We take ideas from each member of our group and always help each other grow. Every voice matters when you’re part of the KW Youth Climate Council. We are dedicated to creating a safe and inclusive environment for volunteers and hope to see you at one of our future events!

KW Youth Climate Council Manifesto

We've all been there before. You’re walking outside and you notice a plastic bottle on the ground. A few steps later a candy wrapper, a fork, a container, a few more steps and you look up, and notice, there's a worn out plastic bag stuck in a tree. Do you stop to collect any of it? Do you have time to? Would you consider how it got there? Would you care what others thought if you picked it up? Did you even notice it? Or do you, like many others, continue on your way and quietly internalize the harsh reality that our planet is in severe danger as the consequence of a collective apathy towards excessive production and over consumption. Which you too, both willingly and unwillingly are a part of. 

The idea of a disposable - that is something intended to be used once, or until no longer useful, and then thrown away, is an idea that has only existed in the human psyche for approximately the last 70-80 years. During the great depression, families only consumed what they needed to for survival. People weren't spending excessively on things they didn't absolutely need. Certainly no one was buying an iced coffee or energy drink a few times a week. However, in the years after WWII, economic growth caused a boom in mass production, consumerism, and marketing, and the idea of disposables spread like wildfire. First it was diapers, then cups and plates, forks and knives, medical products; gloves, masks, contraceptives, food packaging, straws, cameras, cigarettes, bags, until virtually every aspect of human commerce would become contaminated by the notion, process and practice of disposability - which is inherently unsustainable. 

Fast forward to today, and traces of human activity are found in some of the most remote places on Earth. From pacifiers on isolated island beaches, camping gear left on high mountains, bottles and bags resting at the deepest depths of the ocean, to microplastic and nanoplastics in the food and water we consume. One 2024 study found that Mothers today are birthing children with microplastics already laced in their placentas and breastmilk. No doubt, this is problematic. Yet, many go about this reality with a submissive acceptance claiming that “I’m just one person, how can I solve an issue that involves all of society.”

When considering the issues of disposability and sustainability as overarching, opposing pillars of human consumption - which we know creates a significant environmental impact -  and when considering how to create effective change, there are three key areas to address. These are: Government Law & Policy Changes, Technological Production Changes - that is how the things we use and consume are made, and a Behavioural Change in Society. 

While the most important of these is no doubt, Law and Policy Changes and the recent passing of Bill 5 & 6 only does damage to the progress Law and Policy can make; the KW Youth Climate Council organizes youth-led community clean ups, invasive species removal initiatives, awareness campaign redesign (Cure For Litter) and creates sustainable art and installations from the recycled material as a means of bringing people together for climate action and ultimately to address the behavioural changes necessary to mitigate the consumer effects towards climate change.