Empowering Youth for a Sustainable Future: BFP Interns Clean Up in Niagara
Over the past two months, the Blue Futures Pathways team has been working with two interns from Niagara College: Aswathy and Mohammed to host a youth event, combining education, environmental stewardship, and community engagement. This initiative aimed to inspire youth involvement in water and conservation fields through a virtual workshop and in person beach cleanup. Another expected outcome of the project was to create a toolkit for conservation and outreach initiatives.
The project began with a virtual workshop and info session on the Sustainable Blue Economy, emphasizing the sustainable use of ocean resources for economic growth, impacts of water and ocean health on local communities, and job creation and opportunities for youth. The workshop highlighted opportunities for youth in the water sectors, with a focus on how small-scale community outreach can lead to significant impacts. Interns presented their project addressing pollution and water quality issues in their local waterways, focusing on the Welland Canal and surrounding area, and shared the expected growth of this type of project from a local to a global scale.
The event culminated in a cleanup at a local community beach, involving 15 young participants currently from the Niagara area, but with many with global roots. This diverse group was united by a common goal: to clean up their local environment and gain skills and knowledge to apply in their home countries. Guided by interns, participants paired into groups to collect and quantify beach waste. They collected over six bags of garbage (weighing about 10 pounds), with primarily cigarette butts and microplastics, but also a variety of other types of waste. The staggering count of over 410 cigarette butts highlighted the pervasive issue of smoking-related litter in coastal areas, while the presence of microplastics underscored the widespread problem of plastic pollution present in the ocean and on our beaches.
The BFP Coordinator, Vivian Guido, discussed the importance of youth engagement in environmental outreach events and the critical role of water-related jobs and opportunities to combat these issues and their widespread impacts on local communities and biodiversity. Insights were shared on how these initiatives benefit the environment and strengthen communities by fostering collective responsibility and empowerment among locals.
This event was more than just a beach cleanup; it was a platform for learning, connecting, and taking action. By educating young people about the Sustainable Blue Economy and providing hands-on environmental stewardship experiences, BFP and Niagara College are fostering a new generation of environmentally conscious leaders in Canada.