Calgary Youth present environmental innovations to Mayor Nenshi at 30th Annual Mayor's Environment Expo
Mayor Naheed Nenshi toured eco-exhibits that energized the City Hall Atrium this week, as elementary, junior high, and high school students proudly showcased their innovative environmental achievements at the 30th Annual Mayor’s Environment Expo.
To celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Mayor’s Environment Expo, 30 schools were selected to participate in The City’s Eco-Leaders Program. Through this program, youth environmental leaders demonstrate how their projects address real-life environmental issues and share the impacts of their environmental action at home, school and in their community. The school groups worked on various projects from urban food production, promoting pollination in our local environment, and reducing single-use plastics at school, to building storm pond community awareness.
“I think it is incredibly exciting that The Mayor’s Environment Expo is celebrating 30 years this year,” said Mayor Naheed Nenshi. “Calgary has an environmental record that I’m very proud of. And I love sharing that with students and hearing their ideas on how Calgary can continue to be a great place to make a living and a great place to make a life well into the future. I am inspired by the hard work and innovation of these young environmental stewards for the tremendous leadership they are demonstrating in their schools and communities.”
An additional activity that is part of the Expo is the annual Mayor’s Environment Youth Photography Contest. This year’s winner Kayla Rogers received first place with her photo in the “Resilience” category.
The City also announced winners of its annual youth environmental awards program - the Jack Leslie Youth Environmental Grants:
- Earth Guardians YYC environmental group for their project called 'Flower of Waste'. The group’s goal is to create a beautiful, large wild rose structure made out of garbage, recycling, pipes and wire. They hope to showcase their project at elementary schools, create a game show and “trashion” show. The project reuses garbage from parks, schoolyards, and roadways for supplies.
- St. Mary's High School Environmental Action Team (E.A.T.) for their project "Mary's Compost and Recycling". The group’s goal is to replace all individual trash bins with a combination of trash, recycling and compost bins, providing options and choices for St. Mary’s High School students.
In addition to the workshops and exhibits, The City organized engagements sessions with youth in attendance. Students had the opportunity to work with Sam Hester, a captivating graphic recording artist, to help visually document their vision for the future of the environment in Calgary.
Over its 30-year history, the Expo has educated more than 70,000 young people through interactive exhibits, displays and workshops. The Expo mandate is to develop well-educated environmental stewards who practice and promote environmental sustainability beyond the classroom.
-30-