I am the teacher/facilitator…

I am the teacher/facilitator for the Green Team at my elementary school. It is a very active group of approximately 60 students from Grades 3 to 5 who care about the Earth and are trying hard to reduce the negative impact of their actions on the land, water, air, and the plants and animals who make their home there. At their weekly meetings Green Team members spend a lot of time thinking of ways to educate the rest of the students and teachers at our school, as well as their parents, about how to reduce their environmental footprint, and why they should care. They know all about climate change and global warming and the impacts they are having on plant and animal life, and on people. They know that big factories make the greenhouse gases that cause our atmosphere to warm, but they also know that burning gasoline while driving and always buying things that these factories make results in pollution as well, They know that practicing the 3-Rs, bringing waste-free lunches, walking to school instead of driving, turning off lights and appliances when they aren't being used, and avoiding single-use plastics are all things that they can do to at least reduce these impacts.

These students know that they are going to be the ones who will have to deal with the lion's share of the impacts of our changing climate. Being kids however, they trust that their parents, teachers, and especially their government, have their best interests at heart. When I talked to them about the Cap and Trade program when it came into force, they thought it was a good idea that companies had to pay to make pollution, and that the money they paid would be used for things like retrofitting schools and businesses to be more green, or helping municipalities start composting programs. They don't understand why their government is going backwards. As I said before, they know that even little things that individuals or families can do, like reducing their waste or their use of cars, all add up to make a big dent in our carbon footprint. They don't understand why their Premier is trying to convince people in other provinces that encouraging everyone to do their part to slow down climate change is not important.

These students also know about the UN report that came out earlier this week which says that we have 12 years to substantially reduce our greenhouse gas emissions. If the Doug Ford government continues on its path, four of those years will be wasted. These kids understand that we, and they, are running out of time - and they are powerless to do anything about it.