Climate/ Info Fluency

What can teens and young adolescents do to have a meaningful impact in the city of Vancouver against climate change?

Solution 1: Fundraising/ Voting for climate change

They could start more fundraisers and contributing to planting more trees. They could start campaigns where they plant a tree for an amount a money raised. Another very beneficial option is to fundraise for clean energy in you community such as wind turbines. It could really make more awareness all around the world, connecting people for a united approach to climate change. This solution can only be done if we have people working together and communicating. If there were people doing this in their communities where they’re is more of a chance that they could have an impact, it would influence the rest of the city and the other towns and communities to pursue clean energy. We can see this solution being used around the world with student strikes and programs that aim to plant as many trees as they can. This is a very key step to start and expand the impact of teens and adolescents or even future generations on climate change. Some young adolescents who have reached the age to vote could vote into parties or organizations that would put more money into climate change. If that were to happen, we would really start a big change in the climate situation around the provinces and country.

Solution 2: Less use of cars

As teens and young adolescents start to get their driving licenses, its important to know that cars also produce carbon emissions into our atmosphere. Cars have a decently negative impact on climate change and there is one way we can help with that. If you can, you can try to avoid driving as much as you can. Walking, biking and using your scooter are all really good ways of making and impact on climate change. It may not sound like a lot, but you can really inspire others to do what your doing. Before you know it, you’ll have your friends, family and your community walking or biking to school! Of course, for some people this wouldn’t be a viable option for them because of their circumstances so it could also help to maybe take the bus even though it does still produce carbon emissions, it carries more people at once than any conventional car would. Any bit of help that you can do really helps. Of course, some of you don’t own a car so it would make sense that you would disregard this as irrelevant to you, but you could inspire a friend or family member to use their car less. A lot of families depend on their car and I totally understand but it might be worth investing into an electric vehicle in the future. It would be a lot cheaper in the long run and it would be very clean, preserving our fragile environment.

Solution 3: Invest in renewable energy/ Volunteer

Even if you can’t buy solar panels, try to reduce your emissions in any way you can such as using electric bikes or scooters. You could invest in programs that aim to purchasing the renewable energy sources. It doesn’t need be a lot but even a small amount could have a meaningful impact. There are a bunch of places that anyone could volunteer at to help against climate change weather it is strikes, youth led movements, etc. Don’t ever be afraid to do your part. No one will judge you for caring about the future of mankind, its humanities biggest enemy. Don’t forget that you are not alone in this fight, like I said, there are tons of groups and organizations that are looking for people that want to help in anyway they can. Even volunteering with organizations that try to provide more water and food to different parts of the world is another way to help considering the food shortages and droughts happening all around the globe caused by the temperature change. Anything will help make a difference.

 

Bibliographies

  1. Atl, Vox. “4 Ways Teens Can Address Climate Change And Save The Environment Right Now.” 1 FM WABE, 17 Apr. 2019, www.wabe.org/4-ways-teens-can-address-climate-change-and-save-the-environment-right-now/.

  1. “Top 10 Things You Can Do about Climate Change.” David Suzuki Foundation, David Suzuki, 3 July 2018, davidsuzuki.org/what-you-can-do/top-10-ways-can-stop-climate-change/.

  1. Shaftel, Holly. “The Effects of Climate Change.” NASA, NASA, 30 Sept. 2019, climate.nasa.gov/effects/.

  1. National Climate. “Menu.” National Climate Assessment, 2019, nca2014.globalchange.gov/report#section-1946.

 

 

Part 2:

 

  1. What questions did you need to research in order to research your topic?

What are the main causes of climate change?

What are some known causes of climate change that we could stop or reduce in a short amount of time?

What are some small things anyone could do against climate change?

What are some electric appliances that are eco friendly?

Are there volunteering options for the fight against climate change?

  1. What new or familiar digital tools did you try to use as you worked through this project?

I used EasyBib to cite all my references. I also did use google to find some points I could use to find my solutions and my questions that I asked. For this question, being a teen myself, a good amount of the information was me trying to figure out what I could do as well as other people my age.

  1. What was the process you used to investigate the topic?

I would gather my information from my sources and filter the key points. Once I had done that, I would verify my information with my other sources to see if it is credible. I would then put the information down in my own words without copying directly from the source.

  1. How did you verify and cite the information you found?

Once I squeezed out the points, I wanted to use from one source, I would check with my other sources to see if others have the same idea and if so it proves that the information was credible. I also did look at the websites to see if they were actual good sources and not anything someone random would write.

5.             How did the process of completing this challenge go? What could you have done better?
I honestly found this challenge a great learning opportunity for all of us because it really lets us learn what we could do to really have some sort of say in our future. However, I do think I could really improve in my time management in a way such as setting a specific time to do my research instead of just randomly starting it. Over all I felt very confident about my work and my information.