can still have access to a car when you need it. This might mean you can get rid of your own car altogether, or just that you can get rid of a second car - either way it's cheaper for you better for the environment. Generally you have to be over 25 to get the insurance, so this is not really a viable option for youth to use on their own - but if your family downsized from two cars to one and you and somone else in your family needed the car at the same time, they could use the shared car, and you could use your family's car. And you can keep it in mind for when you're old enough, and spread the idea of car sharing around to your neighbors, friends and congregation. Any group can start their own car sharing group - a neighborhood, a congregation, whatever - though when it's a small group its best if they live close together so they can all access the car easily. Or, for those who don't want to set up their own group, there are larger car sharing groups in most major cities, which have whole fleets of cars stationed around the city. 

Here is a list of such groups in Canada alphabetically), and if you don't see your city here, it doesn't mean there isn't a group, you might just have to look a little harder.
Calgary AB - http://www.catco-op.org/carsharing.html
Edmonton AB -http://www.web.net/~cce/
Gatineau PQ - http://www.web.net/~cce/
Kingston - Contact Joan Sharp - js38@post.queensu.ca
Kitcher/Waterloo ON - http://www.peoplescar.org/
London ON - Contact Brad Dixon - BDixon@msn.ca
Montreal PQ - http://www.web.net/~cce/
Nelson BC  - http://www.nelsoncar.com/
Ottawa ON/Gatineau PQ - http://www.vrtucar.com/
Quebec City PQ - http://www.web.net/~cce/
Sherbrooke PQ - http://www.web.net/~cce/
Toronto ON- www.urbanmob.ca
-http://www.autoshare.com/
Vancouver BC - http://www.cooperativeauto.net/
Victoria BC - http://www.victoriacarshare.ca/
Whistler BC - http://www.cooperativeauto.net/

Check out the CarSharing Network for more information and a list of car sharing groups all over the world.  

Creating Sustainable Cities:
Some Canadian Cities are undergoing a review process to create a vision and action plan for the future
Calgary - www.imaginecalgary.ca  

See the initiatives some cities are already trying out to become more sustainable:

Vancouver - http://www.city.vancouver.bc.ca/sustainability

Winnipeg - http://www.winnipegcec.org/main/index.html

Toronto - http://www.city.toronto.on.ca/sustainability  

Sustainable Cities Research Institute: http://www.sustainable-cities.org.uk

International Centre for sustainable Cities: http://www.icsc.ca

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A man in India has created a way to use crop waste as a marketable cooking fuel

More Resources:

Books: The Last of the Ancient Sunlight and The Party’s Over are two excellent books which deal with the issues of our society’s dependence on fossil fuels, and what will happen when the cheap oil runs out.

Related E-Lists You Can Join:

 cuc-environment, cuc-enviro-buildings, cuc-buy-nothing